Any field on any record
A trigger is an object, a field and a condition. The objects are the ones you already run the business on, so the list of things that can start a sequence is the list of things that happen in your business.
Marketing Automation · Marketing
Write the rule on the record once. The follow-ups send themselves.
Quote sent, no reply in seven days.
One sentence on the quote object: status is Sent, last activity older than seven days. Every morning the rule reads every quote, and the ones that match are enrolled: an email from the quote's owner on day one, three days of waiting, an SMS, four more days, then a task for the owner to call. The sequence stops on its own the moment the contact replies or the quote changes status, because it is watching the record, not a list.
From the trigger to the hand-off, in three steps.
The trigger is on the record
Pick an object, pick a field, state the condition. The rule reads the quote, the invoice or the ticket as it is, so "sent, no reply in seven days" is a filter, not an integration.
From the trigger to the hand-off, in three steps.
Pick an object, pick a field, state the condition. The rule reads the quote, the invoice or the ticket as it is, so "sent, no reply in seven days" is a filter, not an integration.
The triggers you already have.
What starts a sequence, what it sends, when it stops and who it hands the contact to are yours to set.
An invoice unpaid
Due date passed, not settled: a reminder from the invoice's owner, a second one a week later, then a task. It stops the day the bank line matches.
A ticket closed
Closed for a day: a two-question survey to the person who raised it, and a task for support when the answer is under three.
A subscription due
Sixty days before the renewal: an email with the new price, and a task for the account owner two weeks later if nothing came back.
An event attended
Checked in at the open day: a thank-you the next morning with a link to book a site visit, and nothing at all for the people who registered and did not come.
Stock back
The line goes from zero to received: one email to the contacts who asked for that product, from the rep who took the call.
Any field on any record
A trigger is an object, a field and a condition. The objects are the ones you already run the business on, so the list of things that can start a sequence is the list of things that happen in your business.
The same sequence, for a business that services boilers and one that launches websites.
What adapts: the object the trigger reads (an installation, a project, a quote), the field that fires it, the channel of each step, who the hand-off goes to, and what ends the sequence. Two businesses can run Marketing Automation and share nothing but the word "sequence".
An HVAC installer
The trigger is on the installation record: the next service is due within thirty days. The sequence emails the site contact with three dates, texts a week later, and gives the planner a task at two weeks. It ends the moment an intervention is planned, and hands off to Field Service, not to sales.
A web agency
The trigger is on the project: the stage moves to Kick-off. The sequence welcomes the client, invites them to their portal the next day, sends the "how we work" page on day three and gives the project lead a check-in task at two weeks. It ends when the client opens a ticket, and hands off to Helpdesk.
This is the room.
One sequence, opened: the trigger at the top, the steps as blocks with their day offsets, the branch with its conditions on the edges, the exit rule, and, on the right, the contacts running through it today and the step each one is on.
Any field is a trigger.
An installer adds "Last service" and "Service interval" to the installation object and makes "Next service due" calculate from them. The next morning "Next service due within 30 days" is a trigger, on the same menu as "Invoice overdue" and "Quote sent". The rule reads your objects and your fields, the ones you added included, because the record the sequence runs on is the record the rest of the business runs on. Nothing is mapped, nothing is synced, and a field renamed on Tuesday is the field the rule reads on Wednesday.
A week read twice.
The same week of follow-ups, once with a contact list synced into a workflow tool every Monday, once with the rules sitting on the records themselves.
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The list. Exported from the CRM on Monday, imported into the tool, stale by Tuesday.. Rules on the record: The record. The contact, the quote and the invoice are one record, and the rule reads it as it is..
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The trigger. "Tag added" or "Form filled", because that is all the tool can see.. Rules on the record: Any field. Quote sent, invoice overdue, ticket closed, service due, stock back..
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The wait. A delay in the tool, blind to what happened in between.. Rules on the record: A wait that watches. The sequence stops the moment the quote is signed or the invoice paid..
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The SMS. A second tool, a second contact list, credits bought apart.. Rules on the record: A step in the sequence. Same contact, same log, sent from the owner's name..
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The hand-off. A webhook to the CRM, a lead the rep opens cold.. Rules on the record: A task on the opportunity. With the thread, the quote and every send under it..
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The unsubscribe. Updated in the tool, missed in the CRM, sent again.. Rules on the record: One consent field. On the contact, read by every send from every module..
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The reply. Lands in a personal inbox, the sequence keeps going.. Rules on the record: The exit. The reply ends the sequence and becomes an activity for the owner..
- A synced list and a workflow tool (Unresolved): The report. Opens and clicks, in the tool, about the list.. Rules on the record: What it produced. Quotes signed, invoices paid, visits booked, read on the records..
The marketing automation tool you would otherwise buy runs on a copy of your contacts.
A trigger, timed steps and a branch
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A marketing automation tool
- Yes
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, on any record
Email and SMS in one sequence
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A marketing automation tool
- Yes, with credits
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, from the record's owner
The trigger reads the invoice, the ticket, the stock line
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A marketing automation tool
- A synced property
- A suite module
- In their own modules
- Enobase
- Yes, the record itself
A field you added this morning as a trigger
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A marketing automation tool
- After a mapping
- A suite module
- Rarely
- Enobase
- Yes, the next run
The sequence stops when the quote is signed
- A spreadsheet
- By hand
- A marketing automation tool
- If the sync ran
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, it watches the record
The hand-off is a task on the opportunity
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A marketing automation tool
- A webhook
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, with every send under it
One consent field for every module
- A spreadsheet
- No
- A marketing automation tool
- Theirs
- A suite module
- Yes
- Enobase
- Yes, on the contact
Time to live
- A spreadsheet
- A day
- A marketing automation tool
- Weeks
- A suite module
- Months
- Enobase
- One week
| What you need | A spreadsheet | A marketing automation tool | A suite module | Enobase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A trigger, timed steps and a branch | No | Yes | Yes | Yes, on any record |
| Email and SMS in one sequence | No | Yes, with credits | Yes | Yes, from the record's owner |
| The trigger reads the invoice, the ticket, the stock line | No | A synced property | In their own modules | Yes, the record itself |
| A field you added this morning as a trigger | No | After a mapping | Rarely | Yes, the next run |
| The sequence stops when the quote is signed | By hand | If the sync ran | Yes | Yes, it watches the record |
| The hand-off is a task on the opportunity | No | A webhook | Yes | Yes, with every send under it |
| One consent field for every module | No | Theirs | Yes | Yes, on the contact |
| Time to live | A day | Weeks | Months | One week |
Questions about Marketing Automation
Yes. On its own it is contacts, sequences and rules on those contacts: a form filled, a date reached, a field changed. Every module you turn on adds its records to the trigger menu: quotes, invoices, tickets, subscriptions, installations.