Sequence Rulesets

What Are Sequence Rulesets?

Sequence Rulesets are a modular grouping of settings that control how a sequence behaves — who it's sent to, which exclusions apply, and how enrollments are handled. Every sequence now has a ruleset associated with it. Rulesets can be created once and reused across many sequences, so reps don't have to manually reconfigure settings each time they build something new.

Before Rulesets, exclusions were global — if a rule blocked outreach to customers or open opp accounts, it blocked it everywhere. Rulesets solve this by letting teams override specific exclusions on a per-sequence basis without touching global settings.

What You Can Do

• Apply reusable rulesets to sequences: Standardize exclusions, eligibility, and settings with rulesets that can be shared across sequences.

• Establish a default ruleset: Define standard sequence behavior so reps don't have to configure settings from scratch every time.

• Create rulesets for non-standard use cases: Allow expansion, lifecycle, or post-sales teams to run outbound to audiences that would normally be excluded (e.g., current customers, open opportunities).

• Run outbound to any audience: Target customers, PLG users, or open opp accounts without changing global workspace rules.

• Select which exclusions apply per ruleset: When creating an exclusion, you can now choose which rulesets it applies to — and see estimated unenrollment counts before confirming.

What's New (vs. Before)

Several improvements shipped alongside Rulesets:

• When creating an exclusion, you can select which rulesets it applies to and see estimated un-enrollment numbers to inform the decision

• The excluded badge on the enrollments table now shows the timestamp, which helps with troubleshooting

• The sequence builder has new navigational tabs (Editor and Settings) with a refreshed settings UI

• You can rename a sequence directly from the nav, just like Plays

• When manually enrolling someone, the system now prevents selecting sequences the person would be excluded from

How to Use Sequence Rulesets

Flow 1: Create Rulesets for Targeted Segments (Settings → Sequences → Rulesets)

Configure rulesets based on the common exclusion groups your team needs to work around.

1. Go to Settings → Sequences → Rulesets

2. Click + New to create a new ruleset

3. Name the ruleset to reflect the use case (e.g., "Open Opportunities," "Current Customers," "Closed Lost Early Re-engagement")

3. Select which workspace exclusions should apply to this ruleset. Note: To exclude prospects with open opportunities from a sequence, you must explicitly enable the 'Open Opps' exclusion in the ruleset. If this exclusion is not enabled, prospects will continue to appear in tasks and remain in the sequence even when their company has an open opportunity.

3. Review the estimated companies and people that will be affected

4. Save — the ruleset is now available to apply to any sequence

Flow 2: Apply a Ruleset to a Sequence (Sequence → Settings tab)

1. Open any sequence and click the Settings tab

2. Under Sequence Ruleset, select the ruleset that applies to this sequence

3. The ruleset's exclusion settings will now govern who gets enrolled — overriding global defaults where specified

4. Save

When to Use Rulesets

Open opportunity multi-threading — Sequence additional stakeholders on active deals to build alignment and reduce single-thread risk. Previously blocked by global exclusions.

Workflow Limitation

You cannot edit a ruleset directly from the sequence interface. To modify a ruleset’s settings, navigate to Settings → Features → Sequences → Rulesets, make the changes there, and they will automatically apply to all sequences using that ruleset.

Customer expansion outreach — AMs and CSMs can sequence additional stakeholders at existing customers to drive upsell and cross-sell conversations.

Meeting no-show re-engagement — Run targeted outreach to prospects or customers who no-showed, even if they're associated with open opportunities.

Event attendee follow-up — Send follow-ups to webinar registrants or event attendees regardless of their audience type or CRM status.

PLG signal follow-up — Sequence product users who show high intent signals (feature adoption, pricing page visits) even if they're existing customers.

Lifecycle marketing campaigns — Lifecycle and growth teams can run outbound campaigns to customers based on product usage or lifecycle stage.

Best Practices for Ruleset Creation

By persona:

• Sales (AEs) — ruleset with no exclusions or minimal restrictions for targeted outreach

• BDRs — standard ruleset with core exclusions intact

• Growth/Marketing — lifecycle-friendly ruleset that allows customer outreach

• Account Management/Customer Success — ruleset enabling customer and open opp sequencing

By audience:

• Open Opportunities

• Active Customers

• Recent Closed Lost

• Partners

• Disqualified Accounts

FAQ

What happened to my existing sequence settings?

Your existing sequence settings were automatically preserved and moved into Rulesets. A new ruleset was generated for each of your sequences to match the prior configuration. You won't experience any disruption — you can modify or switch rulesets as needed.

Who can create and manage rulesets?

Rulesets are managed in Settings and are typically owned by an admin or RevOps ("Outbound Quarterback"). Non-admins (BDRs, AEs, AMs, Growth/Marketing) can apply existing rulesets to their sequences but cannot create new ones without admin access.

Can I apply the same ruleset to multiple sequences?

Yes — that's the core benefit. One ruleset can govern as many sequences as needed. Any edits to the ruleset automatically apply to all sequences using it.

Can I still enroll someone manually if they'd be excluded?

The system now prevents you from selecting a sequence for manual enrollment if the person would be excluded by that sequence's ruleset. This reduces accidental enrollments.

How do I know how many people will be unenrolled when I create an exclusion? When creating an exclusion, you can now select which rulesets it applies to and will see estimated unenrollment counts before you confirm. This helps you make informed decisions about the impact.

What's the difference between a global exclusion and a ruleset exclusion?

How do I prevent prospects with open opportunities from being sequenced?

To exclude prospects who are in open opportunities from sequences, the sequence's ruleset must have the 'Open Opps' exclusion explicitly enabled. If this exclusion is not configured in the ruleset, prospects will continue to appear in tasks and remain in the sequence even when their company has an open opportunity. Modifying ruleset exclusions typically requires admin-level permissions.

Global exclusions apply across all sequences by default. Rulesets let you selectively disable specific global exclusions for particular sequences — so teams running non‑standard motions (expansion, lifecycle) aren't blocked by rules designed for cold outbound.

Troubleshooting Sequence Ruleset Exclusions

Understanding Exclusion Timing

Contacts may appear as “queued” in a sequence even if they match exclusion criteria. This is expected behavior — exclusions are evaluated at send time, not at enrollment time. Contacts matching your exclusion rules will be automatically skipped when the sequence attempts to send.

Diagnosing Manual Enrollment Blocks

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

2. If you need to enroll them anyway, go to Settings → Organization → Exclusions and update the relevant exclusion rule (toggle off “Exclude from Sequences” for that rule)

3. Wait approximately 30 minutes for the changes to take effect, then retry the enrollment

4. If exclusions are set at the sequence level via rulesets, either adjust the ruleset or use a different sequence without that exclusion

Troubleshooting Hidden Ruleset Exclusions

1. Check the contact's Exclusions tab — Open the contact record and view the Exclusions tab to see which specific exclusion rule(s) they match

2. Review the sequence's ruleset — Go to the sequence's Settings tab and check which ruleset is applied. Exclusions that are part of that ruleset may be blocking enrollment even if they don't appear as global exclusions

3. Verify ruleset‑specific exclusions — Navigate to Settings → Sequences → Rulesets, open the ruleset applied to your sequence, and review which exclusions are enabled for that ruleset

4. Check the Not Enrolled view — In the sequence's Enrollments tab, switch to the “Not Enrolled” view to see if the contact appears with a specific exclusion reason

Exclusions can be part of rulesets and may not be immediately visible when viewing the contact or company record directly. Always check both the contact's Exclusions tab and the sequence's applied ruleset to identify the blocking rule.