workflow automation applications

Working with SMS – A New Feature

In addition to email, BizConnector supports SMS (text) messaging – both outbound and inbound.

Outbound text messages, which are set up as rule actions and are sent when a rule fires, have an impact unlike emails. For example, they are more likely to be read immediately by their recipients and are useful when simple communication is required, such as confirming an appointment, and perhaps responding to a question.

Outbound and inbound text messages show up as related lists (after installation) in your Salesforce Lead and Contact pages.

sms_related_lists

In addition to message logs, rules can be defined which can fire on receipt of an SMS message.

sms_rule

Up till recently, rules based on inbound SMS messages were restricted to text messages from people who were already saved in your Salesforce Lead or Contact database.

But now that has changed! We are pleased to announce that inbound SMS messages can result in a new Lead or Contact record being created. And that rules can be written to fire when this happens.

This new feature now enables a type of application: For example, capturing new lead subscriptions – eg. when people send a specific text or number pattern to your SMS number.

I hope this gives you some ideas for applications or workflows that you can build using BizConnector. If you have questions or would like a demo, please contact us.

Using Rules To Automate Contract Expiration Notices

One popular need for BizConnector users is to automate the production of contract expiration notices.

This is a fairly straightforward use case, but one that is not easily handled by other tools. BizConnector comes to the rescue with two ‘pseudo fields’:

Minutes To
Days To

that make this easy to implement. These fields are not to be found in the original object definitions, but are derived from date or datetime fields.

For example:
Say you have an Opportunity date field ‘Contract Expiration’. [This is an appropriate field for an Opportunity record].

The objective is to send one or more emails to your customer contact, starting 60 days before the contract is due to expire. To do this, you would create a rule expressly for this purpose. Let’s call the rule ‘Contract Expiration Notices’.

In the rule editor, after naming the rule, you would create the rule condition:

The second (and last) step is to set up the email sequence:

Note that the delay ‘None’ means that Expiration Notice #1 will be sent when the rule fires – 60 days before the expiration date, and Expiration Notice #2 will be sent 30 days later – 30 days before the expiration date.

Note also that the above rule will fire based on information in the Opportunity record, but send emails to the Contact(s) related to that Opportunity. This is a feature of BizConnector, which is deeply integrated with Salesforce and knows the Salesforce model.

That’s all there is to it!

For more information about this, or to attend an online demo, please contact us.

Workflow Automation for Small Business

In addition to its use as a drip marketing and lead nurturing tool, BizConnector enables workflow automation applications through the use of business rules.

As you may know, if you have watched the video or visited this site before, BizConnector is driven by business rules that the user defines. Business rules fire and execute one or more actions when the specified conditions are true.

A recent project implemented a workflow application for a customer. The business process flowed something like this:

Following requests from a prospect for services to be rendered (it’s an equipment rental business), a proposal document is generated and emailed to the prospect, with provision to be signed electronically (via Docusign – another Salesforce app)
The proposal is followed by reminder emails, at regular intervals
When the proposal document is signed, three things happen:
1. Any remaining reminders are suppressed
2. A contract document is immediately emailed, also to be electronically signed
3. Reminders are emailed, and automatically suppressed when the contract document is signed
The automation for this second document is similar to the first
A payment document can accompany the contract document, or be sent afterwards…

The workflow automation was accomplished with a ‘rule condition data connector’ built to sense when Docusign documents are signed. Using data connectors like this is a powerful way to extend the reach of business rules.

The success of this project demonstrates that workflow applications are no longer the province of large enterprises. Small businesses can implement them too, using intelligent tools like BizConnector.