Building automated journeys for families and leads
How to set up automated email sequences for new leads, new members and families who stop coming.
Updated October 31, 2026
A journey is a series of emails and waits that starts on its own when someone hits a trigger. Used well, journeys do the follow-up people forget.
Journeys worth setting up
- New lead follow-up. Trigger: Lead created. A welcome email right away, then a follow-up a couple of days later.
- New member welcome. Trigger: Membership created. Dress code, schedule and what to bring.
- Missed you. Trigger: Absence. A check-in email from the head instructor.
- Birthday. Trigger: Birthday.
For trial no-shows and trials that did not join, turn on Trial no-show recovery and Trial attended, not enrolled under Admin › Settings › Automations.
Building one
- Go to Communications › Journeys and click New journey.
- Pick a template or Blank journey, then pick the trigger.
- Add Email and Wait steps. Other step types in the builder do not run yet.
- Click Save journey, then Activate.
A journey only picks up people who hit the trigger after you activate it. It does not go back to earlier leads.
Test before you activate
Each email step has a test send. Send yourself a copy to check the wording and look.
Personalizing
Use {{firstName}} and {{lastName}} in your emails. They are replaced with each person's name when the email sends.
Who gets journey email
Journey emails are marketing email. Anyone who has unsubscribed from marketing email is skipped.
Watching results
Open a journey to see how many people entered and how many opened its emails. Cut the emails that are not pulling their weight.