> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.11x.ai/llms.txt).
> Use it to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up Alice

Configure Alice step by step - authenticate your sending domain, build the knowledge base, define your ICP, and launch your first outbound sequence.


Setting up Alice takes five steps: authenticate your sending domain, build her knowledge base, define your ICP, configure a sequence, and review before launching. The domain authentication is the only step with an external dependency — it needs DNS access — so start there.

<Callout kind="info">
**Who this applies to:** workspace Admins configuring Alice for the first time. You'll need DNS access for your sending domain and admin access to your CRM. If you're a rep receiving meetings from Alice, see [Getting started as a User](/help-center/get-started/getting-started-as-a-user) instead.
</Callout>

## Prerequisites

- CRM connected (Salesforce or HubSpot) — see [Quickstart step 2](/quickstart)
- A domain you control, with DNS access
- Your positioning and product materials
- A defined target segment

## Step 1 — Authenticate your sending domain

Email authentication determines whether Alice's messages reach the inbox. Do this before anything else and verify it independently.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Choose your sending domain strategy" icon="globe">
    Use a dedicated sending subdomain or a separate domain for outbound rather than your primary corporate domain. This isolates outbound reputation from your transactional and internal mail.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Publish SPF, DKIM, and DMARC" icon="shield">
    Add the DNS records 11x provides for the sending domain. All three are required — SPF authorizes the sending servers, DKIM signs the messages, and DMARC tells receivers what to do on failure.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Verify the records independently" icon="check-circle">
    Confirm each record resolves before sending. Use the free 11x tools:

    - [SPF record checker](https://www.11x.ai/tools/spf-record-checker)
    - [DKIM checker](https://www.11x.ai/tools/dkim-checker)
    - [DMARC checker](https://www.11x.ai/tools/dmarc-checker)
    - [Domain health checker](https://www.11x.ai/tools/domain-health-checker)
    - [Email blacklist checker](https://www.11x.ai/tools/email-blacklist-checker)
  </Step>
  <Step title="Warm up new mailboxes" icon="thermometer">
    A new domain or mailbox has no sending reputation. Let the **Deliverability Engine** pace volume upward rather than sending at target volume on day one.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Callout kind="alert">
Do not send outbound volume from a brand-new domain at full rate. Mailbox providers treat sudden volume from an unknown domain as a spam signal, and reputation damage is far slower to repair than to avoid.
</Callout>

## Step 2 — Build the knowledge base

The knowledge base is what Alice knows about your company. It is the highest-leverage input you control: generic outreach is almost always a thin-knowledge-base problem.

Provide, at minimum:

| Input | Why Alice needs it |
| --- | --- |
| **Positioning** | What you sell, who it's for, the problem it solves |
| **Product detail** | Capabilities specific enough to make a concrete claim |
| **Competitive differentiation** | How to respond when a prospect names an alternative |
| **Objection handling** | The five objections you hear most, and your answers |
| **Proof points** | Case studies, named customers, quantified results |
| **Pricing posture** | How much to say about pricing before a rep is involved |
| **Boundaries** | Claims Alice must never make; topics to route to a human |

<Callout kind="tip">
Write the knowledge base the way you'd brief a new SDR in their first week — including the things you'd tell them *not* to say. Constraints matter as much as content.
</Callout>

## Step 3 — Define your ICP

<Steps>
  <Step title="Set firmographic filters" icon="building">
    Industry, employee count, revenue band, geography, and technology stack. Start narrow — one well-defined segment produces better signal than a broad list.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Set role filters" icon="user">
    Job titles, seniority, and function. For ABM motions, define each buying-committee role you want engaged, not just the primary contact.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Set exclusions" icon="ban">
    Existing customers, accounts with open opportunities, competitors, partners, and any do-not-contact list. Exclusions are where CRM connection earns its value — Alice reads ownership and opportunity state directly.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Enable the Qualification Agent" icon="filter">
    This verifies ICP fit before outreach begins, so touches aren't spent on out-of-profile accounts.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Step 4 — Configure a sequence

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Channels" icon="share-2">
    Choose the channels for this segment. Email is the default backbone. Add LinkedIn for senior roles, consented calling where you have consent, and SMS or WhatsApp where the segment expects it.

    <Callout kind="alert">
    Only enable calling where you have the consent applicable law requires. See the [autodial terms](https://www.11x.ai/legal/autodial-terms).
    </Callout>
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Cadence" icon="calendar-clock">
    Set the order of touches and the delay between them. Longer gaps with better research generally outperform tight cadences with thin personalization.
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Exit conditions" icon="log-out">
    Define what removes a prospect from the sequence: any reply, a booked meeting, a disqualification, a bounce, or an opportunity opening on the account. Set these deliberately — a prospect who stays in a sequence after replying is the fastest way to lose the account.
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Playbook" icon="book-open">
    If this motion is one you'll repeat, save it as a **Playbook** so the target definition, angle, channel mix, and success criteria travel together.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Step 5 — Review, then launch

<Steps>
  <Step title="Inspect drafted messages" icon="eye">
    Pull a sample of prospects and read what Alice drafted for each. Ask whether you'd be comfortable with a rep sending it under their own name. If not, the gap is almost always in the knowledge base or the ICP definition.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Check the research" icon="search">
    Verify the researched claims are accurate. Wrong research is worse than no research.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Launch at limited volume" icon="rocket">
    Start below your target volume. Confirm deliverability and reply quality hold, then scale.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Review daily for the first week" icon="chart-line">
    Watch inbox placement, reply quality, qualification accuracy, and whether reps agree the booked meetings were qualified.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Frequently Asked Questions

<Expandable title="Why do Alice's messages read as generic?">
The knowledge base is too thin, or the ICP is too broad for a single message angle. Narrow the segment and add specific product detail and proof points. Enable **Custom Deep Research** to direct research toward the context this motion needs.
</Expandable>

<Expandable title="Why are my emails landing in spam?">
Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC all resolve with the [domain health checker](https://www.11x.ai/tools/domain-health-checker). Check whether the domain or IP appears on a blocklist with the [blacklist checker](https://www.11x.ai/tools/email-blacklist-checker). Then review mailbox health in analytics — a high bounce or complaint rate on one mailbox drags the whole domain.
</Expandable>

<Expandable title="Why is Alice contacting accounts a rep already owns?">
The CRM connection is missing, incomplete, or the exclusion rules don't reference opportunity state and ownership. Re-check the field mapping and add ownership and open-opportunity exclusions in step 3.
</Expandable>

<Expandable title="Why is reply volume high but quality low?">
The Qualification Agent threshold is too permissive for the segment. Tighten the ICP filters before increasing volume.
</Expandable>

## Next steps

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Alice overview" icon="send" href="/alice/overview" horizontal>
    Full capability reference.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Set up Julian" icon="inbox" href="/julian/setup" horizontal>
    Handle the inbound side.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Integrations" icon="plug" href="/integrations" horizontal>
    Slack alerts, calendars, and webhooks.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Get help" icon="life-buoy" href="/help-center" horizontal>
    FAQs and troubleshooting.
  </Card>
</Columns>