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In German outreach, the wrong greeting costs you the reply. Yena never guesses it. It writes the formal salutation only from what you have set on the person, and it holds everyone else until you do.

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A day with the formal salutation

Laura is an executive search consultant in Munich. She is writing to 40 finance directors in Germany and Austria about a Head of Finance mandate. Her message opens with the field Formal salutation (German), so each person reads “Sehr geehrter Herr Müller” or “Sehr geehrte Frau Weber”. A greeting like “Guten Tag Anna Weber” would read as careless to this audience. “Sehr geehrter Herr” sent to a woman would be worse. Laura wants neither to happen by accident.
1

Laura adds the field to her message

In the Sequence tab she puts the cursor at the start of the email and clicks Formal salutation (German) under Insert. A Salutation section appears below the steps.
2

Yena shows who has no salutation yet

The section lists everyone in the campaign whose salutation is not set, for example “Salutation missing for 1 person”, with the line “This person is held until the salutation is set. Everyone else is sent.” The preview under Test one message says the same for the person she picks.
Salutation section listing Anna Beispiel with Salutation missing, and a preview with the literal field and a held warning

The Salutation section lists people without a salutation. The preview shows the held message.

3

She sets Ms or Mr next to each name

Laura picks Ms for Anna in the list. The list shrinks, and the preview now reads “Sehr geehrte Frau Beispiel”.
Preview of the email starting with Sehr geehrte Frau Beispiel

After Ms is set, the preview shows the finished greeting

4

She sets the rest in bulk in Candidates

For the remaining people she opens Candidates. The Salutation column has a drop-down per person. She ticks several rows and uses the bulk action Set salutation to pick Mr, Ms or Neutral for all of them at once.
Candidates table with the Salutation column showing Ms

The Salutation column in Candidates, with Ms set on one person

5

She starts the campaign

People with a salutation go out as planned. If one person is still missing, only that person waits. Everyone else is sent.
What Laura gets: every greeting is right, nothing goes out with a guessed “Herr” or “Frau”, and one missing field never stops the whole campaign.

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How it works

  • Set by you, never guessed. The salutation comes from the Salutation value on the person: Mr (Herr), Ms (Frau) or Neutral. Yena does not read it from the first name, the gender field or a title. Yena records who set it.
  • Mr and Ms need a surname. “Sehr geehrter Herr Müller” needs “Müller”. Without a surname the person is held.
  • Neutral writes “Guten Tag First name Last name”.
  • A missing salutation holds the person, not the campaign. On their row in the People tab the status reads Salutation missing. Nothing is sent to them and no attempt is used.
  • Setting it releases them. When you set the salutation, Yena takes the person off hold and sends their step shortly after, within your delivery window.

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Where to set the salutation

  • Per person: the Salutation column in Candidates, or the list in the sequence editor.
  • Many at once: tick rows in Candidates and choose Set salutation.
The column and the bulk action appear when your workspace language is German, or when a sequence of yours uses Formal salutation (German). Other workspaces do not see them.

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Allow the neutral greeting

If you prefer sending to being held, the switch Allow neutral ‘Guten Tag First name Last name’ in the Salutation section gives everyone without a salutation the neutral greeting.
  • It is off by default.
  • Your choice is recorded with your name.
  • It is tied to the message text. If you change the text afterwards, the permission lapses, and the section says “The message text changed after the neutral greeting was allowed.” Until you click Allow again, people without a salutation are held.
  • A person with no name at all is still held.
  • The switch is locked while sending is on. Pause the campaign, change it, then resume.

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FAQ

No. The hold only applies to messages that contain the field Formal salutation (German). English messages that start with the first name are untouched.
Set Mr, Ms or Neutral on them, in the Salutation section or in Candidates. They are released automatically.
No. The hold protects campaign messages.
See also Build your sequence for all insert fields.