Help Center

Introduction to LeadCenter Workflows

* Page referenced in this article: workflows page.

Workflows help automate repetitive tasks, streamline client communication, and improve operational efficiency across your firm. Whether you are automating follow-up emails, scheduling tasks, or managing client onboarding, workflows reduce manual work so your team can focus on building relationships and driving growth.

If You Are Migrating from Another CRM

If you are migrating from Redtail or Wealthbox, here are some key differences in LeadCenter Workflows:

1. Workflows in many other CRMs are not fully automated and often need to be started manually. In LeadCenter, workflows can trigger automatically when a contact is created, updated, when an appointment is created, or when a form is submitted.
2. LeadCenter also supports scheduled campaign-style sends for email and text marketing.
3. Workflows can send emails and text messages both internally and externally.
4. Workflows can automate calls to new leads.
5. Filters and branches let you create more targeted automation paths inside one workflow.

The LeadCenter Workflow Engine

LeadCenter workflows are powered by one workflow engine used across multiple areas of the system:

1. Contact Workflows — workflows that trigger manually or automatically when something happens to a contact.
2. Customer Segments — saved audiences that can also be used in workflows, email marketing, text marketing, Pipeline, and Contacts.
3. Email Marketing* — uses the same workflow engine, but sends emails on a scheduled future date.
4. Text Marketing** — works similarly to email marketing, but sends text messages on a scheduled future date.

*Email marketing campaigns require subscribing to the LeadCenter Email Marketing Plan.
**Text marketing campaigns require subscribing to the LeadCenter Text Marketing Plan.

Clear Workflow Filters

On the Workflows page, you can use filters to narrow the workflow list and find specific workflows faster. If you want to return to the full list, click Reset Filters to clear all active filters at once.

1. Go to the Workflows page.
2. Apply any filters you need to narrow the list.
3. Click Reset Filters to remove the active filters and show the full list again.

Tip: Use Reset Filters if the list looks empty or you cannot find a workflow you expected to see.

Workflow Building Blocks

Every workflow is built from four main types of building blocks:

Triggers

Triggers define how a workflow starts.

• Manual Trigger — start the workflow manually from a contact record
• Contact Created — starts when a new contact is added
• Contact Updated — starts when a contact record is changed
• Appointment Created — starts when a new appointment is created
• Form Submission Created — starts when a form is submitted
• Schedule — starts on a future date and time for email or text campaigns

Logic Nodes

Logic nodes control who continues through the workflow and when.

• Contact Filter
• Appointment Filter
• Form Submission Filter
• Wait
• Branch
• Exit Step

Actions

Actions are the things the workflow does.

• Send Email
• Send Text
• Call Contact
• Update Contact
• Assign Owner
• Create Task
• Create Step
• Request Catchlight Data

Settings

Some workflow behavior is also controlled by account-level settings, such as holiday and weekend pause for email and text sending.

Trigger Details

Contact Created

The Contact Created trigger starts automatically whenever a new contact is added to your system. This can happen through manual entry, a form submission, an integration, or another import method.

Use a Contact Filter after the trigger if you want only certain types of contacts to continue.

Contact Updated

The Contact Updated trigger starts when an existing contact record changes. You can optionally choose specific fields to watch. If no watched fields are selected, the workflow can trigger on any contact update.

Manual Trigger

The Manual Trigger lets your team start a workflow on demand from a contact record. This is useful for one-off processes that should not run automatically for every matching contact.

Appointment Created

The Appointment Created trigger starts when a new appointment is created. It is commonly used for appointment confirmations, reminders, preparation, and follow-up workflows.

Form Submission Created

The Form Submission Created trigger starts when a form is submitted. It can be used for lead routing, follow-up messages, and other form-driven automation.

Avoiding Infinite Loops

Important: Be careful when using the Contact Updated trigger together with the Update Contact action. If the workflow updates the same field that the trigger is watching, the workflow can keep retriggering itself.

