Managing Data in Automation Workflows: A Comprehensive Guide

In this blog post, we’ll walk you through managing data within your automation workflows. From setting up triggers and actions to accessing and manipulating data, we'll cover everything you need to streamline your workflow automation effectively.

Setting Up Triggers and Actions

The first step in managing your data in automation workflows is to create triggers and actions. These components come from applications that have been integrated into your account.

1. Creating a New Trigger

   • Select a Trigger: Choose from the available options, such as "Price Updated".

   • Save the Trigger: Save the selected trigger and add any necessary filters.

   • This trigger will initiate the workflow whenever the specified event occurs.

2. Adding Actions

   • Configure Actions: Actions are the tasks performed once the trigger is activated. For example, you can use a custom value from an application like Stripe.

   • Access Action Data: Navigate to the Stripe action, such as "Price Updated" or "Stripe Customer Created", to access and use data from these triggers.

Accessing Data in Actions

Once you've set up your triggers and actions, you can access data within these components:

1. Accessing Trigger Data

   • When you create a task, you can access data from the trigger. For instance, if you create a job queue using an app like Service Mate, you can fetch data from this action and use it in subsequent steps.

2. Accessing Action Data

   • Actions can also retrieve data from preceding actions in the workflow. For example, a "Create Task" action from ClickUp can use data from a previous action or trigger.

Integrating Native and Custom Actions

Automation workflows support both native and custom actions. Here's how to manage data with each:

1. Native Actions

   • Native actions are built-in functions within the automation platform. For example, creating a contact using data from a native trigger.

2. Custom Actions

   • Custom actions are specific to integrated applications. For example, actions derived from triggers like "Stripe Customer Created".

Handling Contact and Non-Contact Data

Workflows often deal with two types of data: contact-related and non-contact-related. Here’s how to manage both:

1. Non-Contact Data

   • Some workflows process data unrelated to contacts. Ensure that actions related to this data type do not require contact information.

2. Contact Data

   • For workflows involving contacts, ensure that contact information is referenced correctly. If a workflow starts with non-contact data, create a contact action before proceeding with contact-related actions.

3. Example Scenario: Updating an Opportunity

   • If you need to update an opportunity for a contact, ensure the workflow references the contact correctly. Use identifiers like email or phone numbers to link the actions to the contact.

Common Use Cases for Automation Workflows

1. E-commerce Price Updates

   • Automatically update product prices in your e-commerce platform based on triggers from pricing tools.

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

   • Create and update contact information in your CRM when new customers are added or existing customer data changes.

3. Task Management

   • Automate task creation and assignment in project management tools like ClickUp based on specific triggers, such as new project phases.

4. Service Scheduling

   • Use apps like Service Mate to automate job scheduling and updates based on service requests.

5. Payment Processing

   • Integrate with payment processors like Stripe to automate invoicing, payment confirmations, and customer updates.

By following these steps and understanding the common use cases, you can efficiently manage data within your automation workflows, making your processes more streamlined and effective.

Hi there in this video I'm going to be showing you how you're going to be able to manage your data with inside of your automation, workflows. Now. The first thing we have here is some triggers and some actions underneath of here all of that have came from applications added to your account now. The first thing we have here is we're going to create a new trigger, so we can take one from here. Let's say price updated: we can go ahead and save this trigger, oh just, add a filter, and then once we've got this, we can then move down over here.

Now we've got another action now for this input name. What you're going to be able to do is like how you can access any of the custom values, but now you can access the actual custom values of the actual application. So you can see see here stripe for workflows and we have a stripe action up here. So if we come here to stripe for action, we can see we have the price updated, the one that we so the stripe customer created and if we go into here we can access all of the data of these triggers now, if we come down to the create task, what we're going to be able to do is not only access the data of the trigger, but we'll also going to be able to access the data of that action so that action there on a create job, q comes from an app called service, mate and from here we can create the job q and then get the data from this now. This means that any additional actions that you might add to the workflow- let's just pick one at random there we go. We're then going to be able to then access now the create task. So the create task comes from a clickup action. Here we can see, create task number one, and here we can see, create task number one and if we click onto this, we can then see all of the data that comes from that action. So every following action: every following thing that we do from here you're then going to be able to access the data from above inside of it.

