Please note: this feature is in Preview at the moment, which means we're still making a few tweaks here and there to make it even better. It also means that while all customers can benefit from Automation Flows right now, when it's out of Preview it may be restricted to certain subscriptions.
What are Automation Flows?
CRM Automation flows allow you to create and manage the automatic sending of emails within your workspace. These flows are particularly useful whilst quoting as they can be used to have automatic chase emails sent to your customers to follow up on a Quote.
Prerequisites
You'll need CRM Admin rights to follow the steps in this guide
Step 1: Enable Automation Flows
To enable Automation Flows, navigate to System Settings and search "Automation Flows", or click here.
Step 2: Configure your Automation Flow
Once enabled, you can start creating the flows within the 'Configure Automation Flows' section found here. Select the plus icon in the top right-hand corner to open the creation window to start configuring a new Automation Flow.
Choose the type of Automation Process (currently only "Quote Chase" is available, but watch this space for more flows!) and a name for the process.
Step 3: Adding Steps to the Flow
Now that you've created the Automation Flow, use the pencil icon to manage the steps.
To add a step, simply press the plus icon within the Steps area, and complete the creation form.
Here, you can add information about the step, including:
Name: This will be the name of the step. We recommend numbering them for ease!
Email Template: Allocate the desired email template which will be sent to the Customer. If you need help creating email templates, check out this guide here.
Delay: The delay is set in hours. This will determine when the email will be sent after the initial Quote email has been sent or the process started manually.
Repeat this process until you've set up all the steps required.
Step 4: Selecting which email triggers the Process
Now that the actual process has been created, you'll need to choose which initial email will trigger the Automation Process to start. This initial email will have to be sent manually by a User and so we recommend you set your most used Quote Templates as triggers. More than one template can be set as a trigger for the same Automation Flow.
To set a template as a trigger, navigate to Configure Document Templates in System Settings or click here.
Select the template you wish to use by pressing the pencil icon on the right-hand side of the template. You'll now have a drop-down within the template configuration window to set the Automation Flow. Assign the Automation Flow you wish to start when this email is sent on a Quote.
Step 5: Using the Automation Flow
Now that you've set up the Automation Flows, you can either manually trigger them or they'll be triggered when your trigger emails are sent.
Trigger a flow using an email
To start the flow automatically once an email has been sent, navigate to any Quote and go to send an email. If you're about to send a trigger email, it will notify you at the top of the email.
If you wish to send the email without triggering the flow, you'll need to manually cancel the flow.
Manually managing the Automation Flow
If you wish to manually trigger a flow, or perhaps cancel a flow that's started, you can do so within the Details tab of a Quote. This is also where you can see when the following emails will be sent and what's already been sent.