To avoid this:

• Use the Fields to Watch setting carefully
• Do not update the same fields the trigger is watching unless that is intentional
• Use filters to narrow which contacts continue
• Use an Exit Step when a workflow should run only once per contact

How to Create Your First Workflow

1. Go to Workflow templates.
2. Click New workflow.
3. Enter a workflow name and optional description.
4. Choose the trigger that should start the workflow.
5. Add filters, waits, branches, and actions as needed.
6. Click Save to save the workflow as a draft.
7. When ready, click Save & Publish to make it live.

Save, Publish, and Workflow Statuses

You can save workflow changes as a draft before every step is finished. This helps you keep your work while you are still building, reviewing, or updating the workflow.

• Draft — the workflow is saved but not active yet
• Published — the workflow is live and can start running for matching contacts
• Paused — new contacts stop entering the workflow, but contacts already inside continue to completion

Save vs Save & Publish

• Save saves your draft only. If the workflow has incomplete steps or configuration issues, LeadCenter shows them as warnings. You can review the warnings and choose whether to save the draft anyway.
• Save & Publish makes the workflow live. All required workflow issues must be fixed first. If anything still needs attention, LeadCenter shows errors and blocks publishing until they are resolved.

Tip: Use Save freely while designing a workflow. You do not need to finish every step before saving your draft.

What Happens When You Save with Warnings

If your workflow has issues that would prevent publishing, LeadCenter shows a Workflow warnings dialog. You can review the warnings, then choose one of the following:

• Continue — save the draft with the warnings still present
• Cancel — return to the workflow editor without saving

If everything is valid, the workflow saves immediately without a warning dialog.

What Happens When You Save & Publish

If any required issue remains, LeadCenter shows a Workflow errors dialog. There is no option to continue publishing with errors. Close the dialog, fix the listed issues, and try Save & Publish again.

Examples of Draft Warnings

• No trigger selected — the workflow can be saved before the starting trigger is chosen.
• Incomplete action steps — required fields may still need to be completed, such as an email template, virtual number, schedule date, task title, owner, due date, or status.
• Email or text safety checks — event-triggered workflows may need a Filter step before Send Email or Send Text.
• Email template requirements — marketing templates may need required shortcodes such as [[unsubscribe_link]] or [[postal_address]].
• Filter or trigger mismatch — a filter may need to match the workflow trigger type.
• Branch placement — a Branch step may need to be placed after a Filter.

When you edit a published workflow, you are editing a draft version. The currently published version keeps running until you click Save & Publish with all errors resolved.

Best Practices

• Start with a simple workflow before building more complex branches and delays.
• Use clear workflow names so your team understands each workflow’s purpose.
• Always test workflows in draft mode before publishing.
• Place filters before email and text actions so only the right contacts receive communications.
• Review workflow runs regularly after publishing a new workflow.
• Use Contact Created for one-time onboarding or welcome flows.
• Use Contact Updated with watched fields for more targeted automation.
• Be careful with overlapping triggers so you do not create duplicate automation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a workflow and a campaign?

Workflows are event-based automations that run when something happens, such as a contact being created or updated. Campaigns are scheduled automations that send email or text to a group of contacts at a future date and time.

Can a contact be in more than one workflow at the same time?

Yes. A contact can move through multiple workflows at the same time.

What happens if I edit a published workflow?

You edit a draft copy. The published version continues running until you publish the updated draft.

Do I need a special subscription to use workflows?

Standard contact workflows are part of LeadCenter. Scheduled email and text campaigns require the matching Email Marketing or Text Marketing subscription.

Can multiple workflows use the same trigger?

Yes. Multiple workflows can use the same trigger, and each one runs independently.

Does Contact Updated trigger for bulk changes?

Yes. If contacts are updated in bulk, the Contact Updated trigger can fire for each affected contact.

Does the Manual Trigger require the workflow to be published?

Yes. Only published workflows appear in the manual Run Workflow menu.

If you need help setting up workflows, contact support@leadcenter.ai.