The following is an example of a Custom Process used internally by FYI to manage clients who have unsubscribed from bulk client communications.
FYI's company communications contain a footer that states if you wish to stop receiving the updates, simply reply with unsubscribe as the subject line. This subject line is the basis for the view used in this Automation Process.
This custom automation has been created by the FYI team, ready to be imported to use in your practice. To download our quick reference guide, click here (or download the file from the bottom of this article).
Importing this Custom Automation
Click here to download the file used to import this example Custom Process, ready for you to test and activate or customise to suit your practice (or download the file from the bottom of this article).
Note: If you are using Chrome as your browser, the link may not automatically download the zip file. You need to right-click on the download link above, select Copy link address and paste it into a new browser tab in the browser's URL field.
When you have downloaded the file you can import the Custom Process. Refer to Importing Custom Processes and Importing Custom Processes using Drag and Drop.
Creating the Custom Process
The following sections detail how to create this Custom Process directly, without using the Import feature.
- Create the Email Template
- Create a Documents View for the Unsubscribe List
- Add the Custom Process
- Add the Step to Update Client
- Add the Step to Create the Email
- Testing a Scheduled Custom Process
- Reviewing the Process History
- Set the Status of the Process to "Active"
- Scheduled Process runs Automatically
- Download Files
Create the Email Template
This example is sending an email. The email that is created by the process needs a Template to be first set up.
- Create an Email Template with the text that will be in the email that is sent.
In this example, the Email Template is Unsubscribe Successful.
Refer to the section Templates and Signatures for Email.
Create a Documents View for the Unsubscribe List
This process requires a Documents view to be created that will be used to trigger the Custom Process. Refer to Adding/Removing/Moving Columns in a List, Sorting and Filtering and Saving Changes to the View Layout, Modifying and Deleting Views.
- From the Documents list, in the Search documents field, type "Unsubscribe".
- Filter the Type column so that only Emails are displayed.
- Filter the Workflow status column to include "Not Started", "Pending Approval" and "In Progress".
- Save the view, for this example as "Unsubscribe". You would usually save this as "Automations only" so it is not included in the available views for standard users.
- Click Save and Close.
Add the Custom Process
- In Automation - Processes, click Add Custom Process.
- Add the Name of the Process, in this example this is "Marketing Unsubscribe".
- If required, add any additional description of the Process in the Description.
- In this example, the process will run regularly therefore the custom process has the Trigger set to "Schedule".
Define the schedule according to how often the Process should run. In the following example, this is set to run every hour.
- The Filter is set as "Document - View Filters" to filter documents based on a pre-defined, saved Document view. In this example, the view is selected as the "Unsubscribe" view.
- Set the Run Only Once Per Document to "On".
- Click Save.
The following is an example of the Process.
Add the Step to Update Client
This step in the process will automatically update the Opt In custom field to No for all clients in the Unsubscribe view.
- Click Add Step.
- Select Update Client.
- Update the Set Custom Field to the Opt In field and set the value as “No”.
- Click Save.
Add the Step to Create the Email
Once the update opt in field step has been completed, this step sends an email to the client notifying them that they have successfully unsubscribed.
- Click Add Step.
- Select Create Email.
- Select the email Template you have prepared to pre-fill the body of your email.
- Update the Sender as required.
- Select whether to send the email immediately, or to create a Draft email.
- Review the Filing details and rename the subject of the email if required.
- Include a Comment using the @ to tag the Manager to ensure they are informed of the client unsubscribe.
- Click Save.
Testing a Scheduled Custom Process
When setting up a Custom Process, it is very important to test it to ensure it is working as expected.
You can test a Scheduled Custom Process directly from the Process itself and this can be done while the Process is still "Draft".
- Click Test.
- The Select Test pop-up displays a list of the Documents and the associated Clients based on the Filter that has been set up in the process.
Note: A Test Client is handy for testing scheduled automations. - From the Select Test, search and select a specific client to run the test for and click Run Test.
Reviewing the Process History
When a Process has run (from a Test run or at any other time) you can review the status and check what was processed. The Process can be reviewed from the History tab from Process itself, or from the Client workspace for the relevant client.
Displaying the Process History Checklist from the Client Workspace
- For the relevant client, go to the Client - Process History tab.
- Click on the Process to display the details, in this example the "Unsubscribe Process".
The Process History Checklist displays for that specific Process. - Click on any of the entries in the Process History Checklist to display further details of what was created or actioned.
Set the Status of the Process to "Active"
When you are ready, set the Status of the process to "Active".
Scheduled Process runs Automatically
This example is a Scheduled Process. Once the Status is set as "Active", the Process will run automatically according to the schedule that was set. In this example the process has been scheduled to run every hour.
For details of the different ways to run a Custom Process, refer to Running Custom Processes.
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