Aviary — Email Suppression Rule Bug

Overview

An automation rule in Aviary's (Hello's) email system stops sending email sequences the moment a lead is converted to an opportunity. Because the client (Aaron) converts nearly every inbound lead to an opportunity, this rule is effectively halting all outbound email campaigns. As of the March 17 weekly call, the email pipeline had sent only 41 emails the prior day and 5 on the day of the call — far below expected volume.

This is a critical blocker for a ^[1] due to flat performance across all channels.

Root Cause

The suppression rule was likely put in place to avoid emailing contacts who had already entered an active sales conversation. The assumption was that only a subset of leads would convert to opportunities quickly. In Aviary's case, however, Aaron converts virtually all leads to opportunities immediately, which means the suppression rule fires on nearly every contact and drains the active send list.

Impact

Email sequences stop prematurely for the majority of leads.
The campaign appears inactive from a volume and engagement standpoint.
Combined with flat SEO and stalled Google Ads (pending advertiser verification), this leaves Aviary with no active channel generating results — increasing churn risk ahead of their scheduled four-month review.

Resolution Path

The fix requires a client decision before any technical change is made:

Sebastian to ask Aaron: Once a lead is converted to an opportunity, should email sequences continue or stop?
If Aaron says continue: Mark will update the automation rule to remove or modify the suppression condition so emails keep sending post-conversion.
If Aaron says stop: The current rule is working as intended; the team needs to find another lever to drive engagement.

Action Items

[ ] Sebastian to email Aaron (Aviary) asking about desired email behavior after lead-to-opportunity conversion (@Sebastian Gant)
[ ] If Aaron approves continued sending, Mark to update the suppression rule accordingly (@Mark Hope)

^[2]
^[3]

Broader Pattern

This bug surfaces a common misconfiguration risk in CRM-linked email automation: suppression rules that make sense for typical pipelines can break entirely when a client's sales behavior is atypical (e.g., converting all leads immediately). When setting up lifecycle-based suppression rules, it's worth confirming the client's actual conversion rate and workflow before assuming a "standard" threshold applies.