Automation in Commusoft takes repetitive follow-up work off your office team's plate. Instead of someone remembering to chase an estimate, send a payment receipt or flag a missed appointment, you set it up once and Commusoft handles it every time.
That means fewer jobs, payments and sales slipping through the cracks, more consistent communication with your customers, and more time for the work that needs a person.
What an automation is made of
Whichever tool you use, automations in Commusoft follow the same basic shape. Knowing these parts makes it easier to see what an automation will do, and why it might not have run.
What starts it: an event in Commusoft, such as an estimate or proposal being sent, an invoice being raised, a technician rejecting or aborting a diary event, or an opportunity reaching a stage in your pipeline.
When it acts: delays set how long Commusoft waits before each step, so reminders go out at the right time rather than all at once.
What it does: each step carries out an action, such as sending an email or SMS from your templates, creating an office task, scheduling an activity or notifying a team member.
When it stops: an automation runs until its last step. Sequences can also stop early when an exit condition is met, such as the proposal being accepted or the customer getting in touch. If a workflow step fails, the workflow stops there.
Types of automation
Commusoft offers three ways to automate your work. Each suits a different kind of task and has its own plan availability.
Tool | What it automates | Availability |
Workflow Marketplace | Ready-made workflows you switch on and adjust, covering proposal and estimate chasing, debt chasing, payment receipts, after sales responses and negative diary event tasks. | UK: Customer Journey and Automation plans. US: Field Automation plan. |
Sequences | Email and SMS follow-ups you build for prospects before and after a proposal, sent by hand from an opportunity or started automatically from a pipeline stage. | Sales+ add-on (Solo and above). Starting a sequence automatically from a pipeline stage needs Sales+ Team. |
Zapier integration | Connects Commusoft with thousands of other apps, such as Slack, Trello and Google Calendar. Events in Commusoft can trigger actions elsewhere, and other apps can create jobs, customers, opportunities and work addresses in Commusoft. | All UK and US plans. Contact support to activate it for your account. |
In short: use the Workflow Marketplace for everyday job and payment follow-up, sequences for sales follow-up on opportunities, and Zapier to pass information between Commusoft and the other apps your business uses.
What automations rely on
Automations send messages on your behalf, so they depend on a few settings being in place.
Email templates: workflows and sequences send your templates, so the wording your customers see comes from there. The Workflow Marketplace includes default templates you can edit.
Communication rules: workflows only email customers who have email enabled. Without it, the step is skipped or fails.
Opportunity pipelines: to start a sequence automatically, the automation sits on a stage in your pipeline.
Where to go next
Automation tools
Related settings
Common questions
Which plans include automation?
Which plans include automation?
Which plan includes automation depends on the tool. The Workflow Marketplace is included on the UK Customer Journey and Automation plans and the US Field Automation plan. Sequences need the Sales+ add-on. Zapier is available on all UK and US plans and is activated by support.
What is the difference between a workflow and a sequence?
What is the difference between a workflow and a sequence?
The difference between a workflow and a sequence is what they follow up on. Workflows from the Workflow Marketplace handle job and payment processes, such as chasing estimates and debts or sending payment receipts. Sequences follow up with prospects on an opportunity, before and after a proposal, by email and SMS.
What happens to running automations if I turn a workflow off?
What happens to running automations if I turn a workflow off?
When you turn a workflow off, it finishes any processes that are already running before it comes to a complete stop.
Can I change the ready-made workflows?
Can I change the ready-made workflows?
Yes, you can change the ready-made workflows in the Workflow Marketplace, as long as the workflow is disabled while you edit it. Any setting that is greyed out is fixed and can't be changed. See How to use the Workflow Marketplace for more.
Why hasn't my automation sent anything?
Why hasn't my automation sent anything?
If your automation hasn't sent anything, it's usually because it isn't switched on, the customer doesn't have email enabled in their communication rules, or the email address is invalid. For workflows, check the workflow history to see whether a step was skipped or failed. For sequences, check the sequence is active and, if it starts from a pipeline stage, that the pipeline automation is switched on too.