FAQ: Exclusions

A lead replied and I never want to contact them again. What do I do?

Open the conversation in the Inbox tab of the Tasks page, click ⋯, then Do not contact. You do not need to stop their sequence first: a reply already stops it permanently. The exclusion is what prevents any future sequence from reaching them again.

I added a company to the exclusion list but it was still contacted. Why?

There might be a few reasons why this might still happen:

• The contact's email domain doesn't exactly match what you blocklisted: check the prospect's email domain, then go to settings > Exclusions > check if that domain is present, both at contact and company level.

• The company uses multiple domains: that is often the case for large groups. Follow the steps above and check if all the existing company domains are correctly in your exclusions.

• If using a dynamic list from your CRM, was the company included in the list before the sequence launched?

• The sequence template has Contact people at excluded accounts turned on. That still reaches new people at excluded accounts. People who unsubscribed, bounced, or already replied are still never contacted.

How do I exclude a competitor?

If your CRM is connected: either connect a dynamic list of competitors from your CRM as exclusion list, or upload a CSV of accounts under Settings > Exclusions.

If it isn't: upload a CSV of competitor accounts under Settings > Exclusions.

How do I stop all leads from a specific company already in sequences?

Creating an Account exclusion stops sequences for contacts at that account. A sequence template with Contact people at excluded accounts turned on still reaches new people there. People who unsubscribed, bounced, or already replied are still never contacted.

Important: Do not use the Exclusion settings in the Sequence menu to exclude companies. This is not the correct method for company exclusions.

• Adding the exclusion manually under Settings > Exclusions > Add Account Exclusion, or

• Including the company in an exclusion list

Will the same person be included in several lists?

Yes — a contact can appear in multiple lists at the same time. For each list, you can decide independently how you want to handle that contact. You don't need to manually manage cross-list exclusions, but you can configure the behaviour per list based on your needs.

Can Exclusions prevent contacts to send me messages?

No, exclusion lists have no inbound value. They're only valid for outbound. By clicking on the lead's name and going into the Activity tab inside the lead drawer, you can check if a message received from an excluded contact was:

• initiated by the contact (inbound), in that case exclusion lists have no power;

• a reply to an outbound message coming from one of your sequences. In this case, check the lead's status in the sequence tab of the lead drawer, then confirm that the contact is correctly mapped in your Excluded Contacts in Settings > Exclusions.

When uploading a csv file as exclusion, how can I map the columns?

On the left you have the labels of your csv file's columns, on the right you have the data you need.

To map the columns, you need to drag and drop the from left to right the label of your csv file that corresponds to the data Topo needs.

Example: you need to drag and drop from left to right the label containing internet domains of accounts in order to upload an account exclusion list.

The same mechanism applied every time you need to upload a csv file in the Topo platform.