Now this works with all of the native actions as well, so we can come here to create contact. We could go ahead and uh say we're going to do the first name. This came from stripe and we can go ahead and access the stripe information just from here. Okay, so then we can grab the name from the stripe customer from the stripe event happening, so it works with all native actions. All native triggers it all works together. Just added applications added actions added triggers you're going to be able to manage all the data managing through this, and it's very simple to do now. There is one rule that you might want to actually take uh a lot of notes around this and I'm going to try and give you the best example. Let's say that I wanted to do a uh action like uh update an opportunity now when you need to run this action, what you're, actually going to be able to do is um run this against a contact, but right now, if we had the custom trigger run there is no contact with inside of this workflow.

That's been referenced so far. That would only come from say something native here where we have a native trigger native triggers are all the ones we have up here. All the yellow ones are going to be custom triggers okay, so all these yellow ones will be custom now, if a yellow one or a custom trigger triggers. That means that there is no contact moving through the workflow, so these actions won't take place so say for an example: we have the stripe customer created action. We can now do a create contact action and we can create the full contact if we want to. If we need to, but what you're also going to be able to do like how I showed you from earlier is now grab the information of say the email, which is a main identifier, an email or a phone number. And now, if we save this action, the update will create opportunity will take place because we've now referenced the actual contact that it's going to take place for so workflows work with kind of two directions, one that is data that has nothing to do with contacts and data that has things to do with contacts and if you are going to want to reference a contact in the middle of something after you've had data, that's having nothing to do with a contact you're going to need to make sure that you create the contact to be able to get full effect.

Video

summary

The video provides a detailed explanation on managing data in automation workflows utilizing triggers, actions, and access to custom values from applications like Stripe. It demonstrates how to access custom values from apps and data from triggers and actions, using examples such as creating tasks and contacts. The importance of custom triggers and contacts is emphasized in ensuring actions are triggered appropriately within workflows, showcasing the integration of Native actions like Stripe and ClickUp. The significance of referencing contacts for actions to take place is illustrated, along with creating contacts based on data references within workflows.

Table of content

Managing Data in Automation Workflows

Explains how to manage data within automation workflows using triggers, actions, and accessing custom values from applications.

Accessing Custom Values of Applications

Shows how to access actual custom values of applications like Stripe for workflows and how to access data from triggers and actions.

Accessing Data of Triggers and Actions

Explains how to access data from both triggers and actions within workflows, showing examples with different actions like creating tasks and creating contacts.

Utilizing Data from Native Actions

Demonstrates how to access data from Native actions like Stripe and ClickUp and shows how all Native actions, triggers, and applications work together within workflows.

Taking Notes for Workflow Rules

Provides an example of a workflow rule for updating opportunities and explains the importance of custom triggers and contacts within workflows.

Working with Custom Triggers and Contacts

Discusses the significance of custom triggers and contacts, showing how actions are triggered based on the presence of contacts in workflows.

Creating Contacts Based on Data

Illustrates the process of creating contacts based on data references within workflows and the significance of referencing contacts for actions to occur.

FAQ

Q: What is the significance of custom triggers and contacts in automation workflows?

A: Custom triggers and contacts play a crucial role in triggering actions within workflows based on specific conditions or presence of contacts.

Q: How are custom values from applications like Stripe accessed in automation workflows?

A: Custom values from applications like Stripe can be accessed by utilizing triggers and actions within workflows to extract and manipulate the data as needed.

Q: Can you explain the concept of accessing data from both triggers and actions within automation workflows?

A: Accessing data from both triggers and actions means extracting information from the initial event (trigger) that initiates the workflow as well as from subsequent actions taken within the workflow.

Q: Why is it important to reference contacts for actions to occur in automation workflows?

A: Referencing contacts is crucial as it allows actions to be triggered based on the presence or absence of specific contacts, enabling targeted automation based on contact data.

Q: What is a workflow rule for updating opportunities and how does it relate to automation workflows?

A: A workflow rule for updating opportunities is a predefined action triggered by specific conditions to automate the process of modifying or updating opportunities within a workflow.