NaviOrca guide
Find the right targets. Write emails worth replying to. Send and follow up like a real person.
Think of NaviOrca as an outreach assistant that researches while it builds your list. In this guide, imagine you sell a portable, no-electricity espresso maker to independent outdoor gear stores in the US. You tell NaviOrca who to find, what signals matter, and how the email should sound; it keeps targets, Research Notes, drafts, sending, and follow-ups in one workspace.
Step 1
Start with one focused workspace
A Mission is the workspace for one outreach job. If you are looking for independent outdoor gear stores in the US for a portable espresso maker, keep that in one mission. If next week you want to reach boutique hotel operators, make a separate mission. This keeps targets, drafts, and follow-up history from getting mixed together.
Click New Mission in the left sidebar.
Name it plainly, for example "US outdoor gear stores - portable espresso".
Keep one mission focused on one audience so search, drafting, and follow-up stay accurate.
US outdoor gear stores
31 targets
Boutique hotel operators
Draft
Specialty coffee shops
Draft
Agent
Smart Table
Step 2
Tell the Agent who you want, like you would brief a teammate
The Chat pane is where you brief the AI assistant. Instead of saying "find customers", say the industry, location, quantity, required fields, and who to exclude. The closer it sounds to a task you would give a human researcher, the better the results.
Example: Find 30 independent outdoor gear stores in the US. I need owner or buyer name, direct email, website, Instagram, and a short reason they are worth contacting.
If the list is too broad, continue with "remove national chains", "add store category", or "only owner and buyer emails, no info@".
Chat tasks change the target table. They do not rewrite your email brief.
Step 3
Save the rules for a good target
When NaviOrca sees a stable pattern, it may suggest criteria. Think of criteria as the standing rule for who belongs in this mission: independent outdoor retailers, owner or buyer contact, camping or overlanding relevance, no national chains.
Criteria answer "who qualifies", not "how should the email sound".
Click Confirm criteria when the rule matches your target.
If the rule is too broad or too strict, edit it before saving.
Save these as mission criteria?
Future searches and actions must satisfy Criteria first, then your current chat request.
- - Independent outdoor retailers only
- - Owner or buyer contact preferred
- - Camping, hiking, overlanding, or bikepacking fit
Step 4
Use the smart table as your research board
The table is not just a contact list. It is the working board for this outreach job. Each row is a target, and Research Notes capture why they fit, what public signals matter, and what opening hook might work. If a store features bikepacking gear and winter camp kits, that can become the reason your email mentions coffee on cold mornings at camp.
Research Notes usually include fit, useful signals, possible hooks, and source context.
If a fact is wrong, click the cell and fix it before drafting.
Remove bad-fit targets early so they never enter the sending workflow.
Step 5
Tell NaviOrca how the email should sound
The Email Brief controls the writing. Use it for tone, offer, call to action, things to avoid, and what the email should emphasize. For example: sound like the founder wrote it, keep it under 120 words, do not hard-sell, and ask if they want two wholesale examples for outdoor retailers.
Criteria answer who to contact. Email Brief answers how to write to them.
Add product points, tone, forbidden claims, and the action you want the reader to take.
Research Notes provide personalization material, but they should not override instructions you put in the brief.
Email Brief
Write in a concise founder-to-owner tone. Mention one public signal from Research Notes. Lead with no-electricity espresso for camping trips. CTA: ask if they want two wholesale examples. Avoid hype.
Controls
Tone, offer, CTA
Does not control
Target qualification
Step 6
Pick an angle before generating drafts
Before it writes the batch, NaviOrca gives you a few possible outreach angles. One may stay closest to your Email Brief, one may use more of the Research Notes, and another may lead with a timely opportunity. Pick the one that sounds most like what you would actually send.
For an outdoor store owner, you might choose a founder-to-owner note or a hook about no-electricity espresso for camping trips.
If you want the safest version, choose the angle that follows the brief most closely.
Drafting only writes editable drafts into the table. It does not send anything.
Research Notes
Used in draft
Email Brief
Used in draft
Outreach angle
Used in draft
Step 7
Review the email before it goes out
After drafts are generated, open a few and read them like real emails. Check whether the name is right, the reference makes sense, and the voice sounds like you. Preview shows the final email with links, signature, and unsubscribe text.
You do not need to add your signature inside the draft body; NaviOrca appends it when sending.
If a sentence does not sound like you, edit it directly.
Use Preview before important batches, especially when the email includes links or a rich signature.
Edit
I saw Park's Outpost features bikepacking and winter camp kits...
Preview
Eric Bai
Founder, NaviOrca
www.naviorca.ai
If this is not relevant, just reply stop and I will not follow up again.
Step 8
Know where each target stands
Email Status tells you what has happened to each target: draft only, sent, replied, bounced, unsubscribed, or failed. NaviOrca uses that status to decide what can happen next.
Replied, bounced, and unsubscribed targets are excluded from cold follow-ups.
If someone replies in Gmail before the app syncs it, you can mark the row as Replied.
Once status is clear, you know who can receive a first email and who only belongs in a follow-up flow.
Drafted
Ready for review
Edited
User changed draft
Sent
Eligible later
Replied
No cold follow-up
Bounced
No follow-up
Unsubscribed
Do not contact
Failed
Needs attention
Step 9
Connect the inboxes you actually want to send from
NaviOrca sends from your connected Gmail or Outlook inboxes, not from a generic mass-mail account. After connecting, add sender name, signature, and a daily limit. For a new inbox, keep the limit conservative at first instead of sending a large batch suddenly.
Put your name on the first signature line, then add company, role, website, or contact links below it.
NaviOrca will not send from an inbox that does not have a complete signature.
You can connect multiple inboxes, and NaviOrca will distribute sends across the ready ones.
eric@naviorca.ai
Connected - signature ready
Display name
Eric Bai
Enabled
Yes
Eric Bai
Founder, NaviOrca
www.naviorca.ai
Step 10
Send from chat or from selected rows
Once the drafts look right, you can tell the Agent in chat which emails to send, or select the rows directly in the table. NaviOrca spreads the sends across available inboxes, paces them out, and keeps each target tied to the same sender for future follow-ups.
For example, 30 emails may be split across two inboxes and sent a few minutes apart.
The sent history keeps the final email body for later review.
Using the same sender for follow-ups keeps the thread feeling consistent.
Queue 12 emails for sending
Emails are distributed across ready inboxes and sent gradually. Each target is pinned to its sender for future follow-ups.
Step 11
Follow up with people who have not replied
Follow-ups are for people who received the first email but have not replied. For example, seven days later, NaviOrca can draft a shorter reminder that keeps the same context and sender. You still review the draft before deciding to send.
People who replied, bounced, or unsubscribed are excluded automatically.
Follow-up drafts can still use the earlier email and target context.
If the timing does not feel right, leave the follow-up for later.
3 follow-ups auto-drafted - review before sending
Just wanted to follow up on my note about no-electricity espresso for cold mornings at camp. Happy to send two outdoor retail examples if useful.