In the dynamic world of sales and customer relationship management, efficiency and consistency are paramount. Smackdab CRM's Sequences, a powerful component within the Automations module, allow you to master both. Think of Sequences as your personal conductors, orchestrating a series of predefined actions that execute in perfect harmony, every single time.
Sequences empower you to automate repetitive tasks, streamline intricate multi-step processes, and ensure unwavering consistency across your workflows. By bundling actions into a reusable Sequence, you simplify complex automation designs, maintain superior control over the execution flow, and free up valuable time. These modular building blocks can be created once and then seamlessly integrated into multiple automations, eliminating the need to rebuild common steps repeatedly.
Why Use Sequences? Unpacking the Benefits & Use Cases
Sequences are more than just a set of steps; they are a cornerstone of smart automation. Their primary benefits include:
Modularity: Break down complex workflows into smaller, manageable, and understandable parts.
Reusability: Define a standard process once and use it across numerous automations.
Consistency: Ensure that key processes are executed identically every time, reducing errors.
Simplified Management: Update a Sequence in one place, and the changes automatically reflect everywhere it's used.
The versatility of Sequences makes them invaluable for a wide array of scenarios:
Lead Nurturing Workflows: Automate a series of follow-up emails, task assignments for sales reps, and timely reminders to guide new leads through your sales funnel.
Onboarding Processes: Streamline customer or new employee onboarding with automated welcome emails, activity assignments, and status updates in a predefined order.
Multi-Step Approval Flows: Execute a sequence of approval requests, status updates, and notifications to manage complex, multi-level approval processes efficiently.
Post-Purchase Engagement: Send a carefully timed series of thank-you messages, feedback surveys, and relevant cross-sell or upsell offers after a customer completes a purchase.
Re-engagement Campaigns: Trigger sequences targeting inactive contacts with a mix of timed emails and personalized offers to bring them back into the fold.
Internal Task Automation: Automate internal operational workflows, such as assigning follow-up tasks, updating record details, and notifying team members of critical changes.
How Sequences Integrate with Automations
Within the smackdab Automations module, Sequences act as intelligent, reusable blocks of actions that you can embed directly into your broader automation workflows. Instead of manually configuring the same series of steps (like sending three specific follow-up emails and then creating a task) across multiple automations, you create that series as a Sequence once and then simply insert that Sequence action into any workflow where it's needed.
Here’s what makes this integration so powerful:
Reusable Action Groups: Define a set of actions (e.g., sending specific emails, updating record fields, assigning tasks to team members) that are commonly performed together.
Execution Flow Control: When an automation workflow encounters a Sequence element, it temporarily pauses the main workflow to execute all the steps within that Sequence in their defined order. Once the Sequence is complete, the main workflow seamlessly resumes from the next step.
Centralized Management: Any updates made to a Sequence (perhaps changing the content of an email or the timing of a task) are automatically reflected in every automation that uses that Sequence. This makes maintaining and updating recurring processes incredibly efficient.
Modular & Scalable Design: Sequences help break down potentially complex automations into smaller, more digestible modules. This approach not only improves the readability of your automation designs but also enhances their scalability as your processes evolve.
Typical Workflow Example Illustrating Sequence Use:
Automation Trigger: A new Contact record is added to smackdab CRM.
Automation Condition: The system checks if the new contact is from a specific region (e.g., "North America").
Sequence Action (within the Automation): If the condition is met, run the “New Lead Nurturing Sequence.”
Sequence Step 1: Send Welcome Email.
Sequence Step 2: Assign Sales Representative based on regional rules.
Sequence Step 3: Schedule a Follow-up Task for the assigned representative in 3 days.
Continue Automation Workflow: After the Sequence completes, the main automation might proceed with further conditions or actions, such as adding the contact to a specific marketing list.
By leveraging Sequences, you can build cleaner, more efficient, and highly maintainable automations that precisely align with your business processes.
Crafting Your Sequence: A Step-by-Step Guide
Ready to build your first Sequence? Here’s how to get started:
1. Navigate to the Sequence Hub
Go to the Automation module from smackdab's main menu.
