Following up at the right moment is what turns a quote into a signed deal — but doing it by hand for every customer is where things slip. Automations let you build that follow-up once and have it run itself. This article explains how automations work, the building blocks you have to play with, and how to test one before it goes live.
The big idea: playbooks that run themselves
An automation is a playbook attached to a workflow. It watches your quotes and, when something happens, runs a series of actions on your behalf — create a task, send an email, notify a teammate, wait a few days, then follow up again.
Every automation is built from three parts:
- A trigger — when the playbook starts (a quote is sent, a stage is entered, a task is completed…).
- Steps — what it does, in order. A Wait step pauses the sequence; everything else runs right away.
- Conditions (optional) — guardrails that decide whether it runs at all, and when to stop.
Automations live inside a workflow, so your Residential and Commercial pipelines can each have their own playbooks. You'll find them behind the robot icon on any workflow.
Triggers: when a playbook starts
A trigger is the event that kicks things off. Pick one per automation:
Trigger |
Fires when… |
|---|---|
Quote created |
A new quote lands in a stage — great for first-touch and routing. |
Stage entered |
A quote moves into a stage (optionally a specific one). |
Proposal sent |
A proposal is emailed to the customer. |
Quote opened |
The customer opens their proposal. |
Quote signed |
The customer signs. |
Project status changed |
The status changes (e.g. to Won or Lost). |
Task completed |
A task on the quote is marked done. |
Comment added |
Someone comments on the quote. |
Time in stage |
A quote has sat in a stage for N days. |
No activity |
Nothing has happened on a quote for N days. |
Task overdue |
A task on the quote is past due. |
The last three are time-based — they're checked once a day, so they're perfect for nudging stale deals.
Steps: what the playbook does
Steps run top to bottom. Add as many as you like, drag them by the grip handle to reorder, and drop a Wait anywhere to space things out.
Step |
What it does |
|---|---|
Wait |
Pauses the sequence for minutes, hours, or days. |
Create task |
Adds an assigned to-do (with priority and a due date). |
Create event |
Puts an event on the calendar with reminders. |
Send email |
Sends a branded email to the customer (see below). |
Notify user |
Sends an in-app notification to one teammate. |
Notify watchers |
Notifies everyone watching that customer. |
Add note |
Drops a note on the quote's timeline. |
Add comment |
Posts a comment — can |
Assign owner |
Hands the quote to a specific person, or round-robins it to the least-loaded agent. |
Move stage |
Advances the quote to another stage. |
Set project status |
Updates the project status. |
Trigger webhook |
Sends the quote to an outside system via your company webhook. |
Conditions: run only when it makes sense
Two optional sections let you fine-tune who gets the playbook and when it should stop:
- Only run if… — every condition must be true for the quote to be enrolled. (e.g. Signed is false.)
- Stop early if… — checked before each step; if any becomes true, the sequence stops. (e.g. Signed is true — so a customer who signs mid-cadence won't keep getting "still interested?" emails.)
You build conditions with simple dropdowns — pick a field, an operator, and a value. The value box adapts to the field: a true/false toggle for Signed, a status list for Project status, a number box for Times opened, and so on.
Sending email that looks like you
The Send email step uses a reusable email template. When you write one, you get:
-
Merge tags — click a chip to drop in
{{first_name}},{{quote_link}},{{company_name}}and more. They're filled in automatically when the email sends. - Themes — pick any of your company themes (or your default branding) to control the email's colours.
- A live preview — a side-by-side preview updates as you type, so you see the finished email before anyone else does.
- Send test to me — fires a real copy to your own inbox using sample data.
You also choose who the email goes to: the quote contact, the linked client account, or — for internal heads-ups — the quote owner.
Building and testing safely
A few habits keep automations predictable:
- Leave it Paused while you build. An automation only runs when it's switched to Active — and it won't let you activate one with no steps.
- Run now. On any saved automation, pick a quote and run the whole sequence immediately to watch it work — no waiting for a real trigger.
- Duplicate a working automation to spin up a variant without starting over.
Where it shows up
Open any quote and check the Automations tab under Activity. There you'll see:
- Active automations running on that quote — which step they're on and when the next one fires, with a Stop button to pull the quote out.
- A full history of everything an automation has done — every task created, email sent, and note added, with a timestamp.
There's also a Stage History tab next to it, showing how the quote has moved through your pipeline and how long it spent in each stage.
Quick reference: a few playbooks to start with
- Follow up after sending: Proposal sent → wait 2 days → create task "Call {{first_name}}" → wait 3 days → send a "still interested?" email. Stop early if Signed is true.
- Welcome a new customer: Quote signed → send a welcome email → create an onboarding event → notify the install team.
- Rescue stale deals: No activity for 7 days → add a note → assign to least-loaded agent → notify them.
- Route new leads: Quote created → assign owner (round-robin) → send a first-touch email.
Whichever you build, switch it on only when you're ready — and use Run now first to see exactly what your customer will experience.
