Skip to main content

How to nudge and close idle conversations. Revive and resolve dormant support interactions

How to nudge and close idle conversations

Video guide

An introduction to effectively managing inactive customer conversations by automatically nudging and resolving idle tickets. The following guide covers:

  • Why and when to follow up on idle conversations
  • Setting up automated nudge templates
  • Configuring triggers and channels
  • Creating wait times and response checks
  • Setting up conditional responses
  • Sending followup nudge messages
  • Closing unresolved conversations and publish workflow

Step-by-step guide

This flow is especially useful for WhatsApp, where there's a 24-hour customer care window. Within that timeframe, you can freely message your customers — but if they stop responding, you'll need to use approved templates to reach out again. This automation helps you nudge customers and clean up inactive conversations.

Step 1: Go to templates and save your nudge idle conversations template

  • Go to Workflows in your Bird dashboard.
  • Click on Template Flows.
  • Scroll to Customer Service and select Nudge and Close Idle Conversations.
  • Click Save to my library to start editing.

Step 2: Set your trigger

  • Click Tree view for a clearer view of the flow structure.
  • The trigger is pre-set to start the flow when a new message is received.
  • Click Save to confirm the default trigger.

Step 3: Add a wait step

  • Add a Wait step to pause the flow for 1 hour after receiving a message.
  • If the customer responds within that hour, the flow ends.
  • If they don't respond, the flow moves forward.

Step 4: Send a nudge message

  • After waiting 1 hour, add a Send plain text message step.
  • This delivers a gentle reminder about the open conversation.
  • Customize the message within the step's panel.

Step 5: Add another wait step

  • Insert another Wait step, this time for 5 minutes.
  • Customer replies during this window conclude the flow.
  • No replies proceed to subsequent steps.

Step 6: Add a Conditional Step (optional, but recommended)

  • Insert a Conditional element for increased flow intelligence.
  • Split the journey based on customer response patterns post-nudge.
  • Within step details: route to additional follow-ups or end the flow.
  • This personalizes the follow-up experience.

Step 7: Add a final message and close conversation

  • Send a final message if no reply arrives, indicating conversation closure.
  • Use the Close conversation action to remove threads from agent views.
  • This maintains focus within the Assigned to Me tab.

Step 8: Publish your flow

  • Click Publish Draft in the top-right corner when ready.
  • Your Nudge and Close Idle Conversations flow becomes live and active.

More How-to's

Explore additional videos and step-by-step guides to help you move forward.