In This Release… [Click here for a video overview of all the new features]
Please Note: The rest of the Release Notes Updates are located in a separate Release Note Post
Workflows
Introduction to Workflows in Striven
We are excited to announce the release of Striven’s new feature called Workflows! This feature will change how we think about and use Multi-touch Campaigns and provide a new option for automating contact with Customers using Striven.
Workflows will allow users to create a process of steps, which are called Actions, to be executed when a certain event occurs, which are referred to as Triggers.
With this release, there will be five (5) Triggers available, although more options may be added in future updates. These Triggers include:
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A custom search based on Customer/Vendor Data Set
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A custom search based on Tasks Data Set
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A custom search based on Sales Orders Data Set
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A custom search based on Opportunities Data Set
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A custom search based on Projects Data Set
For each of the Triggers, there are four (4) Actions available for selection. These options include:
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Send Email
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Create Discussion
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Send Text
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Create Task
Please note that Striven’s Twilio Integration will need to be active in order for the Send Text Action to be accessed and selected.
The recipients for the above-noted Actions will depend on the selection of the Trigger + Action configuration, which will be determined by the user creating or managing the Workflow. The five (5) recipient choices are:
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Contact
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Employee
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Assignment
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Anonymous Email
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Anonymous Phone (for texts)
Actions are independent of each other and will also occur based upon the Trigger + Action configuration of the Workflow. As of this release, there are four (4) choices for when Actions occur:
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On a specific Day Number (Day 1, Day 2, etc.)
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On a Fixed Date
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On a Fixed Day
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On certain special Days (i.e. a Follow up Date for Opportunities, etc.)
Workflows will have the option to automatically send the selected Actions, or they can be manually sent from the Workflow Queue page, which will also have options to Skip or Snooze Actions in the queue.
Differences Between Multi-touch Campaigns & Workflows
While Workflows are similar to Multi-touch Campaigns in Striven, there are some notable differences. For instance, Multi-touch Campaigns can have one (1) Trigger with multiple messages, while Workflows can have multiple Triggers, each with multiple Actions.
Another difference is that Multi-touch messages are dependent on each other for the campaign to run, while Workflow Actions do not depend on each other to be executed.
Recipients are also defined differently in Workflows than in Multi-touch Campaigns. In Multi-touch Campaigns, the recipient is defined at the Trigger level, whereas in Workflows the recipient can be set individually for each Action of each Trigger, broadening your options for keeping your Workflow process running smoothly.
Finally, the last notable difference is related to the processing of these features. Multi-touch messages are sent based on the last sent message, which means if you snooze a message or leave it unprocessed in the queue, the next message will not go out because they all depend on each other to execute properly. With Workflows, Actions are reset once the triggering criteria is no longer met. In other words, if a Trigger stalls from unprocessed Actions, the Workflow will reset once the Triggers start over, not continue from where the Workflow left off when it stalled since the Actions are independent of each other and do not need to rely on the others to be executed.
Workflow Management
Before you get started working with Workflows in Striven, you will need to ensure that your User Role includes the proper permissions. There are three (3) new permissions related to Workflow Management in this release:
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“Workflow - Add”: Provides the ability to add new Workflows in Striven.
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“Workflow - Manage All”: Provides the “superpower” to view and manage all Workflows in Striven.
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“Workflow - View All”: Provides the ability to view all Workflows, but can only take actions on their own Workflows
Once you have determined your User Role has the required permissions, you can locate a link to the Workflow Queue page under the Customers, Vendors, Projects, and Tasks menus in the Striven Navigation Menu Bar at the top of the screen. Clicking on the link from any of these menus will bring you to the same Workflow Queue page which will provide options to search Workflows by Name, Manager, Based On, Action Type, or Status. This is where you will also find the options to Manage Workflows or view the Workflow Action Log.
The steps for creating a Workflow are straightforward and should be easy to follow. To begin, click on the Manage Workflows button from the Workflows Queue page which will navigate you to the Workflow Management page.
From there, click the Add Workflow button on the Workflow Management page to determine the configuration settings for your Workflow. This is where you will Name your Workflow, set the Manager(s) of the Workflow, and provide access to the Workflow for any Employees you wish to have access. There will also be an option to Copy from an Existing Workflow in the top right corner of the Add Workflow page.
Click the Proceed button to continue, which will navigate you to the Workflow Info page wherein you can see the info settings you set when creating the Workflow, as well as edit or copy them.
Triggers define a set of rules when something qualifies to be part of a Workflow. The rules are defined as search filters in the next step. To add a Trigger to your Workflow, click the Add Trigger button.
Name your Trigger and then select the entity which the Trigger will be based on, such as Customers, Vendors, Sales Orders, Opportunities, Projects, or Tasks, and then click Next.
In the next step, you’ll choose the search filters to use for your Trigger from the drop-down menus. Once all your search criteria are selected, click Save.