Select Sequence from the options.
2. Initiate Your New Sequence
Click the "+ New Sequence" button, typically located at the top right of the Sequence listing page.
You will be taken to the sequence creation screen.
3. Define Basic Details
Sequence Name: Provide a descriptive and meaningful name for your Sequence. This name will be used when you select this Sequence within an Automation, so make it clear (e.g., "Standard Lead Follow-Up - 5 Touches" or "Customer Onboarding Welcome Series").
4. The Sequence Workflow Designer
Similar to the Automations designer, the Workflow Designer for Sequences is a visual tool that provides a flexible canvas. Here, you will arrange delays and actions in the precise order they need to occur.
Use Zoom In/Out controls to navigate different parts of your Sequence, especially if it involves many steps.
Utilize the Fit to Screen option for a complete overview of your Sequence layout.
A Sequence is always used within an Automation. It typically starts based on the Automation’s trigger or immediately after a preceding action in the main automation workflow. Once initiated from the Automation, the Sequence executes all its configured delays and actions in the defined order.
5. Designing the Flow: Adding Actions and Delays
After initiating your Sequence, the core task is to define the actions it should perform and any delays between them. You can chain multiple actions together sequentially to build out your desired process.
Available action types within a Sequence include:
Platform Entities:
Create new CRM entities (such as Companies, Contacts, Deals, or any custom entities you've configured).
Required fields for entity creation will be pre-selected and cannot be deselected.
You must configure the values for these required fields. These values will then be used as defaults when this Sequence creates new CRM entities.
The entity’s Name field can often be dynamically populated using trigger data passed from the parent Automation (especially if the Automation uses a Custom Event trigger).
Emails: Compose and send an email when this step in the Sequence is executed. You can define the template, sender, recipients (often dynamically from the parent Automation), and content.
Sales: Create and send an invoice with the required details (e.g., after a specific onboarding step or service delivery).
Celebration: Display celebratory visual effects (like fireworks) on the user interface, perhaps to mark a significant milestone achieved by a user interacting with the system.
Entity Record Filter: Filter entity records based on specific criteria and then loop through them to apply further actions within the Sequence.
Broadcast: Show inline or pop-up messages to selected users or all users (e.g., an internal notification to a team when a lead reaches a certain stage in a nurturing sequence).
Make HTTP Request: Send an HTTP request (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD) with custom headers and URL to interact with external systems or APIs.
Marketing List: Create or update a marketing list. You can optionally add the entity that triggered the parent Automation (if applicable) to this list.
Delay: Insert a pause before the next action in the Sequence is executed.
Define the duration of the delay (e.g., wait 2 days).
Specify if the next action should run at a particular time or simply after the defined delay period.
Remember, these actions will execute sequentially, one after the other, as defined in your Sequence flow.
Managing and Optimizing Your Sequences
Once created, your Sequences need to be managed and can be optimized for performance:
Enable / Disable Sequence:
Sequences can be enabled or disabled at any time.
A disabled Sequence cannot be selected or used within any Automations until it is re-enabled. This is useful for temporarily pausing a standard process.
Monitor Performance: Execution History:
View detailed execution logs for your Sequences. These logs provide timestamps, show which steps were completed, the status of each step (success or failure), and reasons for any failures, which is invaluable for troubleshooting.
Track Changes: Revision Logs:
Keep track of all changes made to a Sequence, including its initial creation and any subsequent updates. Every change is timestamped, providing a clear audit trail for easy review and accountability.
Fine-Tune Behavior: Sequence Settings:
Limit Setting: Access the Settings section for a Sequence to control how often it can run. You can set execution limits by Day, Week, or Month (e.g., "Restrict this sequence to run a maximum of 10 times per day for a single contact"). This helps prevent accidental overuse and ensures processes run as intended.
By mastering Sequences, you unlock a new level of sophistication and efficiency in Smackdab's Automations. You can build more complex, reliable, and manageable automated processes that truly work for your business, allowing your team to focus on what they do best.