Bigin Workflows

Bigin Workflows

Workflows in Bigin help you streamline your business process by automating repetitive actions when a specific criteria is matched. You can automatically assign tasks, send emails, update fields, and add tags to records when records meet a particular condition.
 
During a busy working day, it's easy for users to forget to follow up on leads or update record statuses. With the help of workflows, you can save time spent manually performing these actions and reduce the risk of human error.

For example, your sales reps might sometimes forget to follow up with customers who have expressed an interest in your product. In that case, you could create a workflow rule to automatically send an email notification when a new contact is created and schedule a follow-up email reminding the rep to engage with the customer. 

In addition to automating repetitive tasks, workflows also help you implement standard practices like regular email follow-ups, assigning tasks, and updating a record's stage that will significantly improve your business processes. 

Availability


Configuring workflows 

A workflow is made of three components: the trigger, the condition, and the action.

Trigger  

You must specify when the workflow will be triggered for records. There are two types of triggers available:
  1. Execute based on a record's action: Workflows can be triggered when records are:
  1. Created.
  2. Edited.
  3. Created or edited.
  1. Execute based on a date field's value: Workflows can be triggered based on the value of the selected date field. For example, you can create a task for the assigned user to follow up on a pipeline record if it is inactive for longer than 15 days.

Condition 

You must specify which records the workflow will apply to.
  1. Records matching certain conditions: The workflow will only apply to records that match a specific condition. For example, records whose mailing country is the UK.
  2. All records: The workflow will apply to all the records in the module.
Edit criteria pattern
If you have more than one criteria in a workflow, you can specify the pattern to be followed for those criteria.

What is a criteria pattern?
The criteria pattern uses a simple logical operation using AND and OR to determine how to use the criteria to determine which records the workflow applies to.
  1. Use the AND operator if all the criteria you add must be true to trigger the workflow rule.
  2. Use the OR operator if only one of your criteria must be true to trigger the workflow rule.
  3. Use a combination of both AND and OR conditions to create your own logical expressions.

Actions 

The action determines what the workflow actually does with the records that It applies to. You must specify at least one of the following types of actions to be automated for records that meet the criteria:
  1. Instant Actions: The action will be triggered immediately when the workflow is executed. Available instant actions are email notifications, creating tasks, updating fields, create connected records, create record action and adding or removing tags.
  2. Scheduled Actions: The action will be triggered at a specified time interval after the workflow is executed. Available scheduled actions are email notifications, creating tasks, and updating fields.

Creating workflows 

There are four steps to create a workflow:
  1. Enter the basic details.
  2. Specify the trigger.
  3. Specify the condition.
  4. Specify the action.

Enter basic details 

  1. Go to Settings and then Workflows.
  2. Click +New Workflow.
  3. In the Create New Workflow pop-up:
    1. Select the module you are creating the workflow rule for from the dropdown. In case of Pipelines module, select the desired Team Pipeline.
    2. Enter the Rule Name.
    3. Enter a description for your workflow rule.

  4. Click Next.

Specify the trigger 

Select one of the following triggers:

On a Record Action 

  1. Click the On a Record Action tab.
  2. Select one of the following to trigger the workflow:
    1. Created
    2. Edited
      1. Select the checkbox if you want to repeat the workflow whenever the record is edited.
      2. Choose if you want to trigger the workflow when any field is modified or only when specific fields are modified.

    3. Created or edited
      1. Select the checkbox if you want to repeat the workflow whenever the record is edited.

On a Date/Time:   

  1. Click the On a Date/Time tab.
  2. Enter the following details to specify when you want the rule to be triggered:
    1. Choose the date field which will determine whether the workflow is triggered.
    2. Select the execution date: Choose to execute the workflow on the date in the field or specify the number of days, weeks, or months after the date that workflow should be executed.
    3. Select the execution time: Choose to execute at the time in the field or enter the time to execute the workflow.
  3. Select Every Month, Every Year, or Never from the Repeat dropdown list.
  4. Click Next.

