> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.goeva.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# How to make Eva message a customer who stopped replying
> Set up to five inactivity follow-ups. Eva writes each message from your instructions and the sequence stops on its own when the customer replies.
A customer asks, Eva answers, and the customer disappears. Inactivity follow-ups make Eva pick that
conversation back up on its own, after the amount of time you decide.
## What you will get
Your agent writes again to whoever stopped answering, with the number of attempts and the timings
you define. Nobody on your team has to remember.
## Requirements
* An agent that is already configured. Follow-ups live in its behavior.
* Access to that agent in your **AI Agents** list.
* Publishing the changes at the end: nothing is active while it is still a draft.
## Turn on follow-ups
In **AI Agents**, open your agent and go to the **Behavior** tab.
In the right-hand column, under **Timing & proactivity**, open **Follow-ups & reactivation**.
Turn on the control to the right of **Inactivity follow-up**. The sequence and the
instructions appear.
Under **Instructions for Eva**, describe the tone and the intent: what to remind them about,
what to offer, when to close softly. Do not write the message: write the intent.
Under **Follow-up sequence**, **Step 1** defines how long to wait without a reply before the
first message. **+ Add step** adds the next ones.
**Step 1 instructions (optional)** and its equivalents change the intent of that particular
attempt. For example, making the last one a friendly goodbye.
Select **Save behavior**. Until that moment, nothing changes for your customers.
## How many steps and how long
The sequence accepts between 1 and 5 steps. When it reaches five, **+ Add step** disappears; the
last step cannot be removed.
Each step's wait is counted **from the previous message**, not from the start of the conversation.
It is written in **hours** or in **days**, and no step can wait more than 180 days.
A three-step example: 2 hours, 1 day, 3 days. A customer who never replies gets three messages over
a bit more than four days.
Follow-ups respect the agent's business hours. If a step comes due in the middle of the night and
your agent has hours configured, the message waits until it opens again.
## Eva writes each message
There is no fixed text that repeats. At each step, Eva reads the whole conversation: what was
discussed, what product was quoted, what was left pending. From that it writes a message for that
customer at that moment.
Your instructions are the guide, not the script. That is why "remind them of the design they asked
for and ask whether they want to move ahead" is worth more than a phrase to copy and paste.
If WhatsApp's 24-hour window has already closed, the follow-up goes out with an approved template
instead of a free-text message.
## When the sequence stops
The sequence cuts itself off in three situations:
* **The customer replies.** Any incoming message ends the inactivity period. The count restarts
from the agent's next reply.
* **Someone on your team takes the conversation.** While a human is handling it, automatic
follow-ups do not go out.
* **You turn off the control** for **Inactivity follow-up** and publish.
## The decision at the end of the sequence
When the last step goes unanswered, Eva takes one more turn to decide what happens to the
opportunity: mark it lost, reschedule the follow-up, or leave it open. Eva makes the call; it is
never an automatic close.
**How long to wait after the last step** defines how much time passes before that decision. It
comes at 48 hours and accepts up to 30 days. **Instructions for the decision (optional)** tells it
what criteria to use.
## Follow-ups Eva schedules on its own
**Allow targeted follow-ups** is a different thing, and it is turned on separately. With that tool
Eva can schedule a reminder with its own objective when the conversation calls for it: picking up a
quote, confirming a pending decision, checking in after a purchase.
The inactivity sequence is triggered by silence. Targeted follow-ups are decided by Eva inside the
conversation.
## How to know it worked
* The **Unpublished changes** indicator disappears after publishing.
* In a test conversation: write to your agent, stop answering, and wait out the **Step 1** time. In
the **Inbox** you will see the follow-up arrive.
* While a follow-up is pending, the conversation shows **Next follow-up** at the top. Opening it
shows the **Objective** and the **Date and time** when Eva will write again.
* On the opportunity linked to that conversation, the activity records **Follow-up scheduled** and
later **Follow-up due**.
## If something goes wrong
Check the agent's business hours: a follow-up that comes due outside those hours waits for
opening. Also check whether someone on your team took that conversation.
That is usually because the conversation is being handled by a person. Eva does not interrupt a
conversation your team already has in hand.
Leave a single step in the **Follow-up sequence** and remove the rest. The last one cannot be
deleted; to switch everything off, turn off the control on the card.
The **Instructions for Eva** are too vague. Give it context about your business and a clear
intent per step.
## Next steps