This flow template sends a check-in message and waits for the customer to reply. If the customer responds, you can acknowledge their reply. If they remain inactive, the flow sends a closing message.

This helps your team manage inactive conversations while letting customers know they can continue the conversation or reach out again later.

Example use case

A customer messages your team on WhatsApp asking about a product, but stops replying after your agent responds. After some time, the conversation remains open with no further activity.

With this template, SleekFlow can automatically:

• Send a check-in message asking “How can I help you?”
• Wait 5 minutes for the customer to reply
• If the customer replies, send a thank-you acknowledgment
• If the customer does not reply, send a closing message and end the conversation

This helps your team focus on active conversations while handling inactive ones consistently. 

How the flow works

The template follows two possible paths depending on whether the customer replies to the check-in message:

1. The Customer sends you a message trigger enrolls eligible customers into the flow.
2. The first Send message action sends a check-in message and waits for a reply.
   1. If the customer replies before the timeout ends, the flow follows the Customer replied branch and sends an acknowledgment.
   2. If the customer does not reply before the timeout ends, the flow follows the Else branch and ends.

"Follow up with inactive customers" template

1. In Flow Builder, click “Create new flow”
   
2. In the template selection step, select “Follow up with inactive customers” template

Set up the "Customer sends you a message" trigger

1. Click on the “Customer sends you a message” node to open its node form, which will appear on the right side of the screen
   
2. The node form contains the following fields for you to set up the trigger:

• Setup tab
  • Channel: Select the messaging channels you want to monitor for incoming messages. You can select one or more connected channels, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or Live Chat.
• Filter tab
  • Enrollment condition: This is enabled by default in the template with the following condition: Last contact from customers → Is today
    
    • This condition limits enrollment to customers whose most recent incoming message was sent today, so older conversations do not enter the flow.
    • You can modify the condition or add more conditions based on your use case.

Set up "Send message" action node (check-in message)

The first Send message action sends a check-in message and waits for the customer to reply.

1. Click on the Send message action node to open its node form, which will appear on the right side of the screen
2. The node form contains the following fields for you to configure your action:

• Channel: This is set to Incoming channel by default, so the message is sent through the same channel the customer used.
• Message: The default message is “How can I help you?”. You can customize this to suit your tone and use case.

Set up "Wait for message reply" node 

1. Click on the “Wait for message reply” node to open its node form, which will appear on the right side of the screen

2. The node form contains the following fields for you to set up the trigger: 

• Setup tab
  • Event name: “Message received” is selected by default in the template, which means the flow will wait until the customer sends a message that matches your specified parameters 
  • Timeout if no reply after: This is set to 5 minutes by default. If the customer does not reply within this time, the flow moves to the Else branch. 
  • Time unit: Choose the time unit for the timeout setting. You can select:
    • Seconds
    • Minutes 
    • Hours
    • Days

Configure the reply outcomes

Once the check-in message is sent, the flow waits for a reply. What happens next depends on whether the customer responds within the timeout period:

When the customer replies

The Customer replied branch is used when the customer sends any reply before the timeout ends. 

1. Under the “Customer replied” branch, click the “Send message” action node.
   
2. The node form contains the following fields:

• Channel: This is set to “Incoming channel” by default, so the message is sent through the same channel the customer used.
• Message: The default message is “Thanks for reaching out to us!”. Customize this to fit your needs.
  
  

When the customer does not reply

If the customer does not respond before the wait period ends, the flow follows the Else branch. The flow proceeds directly to the End node.

Publish the flow

Click “Publish” to activate the flow.

Once published, customers who send a message and then go inactive will automatically receive a check-in followed by either an acknowledgment if they reply. This helps your team manage conversation volume while maintaining a professional customer experience.