Specify the condition 

  1. Choose one of the following:
    1. Records matching certain conditions
      1. Specify the criteria.
      2. Click + to add more criteria.
    2. All records
  2. Click Next.
Note:
  1. You can add a maximum of 5 criteria to a workflow rule.
  2. When you have more than one criterion, you can edit the criteria pattern.

Specify the actions  

  1. Select Instant action or Scheduled action. 
    If you select Scheduled action, enter the number of hours, days, or minutes after the workflow is triggered to execute the action.
  2. Choose an action.

To set up email notifications 

  1. Click + Email Notification.
  2. In the Create Email Notification window:
    1. Enter the Name.
    2. Choose the Email Recipients from the dropdown list.
      People associated with the module will be listed.
    3. Enter email addresses in the Additional Recipients field separated by commas to send the email to more recipients or to recipients who do not appear in the Email Recipients dropdown.
    4. Choose an Email Template from the dropdown list or create a new template and click Save.

To update a field 

  1. Click + Update Field.
  2. Enter the Name.
  3. Select the Module from the dropdown.
  4. Choose the field to update from the Update dropdown and enter the value to update the field to.
  5. Click Save.

To create connected records

Automatically move records from one Team Pipeline to another Team Pipeline with Connected Records. When a record reaches the desired stage in one Team Pipeline, you can create a record automatically in another Team Pipeline that captures the next set of business activities. Read more about it here.
    1. Click + Create Connected Records.
    2. Choose the Child Team Pipeline.
    3. In the Create Connected Record popup, you'll have to map the fields from the Parent Team Pipeline to the fields from the Child Team Pipeline. Specify more details related to Child Pipeline such as record owner for the record that will be created in Child Team Pipeline, the stage to which the record should be assigned when it is created, closing date and other relevant details.
    4. Click Save.

To create record 

Let's say you want to create a new deal automatically every time you add a new contact. You can achieve this using the Create Record Action functionality in workflows. This feature enables you to automatically generate records in one module when an update occurs in another module, simplifying your tasks within Bigin. By setting up this automation, you can establish a workflow that automatically generates records in any module, without having to do it manually each time. To create record action, 
  1. Click on 'Create Record' and choose the module to which you need to create the record.
  2. Enter the necessary details and then click 'Save.'
Notes 
  1. You can add only one "Create Record" action per Workflow. This restriction ensures that the automation remains focused and doesn't create redundancies or conflicts within the workflow.
  1. Only workflows created in the Companies, Contacts, Tasks, and Events modules support the Create Record action. For the Pipelines module, you can use Connected Records. 

To create activity 

Create Task
In Create Task action, you can incorporate merge fields by using the '#' symbol. After choosing the task's Owner from the dropdown menu, selecting the desired Priority level, and specifying the Due date, proceed to click the "Save" button to finalize the task creation process.

Create Event
The Create Event action is designed to work with a range of supported modules, including Pipelines, Contacts, and Companies.

Schedule a Call
For those who need to schedule calls as part of their workflow, the Schedule Call action is a game-changer. It's designed specifically for the Contacts module, ensuring that you can automatically schedule phone calls with your contacts without effort.

Notes: These actions are compatible with the following editions: Express, Premier, and Zoho One. 

To add tags 

  1. Click + Tags and then Add Tags.
  2. Enter the tags to add to the record in the Add tags pop-up.
    If you want to add more tags, separate them using comma.
  3. Enable the checkbox if you want to overwrite any existing tags with the tags specified here.
  4. Click Save.
     

To remove tags 

  1. Click + Tags and then Remove Tags.
  2. In the Remove tags pop-up, select the existing tags that you would like to remove and click Remove.

To add more actions to your workflow rule 

After adding an action, click + New Action and add any other action.

Note:

Instant Action
Scheduled Action
You can add a maximum of 3 instant actions per workflow
You can add a maximum of 5 scheduled actions per workflow.
Available actions: Email notification, field update, tasks, add or remove tags
Available actions: Email notification, field update, tasks
Each instant action can include up to 3 email notifications, 3 tasks, and 3 field updates
Each scheduled action can include up to 3 email notifications, 3 tasks, and 3 field updates

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