Why are leads/prospects not being processed through my Play?

When leads or prospects aren't being processed through your Plays as expected, there are several common causes and troubleshooting steps to help identify and resolve the issue.

Play Re-runs and Duplicate Processing

If you've made changes to a completed Play (such as adding new personas), the Play will not automatically re-run. To apply changes to a completed Play, you need to duplicate the Play and run the new version.

Understanding Manual Triggers and Republishing

• Plays can run multiple times for the same company if manually triggered or if audiences/triggers are republished

• Manual triggers always create a new run, regardless of previous processing

• Multiple runs in Logs don't necessarily mean new enrollments occurred - sequence rules (cooldowns, already enrolled, exclusions) can still block enrollment even when the play runs

• Companies can go through plays twice, but prospects cannot be enrolled in more than one sequence at a time

To prevent unintentional re-runs:

• Avoid manual triggers for already-processed records

• Only republish when ready to reprocess the entire audience

• Review sequence exclusions and routing settings that may prevent enrollment despite successful play runs

Additional Methods for Reprocessing Records Through Plays

You can reprocess records without duplicating the Play by using the following approaches:

Method: Manual Trigger + Run/Send to Play

Set the Play’s trigger to Manual, then select “Run/Send to Play” from the Audience view to enroll the full audience again.

Method: Enable Scheduled Reruns

Turn on the Play’s rerun toggle in the Play settings (gear icon) and define a cadence (minimum 1 day). The Play will automatically re‑run on the schedule you specify.

Note: Play re‑run cooldowns cannot be set to 0 days – the minimum cooldown period is 1 day. To immediately re‑execute a Play on the same audience, you must duplicate the Play rather than use the re‑run function.

Avoiding Duplicate Credit Charges

• Use the “existing people” prospecting node instead of creating new prospecting criteria when you want to reprocess contacts already in your CRM.

• Re‑run within 24 hours – AI qualification agent responses are cached for 24 hours, so re‑running a Play within this window will not recharge AI qualification credits.

Critical Clarification

Simply editing and republishing an existing play will not re‑enroll past records. Republishing only affects new records that match the audience criteria, not previously processed ones.

Troubleshooting Low Prospect Volumes

When a Play runs but returns "None found" or low prospect volumes, check these configuration factors:

Diagnosing Enrollment Failures

To identify why specific contacts weren't enrolled in your Play:

1. Open your Play and navigate to Metrics

2. Click the Sequence node (or the "Not Enrolled" count)

3. Review the list of contacts with specific reasons why each wasn't enrolled

4. Check Execution Logs in the Play Builder for additional details

Common blocking reasons you'll see:

• Already enrolled in another active sequence (prospects cannot be in multiple sequences simultaneously)

• Recently enrolled cooldown or re-enrollment rule preventing duplicate enrollment

• Global or org-level exclusions (opt-outs, company/domain blocks)

• Routing had no eligible path ("No routing target")

• Daily sending caps or company-level enrollment limits reached (contacts may be queued)

• Audience updates still propagating - Plays don't enroll in real-time. Triggers run on ~15-minute polling intervals, and audience/criteria updates can take 15-30 minutes to fully propagate (longer after large changes or bulk enrollments)

Diagnosing and Resolving Specific Exclusion Blocks

When enrollment failures are traced to exclusions, follow these steps to pinpoint and fix the blocking rules.

Identifying Which Exclusions Are Blocking Enrollment

1. Open the person's record and check the Exclusions tab to see which rule(s) are blocking enrollment.

2. Look for sequence‑ruleset exclusions (e.g., demo scheduled within X days, recent activity rules) in addition to global exclusions.

Resolving Exclusion Blocks

1. Update the relevant exclusion in Settings → Organization → Exclusions (toggle off “Exclude from Sequences” for that rule).

2. Allow 15–30 minutes for changes to propagate before retrying enrollment.

3. Remember that sequence‑level exclusions take precedence over org‑level settings – adjust those or use a different sequence without that exclusion.

Important Exclusion Behavior with Queued Contacts

Contacts matching exclusion criteria may still appear as “queued” – exclusions are checked at send time, so these contacts will be automatically skipped when the sequence runs and will not receive emails.

Ensure exclusions are enabled both at the organization level (Settings → Organization → Exclusions) and within the sequence itself for them to take effect.

Advanced Prospect Node Configuration

• Include existing People: Enable this setting if you want matches already in your CRM, as this can significantly impact prospecting results

• Max per company and persona order: One node fills from the first persona before trying others - adjust if needed

• Daily sending and enrollment caps: Check if daily limits have been reached, which can cause contacts to queue rather than enroll immediately

• Review exclusions and routing that can remove matches from enrollment (org or sequence exclusions, "No routing target", max enrollments per company)

Persona Optimization

• Expand each persona to at least 60+ titles where possible to cover all reasonable variations

• This is especially important for specialized roles that may have many title variations across different companies

• Ensure title keywords/variations match how companies actually list roles in their organizations

Prospecting Modes

Consider switching to Waterfall Prospecting mode if you're experiencing low volumes:

• Standard prospecting: Uses existing data in your CRM

• Waterfall Prospecting: Uses external data providers to get the freshest data and best contacts possible, regardless of whether contacts exist within your account

• Waterfall mode can significantly improve prospecting results for specialized roles or when existing data coverage is limited

Data Coverage Validation

• Verify correct domain on the company record

• Some companies may have limited provider coverage or non-standard titles

• Large companies may still have few people in specialized roles despite their size

Lookalike (LaL) Play Specific Behavior

Lookalike plays have unique characteristics that often explain why lead volume drops over time:

Static Nature of Lookalike Plays

• Lookalike plays generate prospects based on a fixed set of seed companies at the time of activation

• They run once against the existing set of seed companies and then become static

• Once the initial lookalike generation is complete, the play will not automatically find new prospects

• The audience remains static unless new companies are added to match the seed criteria

Maintaining Lookalike Play Volume

To generate ongoing leads from Lookalike plays:

• Regularly add new companies to your seed criteria (e.g., companies with 'Dream ICP' status)

• Alternatively, duplicate and modify the play, then launch it again (though this may include previously identified companies)

• To get truly new prospects, expand the seed company pool by adding new seed companies that match your criteria