Sample ActionCycle

An ActionCycle is a 1:1 automated action plan (marketing and sales automation) used to ensure no leads get left behind. ActionCycles can be used for marketing, sales, and, of course, a mix of marketing and sales. ActionCycles are 1:1, meaning they work on the individual contact allowing each step to work at a pace that might work best for that contact AND all steps can easily be personalized based on the template being used at the ActionStep.  They can be assigned to many contacts at once or on an individual contact.

Create a new ActionCycle

An ActionCycle is a series of ActionSteps that happen after a specified time has passed since the last step. An example ActionCycle might be a new leads introduction where a new lead enters the system automatically from your website. In this case, you may want them to do the follow:

1. Immediately send them an email introducing them to your community and their sales agent
2. Schedule a call with their assigned agent in 2 days
3. Send them a follow up email in 7 days to ensure they received the information they requested

Using that example, here is how you would create the new ActionCycle

1. Go to Admin
2. Click on Action Cycles under Sales and Marketing
3. Click "Add New ActionCycle" on top right of the ActionCycles box
4. Enter a name for your ActionCycle and Click "Save". Using our example, you would enter something like "Website - New Lead Information"
5. You should now see your new ActionCycle in the ActionCycle box.
6. Click on the ActionCycle name you just created
7. Click "Add ActionStep" from the right-hand side of the ActionSteps box
8. Enter a name for your ActionStep. Using our example, you might enter "Email Intro"
9. Select the Action Type you would like. Correspondence is for email and print. Call is to schedule a call. Using our example, you would select Correspondence.
10. Select the Template you would like to send to the contact immediately in this first step. In this case, you might have a template called Intro Email already in your Email Templates.
11. Since this is the first ActionStep in the ActionCycle, there will be no available Loop Steps so leave that blank
12. Offset Days are how many days from the previous step this step should initiate. Since this is our first step, it will be how many days from the time the contact is put on this ActionCycle this will run. In our example, we want it to go immediately, so we will enter 0. If we wanted it to go in a week, we would enter 7 and this email would send 7 days from when the contact is put on this ActionCycle
13. Click Save

We now have our first step in the ActionCycle. All contacts put on this cycle will automatically receive the Email Intro email template immediately.  Let's create the second step.

1. Click "Add ActionStep" again
2. Enter a name for your ActionStep. Using our example you might enter "Initial Phone Call"
3. Select "Call" from Action Type 
4. Enter 2 in offset days. This will schedule a call 2 days from the previous step. Since the previous step will be completed immediately, it will schedule a call 2 days from the time the contact is put on the ActionCycle. 
5. Click Save

Now, the contact will receive the Email Intro email immediately and their assigned agent will have a call scheduled with them in 2 days. Let's complete our third and final step.

1. Click "Add ActionStep" again
2. Enter a name for your ActionStep. Using our example you might enter "Follow up Email - Did you receive the info"
3. Select Correspondence from Action Type
4. Select the template you would like to send to the contact as a follow up. In our example you might have a template called "Email initial follow up from the sales manager"
5. Enter 7 in offset days. This will schedule the email to go to the contact 7 days after the phone call is completed. 
6. Click Save

We now have a simple and complete ActionCycle!  At any point you can change your contacts ActionCycle. When you change an ActionCycle, all scheduled actions from the previous ActionCycle are removed.  It's a good practice to have your agents update ActionCycles after completing calls to ensure they are getting the right information!