> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brilo.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Stop calling a contact

> Set exit rules on a Brilo campaign so it stops calling after a set number of attempts, on a call outcome, or when the person says they are not interested.

Exit rules are the difference between a campaign and a nuisance. Without them a sequence keeps running
until it runs out of steps, whatever the contact said. With them, a campaign stops on its own the moment
continuing stops being reasonable.

Four settings, in **Exit Rules** on the campaign's **Settings** tab.

## Before you start

* A campaign with at least one step. See [Build a sequence](/campaigns/build-a-sequence).
* Five minutes. Do this before your first full run, not after.
* You will be working in the **Exit Rules** section of the campaign's **Settings** tab.

## Steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Exit Rules">
    Open the campaign, go to **Settings**, and expand **Exit Rules**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set Max call attempts">
    Stop after this many calls to a contact. Leave it blank for no limit, which you should not do on a
    cold list.

    Three is a sensible number. Four is defensible. Beyond that you are annoying somebody who has already
    told you no by not answering.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set Max days on campaign">
    Stop once a contact has been on the campaign this many days. This catches the contacts a sequence
    forgets: somebody whose steps all had conditions that never matched can otherwise sit enrolled
    forever.

    Set it a little longer than your sequence should take. If your steps span five days, set 10.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose which outcomes stop the campaign">
    Under **Stop on call outcome**, tick the outcomes that should take a contact off the campaign:

    | Outcome                   | Tick it when                                          |
    | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Reached a person**      | The call itself is the whole goal, such as a reminder |
    | **Went to voicemail**     | Rarely. A voicemail is not a conversation             |
    | **Couldn't be connected** | Rarely, and never on the first attempt                |

    Be careful here. Ticking every outcome empties your campaign after one call, because every call ends
    with one of the three.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write an exit condition on what was said">
    **Exit on what was said** takes a plain language description, and Brilo reads answered conversations to
    decide. Leave it blank to skip it.

    This is the most valuable setting on the page. Use it for the thing a call outcome cannot see: somebody
    saying they are not interested.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test with a contact who says no">
    Call in as a test contact and say you are not interested. Then check they show as **Exited**. See
    [Track a contact through a campaign](/campaigns/track-a-contact).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## You will know it worked when

A test contact who says they are not interested shows as **Exited** and gets no further steps, and nobody
on your list has been called more times than your attempt limit.

## A set of rules worth copying

For a cold or semi warm list:

| Setting               | Value                                                                  |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Max call attempts     | 3                                                                      |
| Max days on campaign  | 10                                                                     |
| Stop on call outcome  | Nothing ticked                                                         |
| Exit on what was said | the person said they are not interested, or asked us not to call again |

For an appointment reminder, where reaching them is the point:

| Setting               | Value                                             |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Max call attempts     | 2                                                 |
| Max days on campaign  | 5                                                 |
| Stop on call outcome  | Reached a person                                  |
| Exit on what was said | the person confirmed or cancelled the appointment |

The pattern: use **Stop on call outcome** only when the call connecting is itself the goal, and use **Exit
on what was said** for everything about intent.

## Writing an exit condition

Describe the situation in the words a person would use. It only runs on calls somebody answered, because
there is no conversation to read otherwise.

Good conditions:

```
the person said they are not interested, or asked us not to call again
the person said they have already paid
the person said they are no longer a customer
the person confirmed the appointment
the person asked us to contact them by email instead
```

Conditions that will not work:

```
the person did not answer
the number was wrong
```

Those are call outcomes, not things anybody said. Use **Stop on call outcome** for them.

Always include the "asked us not to call again" case. It is the one exit that is not optional.

## Exit rules are not optional on a cold list

If somebody asks not to be called again, honouring it is not a nicety. An exit condition covering that is
the difference between a campaign that made a mistake and a campaign that ignored a request repeatedly,
which is how a complaint becomes something worse. See
[Calling rules you should know](/compliance/calling-rules-you-should-know) and
[Let people unsubscribe](/campaigns/let-people-unsubscribe).

## What else you can do here

* Suppress somebody across future campaigns, not just this one. See
  [Let people unsubscribe](/campaigns/let-people-unsubscribe).
* Take one person off by hand. See [Pause, archive or stop a campaign](/campaigns/pause-archive-or-stop).
* Tell your agent what to say when somebody asks to be removed, so the call itself goes well. See
  [Add a call step](/campaigns/call-step).
* Check how many contacts are exiting and why. See
  [Read your campaign analytics](/campaigns/analytics).

## If it did not work

**Everybody exited after one call.** You ticked outcomes under **Stop on call outcome**. Every call ends
with one of the three, so ticking all three ends the campaign for everyone. Untick and rely on the
attempt limit and the written condition instead.

**Nobody exits, ever.** No rules are set. Blank means no limit for both attempts and days.

**The written condition never fires.** Either your calls are not being answered, so there is no
conversation to read, or the condition describes an outcome rather than something said.

**Somebody was called after asking not to be.** The condition did not cover that phrasing. Widen it, and
suppress that contact by hand now. This is the failure worth fixing the same day.

**Contacts are stuck enrolled forever.** Set **Max days on campaign**. This is exactly what it is for.

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="How do I stop my campaign calling somebody who says no?">
    Fill in **Exit on what was said** with something like "the person said they are not interested, or
    asked us not to call again". Brilo reads answered conversations and takes them off the campaign.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How many times should a campaign call the same person?">
    Three attempts, at different times of day. Four is defensible. Set it with **Max call attempts**,
    because blank means no limit and a sequence with two call steps plus retries adds up faster than you
    expect.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What does Stop on call outcome do?">
    It takes a contact off the campaign when a call ends with any outcome you tick. Use it when the call
    connecting is the goal, for example a reminder. Ticking all three outcomes ends the campaign for
    everybody after one call.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is the difference between the two exit settings?">
    **Stop on call outcome** looks at how the call ended and works on every call. **Exit on what was
    said** reads the conversation and works only on answered calls. Use outcomes for reach and the written
    condition for intent.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What does Max days on campaign do?">
    It removes a contact once they have been enrolled that many days, whatever step they are on. It is the
    safety net for contacts whose step conditions never match and who would otherwise stay enrolled
    indefinitely.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does exiting a contact remove them from my contacts?">
    No. They come off this campaign and stay in your contacts, with their full call history intact.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do exit rules apply to text and email steps?">
    The attempt limit counts calls, and the day limit covers the contact's whole time on the campaign
    regardless of channel. A contact who exits stops receiving every step, not just calls.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

* [Let people unsubscribe](/campaigns/let-people-unsubscribe) to suppress somebody across campaigns
* [Calling rules you should know](/compliance/calling-rules-you-should-know) for what is required
* [Track a contact through a campaign](/campaigns/track-a-contact) to see why somebody exited
* [Build a sequence](/campaigns/build-a-sequence) for the sequence these rules end
* [Read your campaign analytics](/campaigns/analytics) for how many are exiting