Why was an email held?

Every email Atom sends, including replies you approve, is checked just before it goes. If a check fails, the email is held and appears in Needs you with the reason.

Reasons you might see

• Quotes a price or rate, or offers a discount. Prices always come from a person.
• Claim not in the approved playbook. The email says something about your company that is not one of your proof points, or changes a number. Add it to your playbook if it is true, or hand the email back.
• Greets the wrong name, or does not greet the prospect by name.
• Signed by someone other than the sender.
• Uses a never-say phrase.
• Uses an exclamation mark or a long dash. Atom keeps a plain, calm tone.
• Link did not work, or is not secure. Prospect emails carry at most one link.
• Commits to scope or delivery dates.

Some emails are held quietly, without an item in Needs you, because you already know why: sending is paused, your company has no active subscription (see Billing), a mailbox is paused, or a connection to your mailbox or CRM has stopped working. While your CRM is disconnected nothing is sent at all, because Atom cannot be sure who your customers and open deals are.

Some emails are cancelled rather than held, because they must never be sent: for example to someone who has unsubscribed, an existing customer or an open deal.