Workflow
This section describes the Workflow processes that can be implemented in Satuit to simplify many of the manual processes that users perform every day. System Administrators can design and build custom Workflows that have the ability to send an email, generate an activity, generate an account, and/or generate an opportunity, based on a specific action. By creating Workflows, you can notify others of changes to values or create tasks based on an update or change within Satuit.
An example of activities that are good candidates for developing a workflow:
- A sales opportunity has been marked as won
- A client address has changed
- A business relationship type has been changed
- A client rating has been updated to negative
- An activity for a specific task has been completed
Technically workflow and form rules are not difficult to implement. However, the main challenge has nothing to do with technology. It is all about thinking through and defining your business processes.
We recommend that you write down your requirement for workflow and form rules, that you share it with others, and that you get sign-off before implementing workflow. If the workflow is constantly being tweaked, then you need to consider stepping back and doing a thorough job of requirements gathering. Your users may have little understanding of just how much work it is to implement and then constantly edit workflows.
Turning on Workflow
Hosted Clients:
Workflow must be enabled on your site by Satuit Technologies. At the time of set up, permissions will be granted to the appropriate users.
On-Premise Clients:
System Configuration values for Workflow need to be set to ('workflow’, ‘yes') and the function of ADMIN_WORKFLOW will need to be granted to the licensed user’s set of permissions.
Accessing and Setting up Workflow
After Workflow has been enabled in the Satuit database, the Workflow Integration submenu will be visible within the System Administrator Tools menu. Workflow processes must be set up in the following order:
- Workflow Triggers
- Workflow Actions
- Workflow Mapping
Workflow Triggers
Click on Triggers from the System Administrator menu under workflow.
- Select the Trigger Type
- Select “Insert” or “Update”
- Click Add
- The Trigger Designer window will open allowing the user to define trigger criteria. Enter in a descriptive name for the trigger. As a best practice, use a naming convention that is descriptive of the activity the workflow is associated with
Note
If the Workflow is for new items being created, select “Insert” or if it is for changes to an existing record, select “Update”.
Now you need to create the trigger conditions. Similar to the Custom Search feature in Satuit, Workflow Integration allows for the creation of complex combinations of fields to create a trigger. Compound triggers can be built to cover several different possible field values by adding groups. Further, you can click the Edit button next to the field to select as many values from that picklist as you like.
For example, when all the conditions in the first group are met, along with any one of the conditions in the second group, the trigger will fire.
- Add criteria for the trigger by clicking Add Row, choosing a field from the list on the left, and setting the conditions for that field.
- Once the trigger is configured, click Save.
- Once the rule has been saved, you can use the ‘X’ in the upper right corner of the Rules Trigger designer window to close it.
Important
When a trigger is set up for a Business, etc. it can only be associated with a like action of that type.
Workflow With Time Based Triggers
System Admins can create workflow triggers based on date parameters, allowing the user to create more time-sensitive workflow processes.
- Create Triggers for upcoming or overdue events
- When mapped to Action(s), the Action will be executed on records meeting the trigger criteria
- Workflow Mappings with Time-Based Triggers will run daily
Workflow Actions
After the triggers are configured, the next step is to configure a Workflow action.
- Select Configure Workflow Actions from the menu.
- Select the Action type first
- Next, select Email, New Activity, New Opportunity, or New Account
- Click Add
- Next, the Action designer screen will pop up to allow you to configure the Action details.
Important
Actions/email templates can be used across multiple mappings.
New Activity Action
Using Workflow to create a new Activity, you can select any field from the list of options to create the activity exactly as you like.
Selecting Value from Source will pull from the REP field of the record that is triggering the action (i.e. the activity rep if it is an activity Workflow).
Once all of the details have been filled in, click Save.
New Account Action
Using Workflow to create a new Account, you can select any field from the list of options to create the account exactly as you like.
Selecting Value from Source will pull from the REP field of the record that is triggering the action (i.e. the Product field if it is an opportunity Workflow).
Once all of the details have been filled in, click Save.
New Opportunity Action
Using Workflow to create a new Opportunity, you can select any field from the list of options to create the opportunity exactly as you like.
Selecting Value from Source will pull from the REP field of the record that is triggering the action (i.e. the Product field if it is an Activity Workflow).
Once all of the details have been filled in, click Save.
New Email Action
The example below illustrates using Workflow to send an email.
- Select a 'To:' value or type in an email address in the box below. Multiple addresses can be entered, separated by a comma
- Enter a From value. This can be any valid email address
- Type in a Subject
- Select an Email template
- Email templates are only available if they have been created under that specific table of data. Ex. Business email actions can only use Business email templates, etc. You will only see your Private and Public email templates within the list to select from
- Click Save
Please refer to your Satuit Documentation section of the Satuit website for full information on working with Email Templates. You may access it via the ‘Help’ button in the top right-hand corner of your Satuit screen.
Warning
When the Action type of Email is selected, the email that is generated comes directly from Satuit servers, NOT your email client.
Additional Workflow Action Types
Expand your process automation capabilities and streamline your workflows by triggering record updates to automatically create new Document, Deal Flow, and Mailing & Events records.
How to:
- System Administration > Workflow > Actions
- Client must be licensed for the Record Type in order for it to be available in Workflow.
Example Screenshots:
- Workflow Actions
Workflow Mapping
After the triggers and actions have been set up, the last step is to map the action(s) to the trigger.
- Select an Entity Type (This must match the type of the trigger and action)
- Click Add
- Next, the Workflow designer screen will open, allowing the user to define a map. To create the mapping:
- Enter a descriptive name for the mapping
- Choose the Trigger to map to
- Choose the Action from the list of available actions
- Click Add to move the action to the mapping
- Click Save to save the mapping
As a best practice, test your workflow by creating a test that meets your trigger conditions.
With v17.1, Workflow Mappings will log all events executed for each Mapping, improving the visibility of the whole workflow process:
- Select Workflow Mapping items and select View Records to view events
- Events log displays date event occurred, Actions that occurred, and direct links to the Trigger record (Source) and records created (Target)
Examples of Workflow
Email the Head of Sales, the Head of Client Service, and Compliance when an Opportunity has been marked “Won”.
Create an activity to schedule an appointment if a client rating has been changed to “At-Risk”.
The Document type RFP is being assigned to the next reviewer an email is generated to the team.