Inbox Rotation

Automatically distribute sequence enrollments fairly across multiple team members' email inboxes.

What is Inbox Rotation?

Inbox rotation automatically assigns incoming contacts to different team members' email addresses when they're enrolled in a sequence. Instead of all emails coming from one person, they're distributed across your team.

Simple example:

You have 3 sales reps (Alice, Bob, Carol) and 100 leads filling out your demo request form. With inbox rotation set to "Equal Distribution":

• Alice's inbox: ~33 enrollments
• Bob's inbox: ~33 enrollments
• Carol's inbox: ~34 enrollments

Everyone gets a fair share of the workload!

Why Use Inbox Rotation?

Fair Workload Distribution

• No single rep gets overwhelmed with leads
• Everyone contributes equally to the pipeline
• Easy to manage team capacity and PTO

Better Email Deliverability

• Spreading emails across multiple inboxes improves sender reputation
• Reduces risk of being flagged as spam
• Lower volume per inbox = better engagement rates

Team Accountability

• Each rep is responsible for their assigned leads
• Clear ownership of conversations
• Easy to track individual performance

Business Continuity

• No single point of failure if someone is sick or on vacation
• Leads still get assigned and contacted
• Easy to adjust distribution as team changes

Distribution Types

Rotation Periods

The rotation period controls how often the distribution count resets:

Creating an Inbox Rotation

Using Rotation in Workflows

After creating a rotation strategy, here's how to use it:

1. Go to HubSpot → Workflows → Your workflow
2. Add the "AutoSeq: Enroll in sequence" action
3. In the "Mailbox" field dropdown, you'll see two types of options:
   • Direct mailboxes: john@company.com (Primary) - John Smith
   • Rotation strategies: Sales Team Rotation - Equal Distribution - Daily - 4 mailboxes
4. Select your rotation strategy
5. Save and activate the workflow

That's it! Contacts will now be automatically distributed across the mailboxes in your rotation.

Monitoring Rotation Performance

AutoSeq provides detailed analytics for every rotation strategy:

Distribution Charts

• See how many enrollments each mailbox received
• View distribution over time (by period)
• Identify any imbalances

Period Statistics

• Total enrollments this period
• Breakdown by mailbox
• Percentage of total for each mailbox
• Comparison to target percentages (for custom distribution)

Recent Enrollments

• List of the last 20 enrollments
• Which mailbox was selected for each
• Why that mailbox was chosen (distribution reason)
• Timestamp of enrollment

Learn more about rotation analytics →

Best Practices

Start Simple

Begin with equal distribution and daily or weekly periods. Get comfortable with the basics before trying custom percentages.

Match Team Capacity

If someone is part-time or has other responsibilities, use custom distribution to give them a lower percentage.

Align with Planning Cycles

• If you do weekly sales meetings, use weekly periods
• If you have monthly quotas, use monthly periods
• If volume is high and steady, daily works great

Monitor Performance Weekly

Check your rotation analytics every week to ensure:

• Distribution is working as expected
• No mailbox is getting too many or too few
• The period length is appropriate for your volume

Communicate with Your Team

Make sure everyone knows:

• Which rotations they're part of
• Expected lead volume
• How to handle responses
• When periods reset

Common Scenarios

Handling PTO / Vacation

Problem: A team member is going on vacation for 2 weeks

Solution:

1. Edit the rotation strategy
2. Temporarily remove their mailbox
3. Distribution automatically adjusts to remaining team
4. Add them back when they return

Adding a New Team Member

Scenario: You hired a new sales rep and want to add them to rotation

Steps:

1. Make sure they have Sales Hub Pro license in HubSpot
2. Ensure they've connected their email inbox
3. Click "Sync Data" in AutoSeq to import them
4. Edit your rotation and add their mailbox
5. Adjust percentages if using custom distribution

Scaling for High Volume

Scenario: You're running a big campaign and expect 1000+ leads

Best practices:

• Use Equal Distribution for simplicity
• Set period to Daily so it rebalances quickly
• Include all available team members
• Monitor analytics daily during the campaign

Troubleshooting

Only One Mailbox Getting Enrollments

Symptoms: All enrollments going to the same person despite rotation

Common causes:

• Workflow has very low volume (rotation needs at least 2-3 enrollments to distribute)
• All enrollments happening at exact same millisecond (rare but possible)
• Wrong rotation selected in HubSpot workflow action

Solutions:

1. Check the rotation analytics to confirm it's the active rotation
2. Verify the workflow is using the rotation (not a direct mailbox)
3. Wait for more enrollments to see distribution balance out
4. If problem persists, contact support with your rotation ID

Distribution Seems Uneven

Symptoms: One mailbox has noticeably more enrollments than others

Common causes:

• Small sample size (need 20+ enrollments to see even distribution)
• Recently changed the rotation settings
• Period just reset and distribution is rebuilding

Solutions:

1. Check total enrollments - if under 20, give it more time
2. Look at analytics by period to see if it's evening out
3. Verify your distribution type and percentages are correct
4. For custom distribution, check that percentages add up to 100%

Can't See a Mailbox in Rotation

Symptoms: Expected team member's email isn't available to add

Causes:

• User doesn't have Sales Hub Pro license
• User hasn't connected their email in HubSpot
• Recent change hasn't synced yet

Solutions:

1. Verify the user has Sales Hub Pro in HubSpot Settings → Users & Teams
2. Check that they've connected email in their HubSpot profile
3. Click "Sync Data" in AutoSeq dashboard
4. Wait 30 seconds and try again

Advanced Use Cases

Territory-Based Routing

Create separate rotations for different territories:

• "West Coast Sales Team" - 3 reps covering CA, OR, WA
• "East Coast Sales Team" - 4 reps covering NY, NJ, MA, etc.

In HubSpot workflows, use IF/THEN branches based on "Contact: State" property to select the appropriate rotation.

Product Specialization

Create rotations based on product interest:

• "Product A Specialists" - Reps trained on Product A
• "Product B Specialists" - Reps trained on Product B

Use workflow branches based on form submissions or product tags to route to the right specialists.

Tiered Routing (Lead Scoring)

Create rotations for different priority levels:

• "Hot Leads Rotation" - Senior reps, high-score leads (80+)
• "Warm Leads Rotation" - Mid-level reps, medium scores (50-79)
• "Cold Leads Rotation" - Junior reps, low scores (<50)

Use workflow branches based on HubSpot Score to route appropriately.

Related Pages

• Rotation Analytics Deep Dive
• Direct Mailbox vs. Rotation Comparison
• Inbox Rotation Best Practices
• Troubleshooting Rotation Issues