Build Smart Lists for past clients, sphere and dormant leads

Why it matters

A past client who closed with you in 2019, a cousin's neighbor, and a Zillow inquiry from 2023 need different first messages. Sending one blast to all three is how reactivation turns into unsubscribes.

We call a contact dormant when your last real two-way conversation was 6 or more months ago. Newer than that, they are an active relationship and belong in your normal follow-up, not a reactivation pilot.

Step by step

1. 01

   Decide your dormant cutoff date

   Take today's date and subtract 6 months. On October 20, 2026 the cutoff is April 20, 2026. Contacts whose last real conversation was before that date are dormant. Write the date down; you will type it into date filters.

   Check: You have a written cutoff date.

2. 02

   HighLevel: create the Past clients list

   Add the first filter, Relationship (your custom field) Is Past client. Use + Add Nested Filter to add each further condition so they combine with AND. + Add Filter combines with OR, which would widen the list instead. Add the date, DND and tag filters from the template below, then Create and name it Reactivation | Past clients.

   Check: The new list count is less than or equal to the number of past clients you know you have.

3. 03

   HighLevel: create Sphere, Dormant leads and Needs review

   Repeat with the filters for lists 2 to 4 in the template. Smart Lists are personal to the user who made them; share them with other admins from Manage Smart List using the share icon. They cannot be copied between sub-accounts or included in snapshots, so build them in each sub-account.

   Check: Four lists appear as tabs under Smart Lists.

4. 04

   Follow Up Boss: create the same four lists

   Open Filters (top right), add the filters for list 1 from the Follow Up Boss template, then + New List, name it, set sharing and Save List. Last Communication covers calls, emails, texts, Zillow messages and Inbox App messages, which is closer to a real conversation than Last Activity (Follow Up Boss uses Last Activity for website inquiries and searches).

   Repeat for lists 2 to 4. Sharing a list shares its filters, not access to the people in it, so each agent sees only the contacts they can already see.

   Check: Each list's count matches the HighLevel version if you run both systems, or makes sense against your own estimate.

5. 05

   Work the Needs review list down

   Open Reactivation | Needs review and set Relationship on each record. Sort by created date, newest first: you remember recent people better. If you cannot tell who someone is after 10 seconds, set Relationship = Lead and Strength = 1.

   Check: Needs review holds fewer than 10% of your database.

6. 06

   Write down the four counts

   Note each list's count with today's date in your export log or the workbook Segments tab. This is your baseline before any outreach.

   Check: You have four numbers and a date.

Copyable templates

All lists exclude suppressed contacts. In HighLevel, add each line as a filter in the same nested (AND) group.

1. Reactivation | Past clients
   Relationship (custom)        Is            Past client
   Last Conversation Date       Before Date   <today minus 6 months>
   DND all                      is            Disabled
   Tags                         Is None of    do-not-contact, reactivation-pilot

2. Reactivation | Sphere
   Relationship (custom)        Is            Sphere
   Last Conversation Date       Before Date   <today minus 6 months>
   DND all                      is            Disabled
   Tags                         Is None of    do-not-contact, reactivation-pilot

3. Reactivation | Dormant leads
   Relationship (custom)        Is            Lead
   Created On                   Before Date   <today minus 6 months>
   Last Activity On             Before Date   <today minus 6 months>
   DND all                      is            Disabled
   Tags                         Is None of    do-not-contact, reactivation-pilot

4. Reactivation | Needs review
   Relationship (custom)        Is Empty

All lists exclude suppressed contacts with Tags > Exclude any.

1. Reactivation | Past clients
   Relationship (custom field)  Include any        Past client
   Last Communication           Was more than      6 months ago
   Tags                         Exclude any        do-not-contact, reactivation-pilot
   (Compare with the default "Past Clients" list: stage Closed and last communication over 90 days.)

2. Reactivation | Sphere
   Relationship (custom field)  Include any        Sphere
   Last Communication           Was more than      6 months ago
   Tags                         Exclude any        do-not-contact, reactivation-pilot

3. Reactivation | Dormant leads
   Stage                        Include any        Lead, Attempted Contact, Spoke with Customer, Nurture
   Created                      Was more than      6 months ago
   Last Communication           Was more than      6 months ago
   Tags                         Exclude any        do-not-contact, reactivation-pilot

4. Reactivation | Needs review
   Relationship (custom field)  Is empty

Try it

How to test it

1. Open a contact you know is a past client you have not spoken to in a year. Confirm they appear in Past clients.
2. Open someone you texted last week. Confirm they appear in none of the four lists.
3. Add the do-not-contact tag to a test contact in Past clients. Refresh. They should disappear. Remove the tag afterwards.

Troubleshooting

Advanced technical details

Optional. You can follow every step above without these.