Automations are a powerful feature designed to streamline your workflow and reduce manual tasks. This article will guide you through the process of setting up and managing Automations within your company settings.
Accessing the Automations Tab
Navigate to Administration:
Go to the Administration section in your company settings.
Look for the Automations tab, which will be available once the feature is enabled for your account.
Overview of the Automations Page:
On the Automations page, you will see a list of all the Automations you have created.
Each Automation will display its name, the triggers and actions it uses, and a history of its effects and edits.
The history section will also show who made any changes to the Automation.
Creating a New Automation
Initiate a New Automation:
Click the New Automation button to start creating a new rule.
Enter a descriptive name for your Automation. For example, "When account status moves to cancel, cancel gear orders."
Define the Trigger:
The trigger is the event that will activate your Automation.
For our example, the trigger is "When account status changes from closed to cancelled."
You will need to specify both the "from" and "to" statuses to prevent infinite loops.
Set the Action:
The action is what will happen when the trigger is activated.
In our example, the action is to "Set all associated gear orders to cancel."
This ensures that you don’t have to manually cancel each gear order and remove reservations.
Managing Automations
Toggling Automations:
You can enable or disable an Automation by toggling the switch next to its name
This allows you to control when the Automation is active without deleting it.
Editing and Deleting Automations:
Use the three dots menu
next to each Automation to access additional options.You can edit the Automation to make changes to its trigger or action.
You can also delete an Automation if it is no longer needed.
The duplicate option allows you to create a copy of an existing Automation, making it easier to set up similar rules.
Additional Tips and Best Practices
Preventing Infinite Loops:
Always specify both the "from" and "to" statuses in your triggers to avoid creating infinite loops.
For example, if you set an Automation to trigger when an account status changes from any status to cancelled, ensure that the action does not inadvertently change the status back to a state that would trigger the Automation again.
Exploring Different Triggers and Actions:
There are various triggers and actions available, such as "When a new event is created" or "Set the status to new."
Experiment with different combinations to automate a wide range of tasks.
Automations can significantly enhance your workflow by automating repetitive tasks and ensuring consistency across your operations. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create and manage Automations that meet your specific needs.
Automation Solutions: Example Scenarios & Set-Up
The scenarios below are common, real-world workflows you can build with Automations. Each one lists the problem it solves, the automation in plain language, and the exact set-up (Target Entity, Trigger, Action Entity, and Action) to configure it. Download the PDF version of the Automation Solutions & Examples at the end of this article.
Scenario 1: Automatically set the status on new events
Problem: Every time I make a new event, I have to remember to set the status. It's the same every time I create a new event, so I just want the system to set it for me.
Automation: I would like the status to be set to Quoting anytime a new event is created.
Target Entity | Event Details |
Trigger | New Event Created |
Action Entity | Event Details |
Action | Account Event Status changes to Quoting |
Scenario 2: Confirm gear orders when a quote is accepted
Problem: I want to make it easier on my Sales/Account Managers and Warehouse teams. People are forgetting to change statuses on gear orders once a client accepts a quote, and the warehouse doesn't see the orders to be pulled.
Automation: Whenever a customer accepts a Quote, or when Sales moves a Quote to Accepted, change the Gear Order statuses associated with that Quote to Confirmed so the warehouse sees the reservation.
Target Entity | Quotes |
Trigger | Status Changes from Saved to Accepted |
Action Entity | Gear Orders |
Action | Status Changes to Confirmed |
Scenario 3: Accept a quote automatically when it is e-signed
Problem: We are using E-Sign and I am forgetting to move the Quotes to Accepted.
Automation: Whenever a quote is E-Signed and the status moves to Completed, move the Quote to Accepted.
Target Entity | Quotes |
Trigger | E-Sign Status Changes from Pending to Completed |
Action Entity | Quotes |
Action | Status Changes to Accepted |
Scenario 4: Mark the event "Deal Won" when a quote is accepted
Problem: We are having a difficult time keeping our Event Statuses in line with our workflow. I would like the system to move that status as key items are done.
Automation: Whenever a Quote has been moved to an Accepted status, update the Account Event Status to Deal Won.
Target Entity | Quotes |
Trigger | Status Changes from Saved to Accepted (also build the same automation for Sent to Accepted) |
Action Entity | Event Details |
Action | Account Event Status Changes to Deal Won |
Scenario 5: Mark gear orders "Ready to Invoice" when the pullsheet is packed
Problem: We are having a difficult time keeping our Event Statuses in line with our workflow. I would like the system to move that status as key items are done.
Automation: Whenever a Pullsheet moves to a Packed status, update the associated Gear Order to a Ready to Invoice status.
Target Entity | Warehouse Activities |
Trigger | Pullsheet Status Changes from Initial to Packed (also build the same automation for Filling to Packed) |
Action Entity | Gear Orders |
Action | Status Changes to Ready to Invoice |
Scenario 6: Cancel gear orders when an event is canceled
Problem: When an event is Lost or Canceled, I would like to automatically change the Gear Orders to a Canceled status so that the gear reservations are released to be taken by another order.
Automation: When an Account Event Status changes to Canceled, update all Gear Orders to Canceled.
Target Entity | Event Details |
Trigger | Account Event Status Changes from Quoting to Cancelled (build out automations from all previous potential statuses in the workflow) |
Action Entity | Gear Orders |
Action | Status Changes to Canceled |
Important Notes about Automations
If you're unable to select anything in the Automation Builder, enter a name for the automation to activate the dropdown menus.
In order to prevent infinite loops, status triggers need to be mapped one by one to their desired outcome.
Example: When a Quote moves from Sent to Accepted, change Gear Order statuses to Confirmed. This also needs a companion automation for when a Quote moves from Saved to Accepted, change Gear Order statuses to Confirmed, in order to account for all possible scenarios.
You are able to chain automations together to achieve multiple outcomes.
Example: You have an automation that moves Quotes to Accepted when E-Signature is completed. Then you have an automation where, when a Quote moves to Accepted, all Gear Orders associated with that Quote move to Confirmed.