Planning & Building your Workflows

Planning your Workflows

As Workflow Templates are used to communicate vital course information, it is important that you plan your Workflow Templates before you begin to build them to ensure that you don't miss anything – whether this is an entire Workflow Template, such as a reminder email for your Trainers, or whether this is some of the content of an email, such as telling your Delegates there is pre-work to complete within their joining instructions.

    

Map your processes

First start by mapping out your processes for your courses. Consider the perfect journey, including the Delegate booking process, reminders, certification, evaluation forms and admin notifications. Also be sure to consider the imperfect journey, include Delegate transfers and course cancellations.

The image below illustrates an example process:

Here are some example processes for you to consider:

  • Delegate booking on a Classroom course.
  • Delegate booking on a Webinar course.
  • Delegate booking on an eLearning course.
  • Delegate booking on a Document course.
  • Placeholder booking on a Classroom course.
  • Placeholder booking on a Webinar course.
  • A Delegate cancels their place on a course.
  • A Delegate transfers from one course to another.
  • A Classroom or Webinar course is cancelled.
  • Trainer is assigned to a Classroom course.
  • Trainer is assigned to a Webinar course.

Identify your communications

Then for each process, identify what communications are currently sent during this process which you would like to automate, and any communications which you do not currently send as it would take too long manually.

Here are some example communications:

  • Booking confirmation email for the person who made the booking.
  • Confirmation of booking email to the Delegate.
  • Pre-course survey to the Delegate.
  • Joining Instructions email to the Delegate with venue details (classroom courses only).
  • Joining Instructions email to the Delegate with webinar log in details (webinar courses only).
  • Joining Instructions email to the Delegate with how to access eLearning content (eLearning courses only).
  • Course date reminder SMS to the Delegate before the course (classroom and webinar courses only).
  • Course date reminder email to the Trainer before the course with a Delegate list attached.
  • Confirmation of cancellation email to the Delegate and their manager.
  • Confirmation of transfer email to the Delegate and their manager.
  • Course cancellation email to the Delegates and the Trainer.
  • Placeholder places are still unassigned email to the placeholder’s booker.
  • Payment confirmation email to the Account/User linked to the booking’s invoice.
  • Payment is overdue to the Account/User linked to the booking’s invoice.
  • Course evaluation form to the Delegate (public courses only).

Define the content of your communications

Take each communication, and define what you would like the subject and the body to be. 

For example:

Joining Instructions email to the Delegate with venue details

Subject

CourseName Joining Instructions

Body

Dear DelegateForename,
 

Thank you for your booking onto our CourseName course.
 

Start Date: StartDate

End Date: EndDate

Session 1 - date/time,
Session 2 - date/time,
Session 3 - date/time

Venue: VenueLabel, VenueAddress, VenuePostcode

Please ensure you arrive 15 minutes before the start time for registration.


Please contact us as soon as possible on 0123456789 should you need to cancel your place on this course, or if you have any special requirements. You can find our cancellation policy within our terms and conditions on our website.


We look forward to seeing you.

When creating your Email and Text Templates, its important to ensure that their module corresponds with the module of the Workflow they'll be used for. To learn more about modules, click here.

Define the rules and triggers for your communications

Once you are happy with the content of your communications, you can define the rules and trigger options for each communication.

Rules: Workflow rules determine when a Workflow should be created.

Triggers: Workflow triggers determine when the Workflow action should be sent.

While you are deciding your Workflow rules, think about both when you would like the Workflow to be created (i.e. the Delegate has been booked), and when you wouldn’t like the Workflow to be created (i.e. but not when they are attending the course as a sub-session of another course).

Here are some example rules and triggers for communications:

Communication

Rules (Create my Workflow when)

Trigger (Send my Workflow)

Booking confirmation email for the person who made the booking.

Booking is complete.

2 minutes after the booking.

Confirmation of booking email to the Delegate.

Delegate’s status has changed to ‘booked’ on the course.

2 minutes after the update.

Pre-course survey to the Delegate.

Delegate’s status is ‘booked’ on the course.

14 days before the course.

Joining Instructions email to the Delegate with venue details (classroom courses only).

Delegate’s status is ‘booked’ on the course.

7 days before the course.

Joining Instructions email to the Delegate with webinar log in details (webinar courses only).

Delegate’s status is ‘booked’ on the course.

7 days before the course.

Joining Instructions email to the Delegate with how to access eLearning content (eLearning courses only).

Delegate’s status has changed to ‘booked’ on the course.

2 minutes after the update.

Course viability information for Administrators.

Course status is not ‘cancelled’.

20 days before the course.

Course date reminder SMS to the Delegate before the course (classroom and webinar courses only).

Delegate’s status is ‘booked’ on the course.

1 day before the course.

Course date reminder email to the Trainer before the course with a Delegate list attached.

User type is ‘Trainer’, the course is not cancelled.

2 days before the course.

Confirmation of cancellation email to the Delegate and their manager.

Delegate’s status is changed to ‘cancelled’ on the course, however the course status is not ‘cancelled’.

2 minutes after the update.

Confirmation of transfer email to the Delegate and their manager.

Delegate’s status is changed to ‘transferred’ on the course.

2 minutes after the update.

Course cancellation email to the Delegates and the Trainer.

Course status is changed to ‘cancelled’.

2 minutes after update.

Placeholder places are still unassigned email to the placeholder’s booker.

The number of unused places is greater than or equal to ‘1’, the course status is not cancelled.

21 days before the course.

Payment confirmation email to the Account/User linked to the booking’s Invoice.

Invoice has a status of ‘completed’, the value of the invoice is greater than or equal to ‘1’.

2 minutes after update.

Payment is overdue to the Account/User linked to the booking’s Invoice.

Invoice has a status of ‘part completed’ or ‘outstanding’.

1 day after invoice due date.

Course evaluation form to the Delegate (public courses only).

Delegate’s status has changed to ‘completed’.

1 day after the course end date.

Common additional Workflow rules are:

  • Only send when the course is offered by a certain Training Provider.
  • Only send to courses which contain ‘ABC’ in the course label.
  • Only send when the Delegate is not attending the course as a sub-session of another course (this is very common for Workflows, as it prevents the Delegate getting each communication for their main booking, as well as every session they are booked on to).