playbookS

How to automate “Meeting Canceled” alerts and win back prospects with follow-up emails?

Turn canceled meetings into win-back opportunities with automated alerts and follow-up sequences. This playbook shows you how to set up workflows that keep your team informed, nurture leads, and maximize every chance to re-engage.

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Vikash Koushik
October 29, 2024
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I get a front-row seat to watch our sales team at RevenueHero channel their inner detectives whenever a meeting gets canceled.

They don’t just shrug it off – they dig into those cancellation reasons like they’re on a mission to solve the latest mystery in a detective novel. 

And here’s why it matters: each cancellation uncovers a breadcrumb trail through the funnel, helping us fine-tune the entire buying experience in real time. 

That’s why “meeting canceled” alerts for sales reps are just the first step in building a culture of proactive follow-ups, reason gathering, and, ultimately, winning back those meetings.

Curious about how you can make this magic happen? 

Here’s how you can use RevenueHero along with the tools that are already in your tech stack to automate the entire set up.

How to set up automated “Meeting Canceled” alerts for your sales team?

RevenueHero’s workflows let you automate vital parts of the GTM funnel with laser precision, reacting to all kinds of lead and meeting situations. 

No more manual CRM updates for canceled meetings – RevenueHero detects them automatically and pushes the info straight into the CRM. 

Here’s how you can set up instant alerts for your team when a meeting is canceled.

1. Choose your trigger and action

Head over to the “Workflows” tab in RevenueHero and start a new workflow. For your trigger, select “When a meeting is canceled”.

On the next screen, you can pick the specific Meeting Types for which you want this workflow to trigger. This way, you can get granular and set specific alerts for, say, an SDR qualifying meeting or an AE demo – anything that matches your workflow needs.

In this case, we’ll keep it simple and select “All meeting types”.

2. Craft your meeting alert with all the essentials

tip-iconINFO
In this playbook, we’re setting up Slack alerts. You can also choose to set up and send email alerts if you prefer that.

Under “Action”, customize the Slack content for your canceled meeting alert. RevenueHero’s placeholders let you pack each alert with all the critical lead info:

- Cancellation reason – because context is everything.

- Meeting date & time – so they know exactly what’s been dropped.

- Prospect Details – info gathered from form entries and enrichment.

tip-icon PRO TIP
Want the entire team to stay in the know? Simply @ mention your team members in the “Notify members” field. This ensures everyone is already up to date and there are no surprises in your pipeline meetings.


3. Automatically send a follow up sequence 

Let’s set up a workflow that turns the experience of a canceled meeting into an opportunity for meaningful re-engagement. 

Since RevenueHero is the only tool that automatically marks meeting outcomes in real-time, you’ll never have to worry about following up with your sales team to update your CRM records. Instead, you can set up automations that let you win back prospects.

Every step is carefully crafted to guide the lead gently back to a potential rescheduling while keeping your team informed and your CRM clean. It's about making canceled meetings a productive part of your lead nurturing strategy, helping your team maintain momentum even when plans change. 

Define the enrollment trigger

Here, we’re setting “Meeting Status = Canceled” as the trigger, so this workflow only activates when it’s truly relevant. This way, we're not accidentally messaging contacts who haven’t canceled their meetings, avoiding any awkward or unnecessary follow-ups.

How to set it up:

1. Navigate to HubSpot: Go to “Automation > Workflows” and create a new Contact-based workflow.

2. Set enrollment trigger: Click on “Set enrollment trigger”. Choose “Meeting Status” as the property, then select “is any of” and set it to “Canceled”.

tip-icon PRO TIP
This automation will trigger for contacts if they book time with your onboarding team via RevenueHero. We ideally recommend keeping it on for every meeting because who doesn’t want people to immediately follow up if the prospect cancels the meeting? 

If you want to set this up just for certain meetings, you can do that by including the “Meeting Type” property value that RevenueHero passes to your CRM as a part of your trigger.

Automate the follow-up email

Canceled meetings could often mean they want to reschedule the meeting to another date and time. Or it could signal that the contact needs a gentle nudge to re-engage. 

