Creating Effective CRM Workflows: A Step-by-Step Guide for Success

What is a workflow?

A workflow is a series of steps you design for your marketing activities to occur in an automated way. 

Let’s look at a typical workflow example: delivering a lead-generating PDF. Downloadable PDFs are some of the most common lead-generators on the internet. Here are the steps in a simple lead-generating PDF workflow.

1. A potential customer completes a simple form with their email address. 
2. They are immediately sent an email thanking them and providing a link to download the PDF resource. 
3. The customer is automatically added to the CRM, and a tag is added to indicate which lead generator they signed up for. 
4. A day later, they receive an email with guidance on how to solve the problem the PDF addresses. 
5. Then two days later, they receive an email with a story about another customer who had a similar problem and was able to overcome it.  
6. Finally, they receive an email that clearly invites them to purchase a solution to the problem they’re facing. 

This example is a straightforward workflow. Often, there would be additional steps, and the email sequence would be longer. However, it still illustrates how automation can help you quickly deliver value to new leads and invite them to become customers.

Critical elements of a workflow

Your marketing workflow really only has two types of elements

1. Triggers: The circumstances that initiate a workflow. 
2. Actions: The marketing actions taken in response to the trigger.

While this seems simple, when you open up the workflow builder in the Marketing OS, you’ll see there are numerous triggers and actions you can add to your workflow.

Here are some common triggers:

• Form submitted 
• Contact attributed changed
• The customer clicks something or initiates communication (chat, text, email, calls)
• Appointments scheduled, canceled or changed.

Here are some common actions :

• Update a customer’s information.
• Send communication to the customers.
• Wait a specific amount of time. 
• Branch the workflow based on specific criteria.

How to set up lead generator workflow.

A lead generator workflow automates the journey from a potential customer downloading something on your site to booking a call or making a purchase. 

The Better Story Marketing OS provides a variety of templates and premade workflows. Each has a description, or if you want to build one, select Start From Scratch. 

The process isn’t complicated, but there are a few steps, and you can walk through them in this how-to: How to create a lead generator email campaign workflow? 

Here are a couple of tips as you build workflows:

• If this is your first time building an automated process, we recommend using a premade workflow to learn the process and more easily get the process up and running for your company. 
• If you have multiple automated processes, you can group them together in folders. 
• If you have already imported contacts into Better Story Marketing OS, you can manually add them to the desired Workflow simply by going into their contact card and adding them to the newly created workflow.

How to set up a booking calendar workflow with a template.

Scheduling a session with a potential client is a critical moment in the customer journey. Creating an automated workflow ensures this process will go smoothly.

Once you’ve created a booking calendar, you can create a workflow to follow up with the new clients who book a session with you. The easiest way to build this workflow is to use the Recipe - Appointment Confirmation + Reminder template.

Here are the steps:

1. Click Automation in the left menu. 
2. Click Create Workflow and select Recipe - Appointment Confirmation + Reminder.
3. Click Appointment at the top of the workflow to connect your booking calendar.
4. Click Add filter, select In calendar, and choose your booking calendar.
5. Click into each email and SMS reminder and customize the messages with your booking calendar name, how you will connect and any other details. Be sure to click Save Action as you edit each. 
6. Click the title at the top of the workflow to give it a new name, then click Save.
7. Click the toggle in the top right to Publish.

Your booking calendar workflow is now up and running.

Crafting effective CRM workflows isn't just about improving efficiency—it's about driving your business towards success. By following this step-by-step guide, you've equipped yourself with the knowledge necessary to streamline your processes, increase productivity, and ultimately, boost your bottom line.

Don't let your CRM journey end here. Put these steps into action today and witness the transformative effects on your business operations. 

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re getting started, but don’t worry. We’re here to help.

When you sign up for a free trial with the Better Story Marketing OS, you get a 30-minute onboarding call with our team to help you answer questions and get you set up quickly.