The Q Wait node compares different wait times and progressively sends more sessions toward the option that produces the best results. You can configure from 2 to 7 wait times and choose whether to evaluate them based on workflow success or conversions.
It is useful, for example, when you know that a message should be sent after a delay but you do not yet know which wait time works best.
How Q Wait works
Imagine a workflow for abandoned cart recovery. You may want to find out whether it is more effective to contact the customer after 1 hour, 4 hours, or 1 day.
With Q Wait, you can configure all three alternatives in the same node.
At first, sessions are distributed evenly across the configured wait times. With three alternatives, for example, each wait time initially receives about one third of the sessions.
Once enough data is available, Q Wait compares the results and gradually adjusts the distribution, sending more sessions to the wait times that are performing better.
The node continues to evaluate the results over time and update the distribution.
Configure the wait times
You can add from 2 to 7 wait times to the node.
For each row, specify:
- The wait time.
- The unit of time, such as minutes, hours, or days.
When you first start using Q Wait, it can be useful to compare two or three alternatives. The more wait times you configure, the more data is needed to evaluate them.
Set the minimum observation period
The Minimum observation period specifies how many days Q Wait must collect data before it can start recalculating the wait-time distribution.
Q Wait starts evaluating the results only when both of these conditions are met:
- The configured minimum observation period has elapsed.
- At least 30 completed sessions are available for each wait time.
The period is calculated from the last time the node was modified or reset.
This setting is particularly useful when the configured wait times differ significantly, for example 1 day and 10 days. Without a minimum period, most of the first completed sessions could come from the shorter wait time, making the initial data less representative.
Leave the value at 0 days if you do not want to set a minimum period.
Choose what to optimize
Under Recalculate wait times based on, choose the result Q Wait should use to compare the different wait times.
You can choose:
- Workflow success: considers sessions that finish through an exit node with a positive outcome.
- Number of conversions: considers conversions generated by contacts involved in the workflow.
If you choose Number of conversions, also select the conversion goal to use for the evaluation.
Example: abandoned cart recovery
For an abandoned cart recovery workflow, you could configure:
- 1 hour.
- 4 hours.
- 1 day.
If you want to find out which wait time generates the most purchases, select Number of conversions and choose the conversion goal that represents purchases.
At first, Q Wait distributes sessions evenly across the three wait times. Once any configured minimum observation period has elapsed and enough data is available, the node starts comparing the results.
If, for example, the 4-hour wait time performs better, an increasingly larger share of sessions will be assigned to that duration.
Monitor the optimization
Q Wait continues to collect data and adjust the session distribution over time.
In the node, you can see the current percentages assigned to each wait time and check how they change during optimization.
If you change the node configuration or use Reset, the learning process starts again and the minimum observation period is also calculated again.
When to use Q Wait
Q Wait is useful when you want to automatically optimize a wait time instead of choosing a single fixed duration in advance for all sessions.
Rather than relying on a fixed wait time, you can compare multiple alternatives and let the workflow progressively send more sessions toward the option that produces the best results based on the criterion you selected.
This allows the workflow to adapt to the results collected over time and reduces the risk of continuing to use a wait time that performs poorly.