Creating Workflows

CleanEstimate Pro now supports two creation paths:

• Wizard builder for guided step-by-step setup
• Visual builder for a canvas-first flow with connected steps and branch paths

The wizard is still the default starting point. The visual builder is now available before you finish building a workflow, so you can choose the editing style that fits the job.

Choose Your Starting Point

1. Go to More > Automations in the sidebar.
2. Click the New Automation button in the top right.

On the new workflow screen, you now have two clear options:

• Stay in the wizard and work through Trigger, Conditions, Actions, and Review
• Click Open Visual Builder to create a draft workflow shell and jump straight into the canvas editor

The visual builder is currently optimized for desktop screens. On mobile, the CTA stays visible, but CE Pro will keep you in the wizard flow instead of opening the canvas.

Wizard Builder

If you stay in the wizard, you will see a step indicator at the top showing four steps: Trigger, Conditions, Actions, and Review.

Step 1: Choose a Trigger

A trigger is the event that starts the workflow. Pick from categories like Lead Activity, Estimates, Jobs, Invoicing, Appointments, and more.

Click a category card to expand it and see the available triggers. Select the one that matches when you want the workflow to start.

Some triggers require extra configuration. For example:

• Job Status Changed asks you to pick which status transition should fire the trigger
• Appointment Upcoming asks how many minutes before the appointment to trigger and whether the reminder is for a lead or estimate visit or a scheduled job
• Phone triggers like Call Received or Missed Call can be paired with SMS, task, call, or voicemail actions

Click Next when your trigger is set.

Step 2: Entry Conditions (Optional)

Conditions let you filter which contacts enter the workflow. If you skip this step, every matching trigger event will start a run.

Add conditions by clicking Add Condition. Each condition has three parts:

1. Field -- what to check (e.g., Estimate Total, Customer State, Service Type)
2. Operator -- how to compare (equals, contains, greater than, is empty, etc.)
3. Value -- the threshold or match value

When you have multiple conditions, choose whether ALL must be true (AND logic) or ANY can be true (OR logic).

Examples:

• Estimate Total is greater than $500
• Customer State equals "FL"
• Service Type contains "pressure washing"
• Customer has no tag "VIP"

Click Next to continue.

Step 3: Add Actions

This is where you build the sequence of steps. The steps display as a numbered timeline.

The wizard remains the best choice when you want a guided setup flow and do not need to manually arrange branch paths on a canvas.

Click Add Step to open the step palette. Steps are organized by category:

• Communication: Send SMS, Send Email, Make Call, Leave Voicemail, Internal Note
• Timing: Delay (wait X minutes/hours/days)
• Logic: Condition (IF/THEN branching)
• CRM: Update Status, Add Tag, Remove Tag, Assign User, Create Task, Update Field
• Integrations & Workflows: Webhook, Enroll in Workflow, Remove from Workflow
• Gamification: Award XP

When you add a step, a configuration panel opens where you can:

• Set the step label
• Write message templates with merge fields
• Configure delays, conditions, or CRM updates
• Preview rendered messages with example data

Use the up/down arrows to reorder steps. Click the pencil icon to edit, or the trash icon to delete.

Click Next when your steps are ready.

Common Recipe: Accepted Estimate Follow-Up

One high-value workflow is an immediate post-acceptance handoff:

1. Trigger on Estimate Accepted
2. Add a Send Email step thanking the customer for approving the estimate
3. Add a Send SMS step confirming the team will follow up with next steps and scheduling
4. Add a Create Task step so your office or assigned rep has an internal follow-up action right away

You can extend the same pattern with a Make Call step if you want the assigned rep or office line to be contacted automatically too.

This is a good pattern when you want every estimate type that uses the shared acceptance flow to trigger the same customer acknowledgement and internal handoff.

Step 4: Review and Activate

The review screen shows everything at a glance:

• Workflow name and description -- edit these fields to give your automation a clear name
• Trigger summary -- confirms what event starts the workflow
• Conditions -- lists any entry conditions you set
• Step timeline -- compact view of all steps in order
• Delivery window -- configure business hours if you want messages to only send during work hours

Business Hours

Toggle on business hours to restrict when messages are delivered. Set:

• Start and end times (e.g., 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM)
• Which days of the week are active
• Your timezone

Messages scheduled outside business hours will be held until the next available window.

Saving

You have two options:

• Save as Draft -- saves the workflow without activating it. Use this when you want to review it later or get approval from your team.
• Activate Automation -- saves and immediately enables the workflow. It will start running the next time the trigger fires.

Editing an Existing Workflow

To edit a workflow you have already created:

1. Go to Automations and click on the workflow name
2. Click the Edit button in the action bar
3. The wizard opens pre-populated with your existing settings
4. Make your changes and save

Changes to active workflows take effect immediately. If you need to make significant changes, consider pausing the workflow first.

When to Use the Visual Builder

Use the visual builder when you want to:

• see the workflow as a connected graph instead of a timeline
• work with branching paths and condition logic more visually
• drag steps into place and keep manual layout changes
• auto-arrange a workflow into a readable top-to-bottom flow

The visual builder now opens from:

• the Open Visual Builder action on the new workflow page
• the Build Visually action on template cards
• the workflow detail page for existing saved workflows

For the full canvas workflow, see Visual Workflow Builder.