Workflows
The automations we build most often
A workflow is a trigger, a sequence of steps, and a defined point where a person takes over. These six cover most of what businesses ask for, and each one is configured to your rules rather than shipped as-is.
None of these are products you switch on. They are patterns we implement against your process, your channels, and your intervals — which is why every one of them names the point where it stops and fetches a human.
Inbound enquiry handling
The base workflow everything else sits on: answer, capture, classify, route. If only one thing is automated, it is usually this.
- Trigger
- A message or call arrives on any connected channel.
- Sequence
- The enquiry is answered within seconds, in the language it arrived in
- The agent asks the questions needed to understand what is being asked for
- A structured record is created with source, timestamp, and transcript
- Classification rules assign a category
- The enquiry is routed — to an automated path, or to a named person
- Where a person takes over
- When the enquiry matches a handover rule, or when the agent is not confident it has understood.
After-hours and overflow cover
The same handling as during the day, with expectations set honestly about when a person will respond.
- Trigger
- An enquiry arrives outside working hours, or when the line is busy.
- Sequence
- The agent identifies itself as automated — never implying a person is present
- It answers what it can from published information
- It captures details and the reason for contact
- Urgency is assessed against your rules
- Urgent cases notify an on-call contact; everything else queues for the morning with a stated response time
- Where a person takes over
- Immediately, for anything matching your urgency rule. Otherwise at the start of the next working period.
Qualification and routing
Sorting enquiries so the ones worth a call reach a person quickly, and the rest are handled without one.
- Trigger
- A new enquiry record is created.
- Sequence
- Qualifying answers are checked against your criteria
- A category is assigned — ready now, needs nurturing, out of scope
- Out-of-scope enquiries get a clear, polite response rather than silence
- In-scope enquiries are assigned to an owner by service, area, or team
- The owner is notified on the channel they actually watch
- Where a person takes over
- As soon as an enquiry is classified as ready — the notification is the handover.
Appointment confirmation and reminders
The workflow with the most predictable effect: appointments people are reminded of are attended more often than appointments they are not.
- Trigger
- An appointment is booked, or a booked appointment approaches.
- Sequence
- Confirmation sent at the moment of booking, on the channel used to book
- A reminder at the interval you choose before the appointment
- A simple way to confirm, reschedule, or cancel in the reply
- Cancellations release the slot and notify the team
- No-shows are recorded against the customer for later follow-up
- Where a person takes over
- When a customer asks to reschedule outside the rules you set, or replies with something other than a confirmation.
Quote and proposal follow-up
The follow-up that is always intended and rarely happens, run on a schedule with a defined end.
- Trigger
- A quote is sent, or a lead stops moving at a defined stage.
- Sequence
- A first follow-up after the interval that suits your sales cycle
- A fixed number of further attempts, spaced by your rules
- Any reply stops the sequence immediately and routes to a person
- A positive signal escalates straight away rather than continuing the sequence
- After the final attempt the lead is marked and left alone
- Where a person takes over
- On any reply, and immediately on a positive signal. Sequences that never stop are how businesses get blocked.
Customer reactivation
Noticing the customer who quietly stopped coming — which no business notices without something watching for it.
- Trigger
- A customer passes the interval at which they would normally have returned.
- Sequence
- Customer records are checked against your expected service interval
- A customer becomes due, then overdue, by your definition
- A message referencing what they actually bought goes out on their channel
- Any reply is treated as a live conversation, not a campaign response
- The outcome updates the record so the next cycle behaves differently
- Where a person takes over
- On any reply. Reactivation messages that get answered are real conversations and should not be handled as a campaign.
Design rules
How we decide what a workflow may do on its own
These constraints are applied to every workflow we build, and they are the reason the automations stay boring in the way automations should be.
An automated system says it is automated
Agents identify themselves. A customer who thinks they are talking to a person and finds out otherwise has been misled, and that costs more than the automation saves.
Every sequence has an end
A fixed number of attempts, and then it stops. Open-ended sequences are how businesses end up blocked and reported.
A reply always wins
Any response from a customer halts whatever is running and routes to a person or the agent. Nobody receives the next scheduled message after they have answered.
Judgement stays with people
Money, commitments, complaints, and anything clinical, legal, or contractual go to a human. These are written into the design, not left to the model.
Failures are loud
A workflow that stops working raises an alert. Silent failure is worse than no automation, because the business carries on believing it is covered.
Opt-out is honoured everywhere
A customer who asks to stop is stopped across every channel and every workflow, not just the one they replied to.