Optimizing Contact Selection for Outreach Sequences

Erik J. · 2025-10-24 09:42:04.985863+00

I have a table with 10's thousands of contacts and thousands of accounts. The table rows are ordered by unique contact with field as an additional column. (aka contact report) The goal is to clean and "score" the contacts based on things like title, industry etc. (This is done) From there we want to select a maximum of three contacts per accountto add to sequence. The three contacts would be chosen using the highest score to lowest. Thinking a column with a checkbox would sufifce. I could then filter down on that to push into Outreach. Can't seem to figure out how to get the table to "group" the accounts and only select 3 contacts per account. Any ideas?

Optimizing Contact Selection for Outreach Sequences | Clay

9 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Clay Support
APP
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To select the top 3 contacts per account based on score:
1.
Add a checkbox column - Click "Add Column" and set the data type to Checkbox. [1]
2.
Use a formula or conditional logic to mark the top 3 contacts per account. You can create a formula that identifies the top 3 highest-scoring contacts for each unique account. [2]
3.
Filter the table - Click Filter above the table, select your checkbox column, and filter where the checkbox is not empty to show only your selected contacts. [3]
4.
Push to Outreach - Use the filtered view to export or sync these contacts to your sequence.
For the formula logic, you may need to use conditional runs or formulas that compare scores within each account group and check the top 3. [4]
Clay Support
APP
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·
Was that helpful?
Erik J.
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For example: I want the top three scores (aka contacts) for this account. One thing to consider is what to do in a tie breaker? There are situations with 4+ contacts all with the same score.
Loading attachments
Clay Support
APP
·
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For tie-breaking when multiple contacts have the same score, you'll need to add a secondary criterion to your formula logic. Options include:
Alphabetical order by first/last name
Seniority level (prioritize higher titles)
Most recent activity or data freshness
Random selection for truly equal contacts
Build this into your conditional formula using comparison operators and logical operators (AND/OR) to first sort by score, then apply your tiebreaker rule. [1] [2]
For your example with 2 contacts at score 5 and 3 at score 2, the formula would select the top 2 (score 5), then use your tiebreaker to pick 1 of the 3 contacts with score 2. [3]
If you need help building the specific formula logic, click "Talk to a person" for assistance.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Is that what you were looking for?
Clay Support
APP
·
·
If you still need help refining the formula logic for tie-breaking or selecting the top contacts, I’m here to assist. Would you like to provide more details about the criteria you want to use for resolving ties?
Hunain F.
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Hi - Erik J. I can help you just DM me.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
To create a formula for selecting the top 3 contacts per account with tie-breaking:
1.
Add a Formula column - Click "Add Column" and select "Formula" [1]
2.
Use the AI Formula Generator - Type your instructions using "/" to reference columns like /Account Name and /Score [2]
3.
Build the logic - Create a formula that ranks contacts within each account by score, then applies a tie-breaker. Use comparison operators (>, <, ==) and logical operators (AND, OR) to combine conditions [3] [4]
For tie-breaking, you can use:
Alphabetical order by name
Secondary scoring criteria
Most recent data
The formula should first group by account, sort by score descending, then apply your tie-breaker rule to select exactly 3 contacts per account.
You can then use conditional runs to populate a checkbox column based on this formula result [5]
What specific tie-breaker criteria would you prefer to use when contacts have identical scores?
Clay Support
APP
·
·
If you still need help refining the tie-breaker formula or selecting the top contacts per account, I’m here to assist. Would you like to share more about the specific criteria you want to use for tie-breaking?

Clay Support
APP
·
·
To select the top 3 contacts per account based on score:
1.
Add a checkbox column - Click "Add Column" and set the data type to Checkbox. [1]
2.
Use a formula or conditional logic to mark the top 3 contacts per account. You can create a formula that identifies the top 3 highest-scoring contacts for each unique account. [2]
3.
Filter the table - Click Filter above the table, select your checkbox column, and filter where the checkbox is not empty to show only your selected contacts. [3]
4.
Push to Outreach - Use the filtered view to export or sync these contacts to your sequence.
For the formula logic, you may need to use conditional runs or formulas that compare scores within each account group and check the top 3. [4]
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Was that helpful?
Erik J.
·
·
For example: I want the top three scores (aka contacts) for this account. One thing to consider is what to do in a tie breaker? There are situations with 4+ contacts all with the same score.
Loading attachments
Clay Support
APP
·
·
For tie-breaking when multiple contacts have the same score, you'll need to add a secondary criterion to your formula logic. Options include:
Alphabetical order by first/last name
Seniority level (prioritize higher titles)
Most recent activity or data freshness
Random selection for truly equal contacts
Build this into your conditional formula using comparison operators and logical operators (AND/OR) to first sort by score, then apply your tiebreaker rule. [1] [2]
For your example with 2 contacts at score 5 and 3 at score 2, the formula would select the top 2 (score 5), then use your tiebreaker to pick 1 of the 3 contacts with score 2. [3]
If you need help building the specific formula logic, click "Talk to a person" for assistance.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
Is that what you were looking for?
Clay Support
APP
·
·
If you still need help refining the formula logic for tie-breaking or selecting the top contacts, I’m here to assist. Would you like to provide more details about the criteria you want to use for resolving ties?
Hunain F.
·
·
Hi - Erik J. I can help you just DM me.
Clay Support
APP
·
·
To create a formula for selecting the top 3 contacts per account with tie-breaking:
1.
Add a Formula column - Click "Add Column" and select "Formula" [1]
2.
Use the AI Formula Generator - Type your instructions using "/" to reference columns like /Account Name and /Score [2]
3.
Build the logic - Create a formula that ranks contacts within each account by score, then applies a tie-breaker. Use comparison operators (>, <, ==) and logical operators (AND, OR) to combine conditions [3] [4]
For tie-breaking, you can use:
Alphabetical order by name
Secondary scoring criteria
Most recent data
The formula should first group by account, sort by score descending, then apply your tie-breaker rule to select exactly 3 contacts per account.
You can then use conditional runs to populate a checkbox column based on this formula result [5]
What specific tie-breaker criteria would you prefer to use when contacts have identical scores?
Clay Support
APP
·
·
If you still need help refining the tie-breaker formula or selecting the top contacts per account, I’m here to assist. Would you like to share more about the specific criteria you want to use for tie-breaking?