Playbooks
The four question partner survey: ask nothing else, in their language, and let a person close
Shelly Group asked installers four numbered questions in the body of an email, in the installer's language, with nothing to click, then followed up twice. In the June to August waves 13.6% replied, against 3.3% for the first email alone. 225 installers answered the survey and 64 big project installers surfaced. Conversion here means engagement, not sales.
Published by Sellinger AI. Numbers and settings checked on 19 October 2026 against the fact register. Report an error.
- installers emailed in 111 countries
- 3,940
- genuinely replied, including 30 who wrote first
- 360
- answered the survey; 172 of 210 complete surveys came back in one message
- 225
- converted by the study's definition: survey, booked call, big project or thank you code. Engagement, not sales
- 238
The scenario
A device maker with a quiet installer portal wanted to know who installs its products, on what projects and what stops them installing more. The agent wrote as the Installer Development Team, never as a named person. See the partner and installer engagement use case.
The configuration
- 1
Day 0
Survey email
Four numbered questions in the body, in the local language. Nothing to click.
- 2
Day 7 to 9
Follow up 1
Short and self contained: the questions travel with every email. Median 8.3 days after the first email.
- 3
Day 14 to 18
Follow up 2, the last touch
In Bulgaria, one short nudge 45 minutes after the email.
- 4
A reply
Answer in about a minute
In the installer's language, repeating two or three things they said.
- 5
After the survey
One optional call line
A 30 minute call with a booking link. Never before the survey is answered.
- The four questions, abridged: what kind of projects do you mainly work on; roughly how many projects per month; what is your biggest challenge; what is the one thing we could do to support you better.
- Team voice, never a named person. Peer to peer, short, no selling.
- Write in the installer's language from a 60 country language map. Once they reply, follow the language they wrote in.
- Do not promise prices, codes, dates or certification status. Commercial and support topics get a holding reply and go to a person.
- An opt out closes the thread. The sequence was capped at the first email plus two follow ups after touches 4 and 5 produced the only stop complaints.
The result
| Touch | Reply rate | Base |
|---|---|---|
| First email | 3.3% | 64 of 1,966 |
| Follow up 1 | 5.3% | 100 of 1,902 |
| Follow up 2 | 3.0% | 45 of 1,513 |
| Follow up 3 | 3.6% | 33 of 920 |
| Follow up 4 | 6.3% | 26 of 414 |
With one email only 3.3% would have replied, with follow ups 13.6%, which is 4.2 times as many. 76% of replies came only because of a follow up. The October wave was one week old at the data date.
What did not work
- Too many touches. Shelly capped the sequence at two follow ups.
- A reminder that dropped the questions. Seven installers asked for them again. Since 30 July every email carries them.
- Improvised answers on pricing before October. Commercial topics now go to a person.
- No sales claim: the programme measures answers, calls and projects flagged.
Common questions
Why put the questions in the email body?
Why a language map?
How many follow ups?
Does it prove sales?
Sources and method
A playbook here is a configuration that ran, with the outcome it produced and the base of every number. It is not a template promise: your audience and offer decide your own rates. Source: Shelly installer programme case study, Sellinger production data for the Shelly workspace, read only, to 9 October 2026.
Related: Shelly case study, partner and installer engagement, email agent, all playbooks.