The Workflow Info page will display again with the Trigger you just created. Keep in mind that Workflows can have multiple Triggers, each with different search criteria defined.
Next, you’ll want to add an Action to your Trigger. Clicking on the Add Action button will open a popup window with fields to fill in for the following:
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Action Type: Send Email, Send Text, Send Discussion, or Create Task
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Send On: Day Number, Fixed Date, Fixed Day, Start Date, Due Date, Done Date
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Different configuration options can be set depending on which Send option is selected.
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To: Primary Contact, Contacts filtered by Category, One or More Employees, Customer Level Assignment Employee, Anonymous Email, Requested By, Task Assigned to Employees
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Body/Discussion/Description of the Action: Depending on which Action Type is selected, this field will have a different name, but will serve as basically the same thing - an Editor field wherein you can type information related to the Action, including bulleted or numbered lists, links, and tables. You may also choose to insert merge fields from the drop-down list to auto-populate particular details in this field depending on the entity the Trigger was based on (i.e. Customers, Vendors, Sales Orders, Opportunities, Projects, or Tasks).
Other field options may become available depending on the Action Type selected, such as From, Subject, Message Type, etc.
If you wish to automate this Trigger + Action, you can check the Send Automatically box. This will perform the Action at the processing times automatically. If you leave the box unchecked, the Actions will be put in the Workflow Queue and the next steps would need to be performed from the queue.
Once you’ve filled in all the fields required for the Action, click Save to complete the setup.
Triggers need to be marked as Published in order to run. There are 2 requirements for marking Triggers as Published:
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An Action needs to be defined for the Trigger.
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A Processing Time needs to be set for the Action.
You can set the Processing Time by either clicking on the checkbox to Mark as Published, or you can select the option to Set Processing Time from the Trigger kebab menu.
Workflow jobs execute six times every day. By checking the corresponding box, you can choose from the following times for your Workflow to process:
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3:00 a.m. EST
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7:00 a.m. EST
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11:00 a.m. EST
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3:00 p.m. EST
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7:00 p.m. EST
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11:00 p.m. EST
Click Save & Publish once you’ve selected the time(s) you wish your Triggers to be processed. This will cause a popup window to appear that will display the Current Search Results from your Trigger and will ask if you want to publish the Trigger in this Workflow. Click Yes to continue.
Other available Trigger kebab menu options include:
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View Current Record Account: Shows how many results meet the Trigger at the present time and which will be sent at the next processing time set…
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Copy Trigger: Allows you to copy a Trigger to the same Workflow or to another Workflow.
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Process Log: Shows the Process Log for that particular Trigger.
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Remove Trigger: Removes the Trigger from the Workflow and cancels all pending or unprocessed Actions for the Trigger.
If your User Role includes the “Trigger Templates - Manage” permission, you can add Trigger Templates to your Striven system. From the Workflow Trigger Templates page you can click on the Add button to open a popup for Step 1: Trigger Information. Enter the Trigger info the same as when you created a Trigger within your Workflow by entering a Trigger Name and select what you wish the Trigger to be based on, then click Next.
For Step 2: Define the Filters for the Trigger, select the search options you wish to include in this Trigger Template and click Save to keep the template so you can then select it from a drop-down list when creating a new Workflow or adding Triggers to an existing Workflow.
Workflow Queue
The activities performed from the Workflow Queue are only accessible to users with the “Workflow - Manage All” permission in their User Role. Other users will not be able to Process, Snooze, or Skip any Actions in the queue unless they are the Manager of, or have been given access to, the Workflow.
The Workflow Queue page displays all of the Actions that are presently queued and have not been executed yet. This allows users to manually execute Actions, as well as choose to Snooze or Skip them as desired. This page also provides the ability for Workflow Managers to edit the message of each Action in the queue.
The search options for the Workflow Queue include Workflow Name, Manager, Based On, Action Type, Status, or Queued Date Range and can be utilized to filter the page to find exactly which Actions you wish to act upon.
Workflow Action Log
The Workflow Action Log is available for users with the “Workflow - Manage All” or “Workflow - View All” permission included in their User Role. Again, Workflow Managers and those provided Access to the Workflow will have access to the Action Log as well.
There are 2 ways to access the Workflow Action Log:
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Click on the View Log button on the Workflow Queue page
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Navigate to Reports
Communications Workflow Action Log
The Workflow Action Log lists every Action in Workflows within your Striven system. This includes everything queued, processed, snoozed, cancelled, and skipped. You can use the search options provided at the top of the page to filter the results to locate the Action(s) for which you’re looking. These search options include Workflow, Manager, Action Type, Based On, From, To, Status, and Processed Date Range.
Other details available on this page include a view of the message that was sent, including the ability to view the Tasks or Discussions that were created by those Actions, and whether the Actions were processed manually and by whom, or if they were processed by the system.