By sending an automated email, you’re making it easy for them to pick a new time without putting the burden on your team to chase them. This also maintains a seamless buying experience, giving your prospects a proactive message that shows you’re attentive.

How to set it up:

1. Add the “Send Email” action.

2. Choose the email template you want to send. 

3. Craft the email to include a rescheduling link. Make it clear, concise, and supportive.

Typically, our first automated emails are all about trying to divert people’s attention from cancellation to rescheduling. So, we try to keep the messaging around “Did you want to reschedule the call to another time instead?” and help them with a link to make it super easy to book another call.

tip-icon PRO TIP
Keep the tone warm and understanding — your goal is to rebuild interest, not guilt-trip the lead for canceling. Include RevenueHero’s magic link to ensure when they book a meeting through this email, they get routed back to the original owner who was supposed to get the meeting. 

Introduce a delay 

Delays are about timing. 

You don’t want to bombard a lead with messages, especially after they’ve just received an automated email. A 23-hour delay keeps the follow-up on their radar but avoids the dreaded inbox overwhelm.

How to set it up:

1. Add the “Delay” action.

2. Set the delay to “23 hours”.

Send a Slack Notification to the Team

Now that it’s been 23 hours since we’ve sent a follow up email to our prospect, it’s time to inform our sales team that we actually did this. 

A Slack notification keeps your team in the loop without requiring them to dig into HubSpot or check emails. They get real-time updates on canceled meetings, making it easy for them to follow up personally if needed or just to stay informed. It’s about enhancing collaboration and awareness.

How to set it up:

1. Add the “Send Slack Notification” action.

2. Write a message that gives your team context, e.g., “Hey team, an automated email was sent to the contact asking to reschedule using RevenueHero’s magic link. Check the contact’s meeting activity to know the exact reason why the meeting was canceled”.

tip-icon PRO TIP
Make the Slack message actionable. Include a quick CTA, like check the contact, to prompt any additional, manual outreach if needed. This step transforms a canceled meeting from “lost” to “re-engagement opportunity”.

Update the Contact’s Deal Pipeline and Stage

Canceled meetings can signal that the lead needs nurturing rather than an immediate sales push. By setting their “Deal Stage” to “Nurture”, you’re re-categorizing them as a contact to be gently re-engaged, rather than pressing for a close. 

This keeps your sales pipeline clean and organized, focusing on those most ready to engage. And, that’s one less thing you’ll have to make your sales team do and follow up with them 😀

Now, that’s how you become a sales rep’s best friend ;) 

How to set it up:

1. Add the “Set Property Value” action.

2. Choose “Deal Pipeline and Stage”, then set it to “Nurture” in your pipeline.

tip-iconINFO
In this example, we’ve updated the deal stage to “Nurture”. However, you can automatically edit the deal stage or lifecycle stage or lead status or any other property to the one that fits your sales process. 

The goal of this step is to automate and remove as many things as possible from the sales team’s plate.

Final check and activate the workflow

After setting up each action, review the workflow to ensure everything’s in place. Previewing the experience is crucial — you don’t want to accidentally send messages or alerts that aren’t aligned with your team’s strategy or the lead’s journey.

1. Review each step to confirm triggers, emails, delays, and property updates are accurate.

2. Ensure the contact can be re-enrolled if you see contacts often cancel their calls with you before they finally show up for the meeting.

3. Activate the workflow to make it live.

Wrapping Up

And there you have it—a canceled meeting transformed from “dead end” into a second chance to re-engage, refocus, and even refine your approach. 

With this setup, you’re not just throwing a life preserver to potentially lost prospects; you’re proactively guiding them back into the sales process, all while making your sales team look like follow-up superheroes (no capes required).

These workflows turn meeting cancellations into momentum, ensuring your sales team stays informed, the CRM stays organized, and prospects get a nudge right when they’re most likely to need it. It’s not just about rebooking; it’s about building a seamless, responsive experience that keeps your leads moving forward, even when plans change.

So go on—activate that workflow, sit back, and let RevenueHero work its magic. Every canceled meeting is now just another opportunity waiting to happen.