Automations Overview

Automations let you build multi-step workflows that run automatically when something happens in your business. A lead comes in, an estimate gets sent, a job is completed -- and CE Pro responds with the right sequence of messages, updates, and actions without any manual work.

What Changed from Follow-Up Sequences

The previous Follow-Up Sequences system let you set up basic SMS and email sequences for three fixed scenarios: speed-to-lead, estimate follow-up, and post-job. Automations replace that system with a fully flexible workflow engine.

Key differences:

• Any trigger, not just three. Choose from trigger types like lead created, estimate sent, job completed, invoice events, appointment upcoming, and more.
• Branching and conditions. Add IF/THEN logic that evaluates contact data, estimate totals, tags, or job status to route contacts down different paths.
• More action types. Beyond SMS and email, you can assign users, create tasks, update fields, add tags, award XP, fire webhooks, and enroll contacts in other workflows.
• Visual canvas builder. Drag and drop nodes on a canvas to design complex workflows visually. Connect them with edges to define the flow.
• Pre-built templates. Start from one of 6 test-ready templates and customize from there.
• Run history and analytics. See every execution, step by step. Know exactly what happened and when.

Legacy call-based steps may still appear in older workflows, but Make Call and Voicemail Drop cannot be added or activated in the current engine.

If you have existing follow-up sequences, you can migrate them to the new system.

Where to Find Automations

Click More > Automations in the sidebar. You will see:

• A stats bar showing active workflows, paused workflows, total runs, and success rate
• A table listing all your workflows with status, trigger, and run counts
• Quick-access tabs to filter by Active, Paused, or Drafts

If your workspace is brand new and has no automation history yet, those analytics cards default to zero until the first workflow runs.

Access to this area is controlled by the Automations permissions in Team > Permissions:

• Automations view lets a teammate open the workflow list, detail pages, run history, and analytics.
• Automations manage is required to create, edit, activate, pause, test, cancel, or manually enroll contacts in workflows.

How It Works

Every automation follows the same cycle:

1. A trigger fires. Something happens in your account -- a lead is created, an estimate is sent, a job status changes.
2. CE Pro matches the event. The engine checks all active workflows to see which ones match the trigger.
3. Entry conditions are evaluated. If you added conditions (like "estimate total is greater than $500"), they are checked before the workflow runs.
4. Steps execute in order. Each step runs one at a time -- send an SMS, wait 2 hours, send an email, check a condition, branch left or right.
5. The run completes. When all steps finish (or a condition routes to an end), the run is marked as completed.

Delays are respected automatically. If a step says "wait 3 days," the engine holds that run and picks it back up at the right time. Messages only send during your configured business hours. If the run pauses for business hours or a long delay, the same run resumes from the exact waiting step instead of restarting the workflow.

When you activate a new-engine workflow on Lead Created, Estimate Sent, or Job Completed, CE Pro prefers the automation engine for that trigger so customers do not get duplicate outreach from both the new engine and legacy follow-up sequences.

Core Concepts

Workflows

A workflow is the container. It has a name, a trigger, optional entry conditions, and a list of steps. Workflows can be in one of four states: Draft, Active, Paused, or Archived.

Steps

Each step is an action the workflow takes. Steps run in sequence unless a condition step branches the flow. There are 19 step types grouped into categories like Communication, Timing, Logic, CRM, and Integrations.

Create Task and Internal Note steps are logged into the unified Messages inbox as internal thread items so your team can see the automation handoff in the same place as customer communication.

Runs

A run is a single execution of a workflow for one contact. Every time the trigger fires and conditions pass, a new run is created. You can view all runs, see which step they are on, and inspect the output of each step.

Enrollments

An enrollment tracks which contact is in which workflow. The system prevents duplicate enrollments -- a contact cannot be enrolled in the same workflow twice at the same time.

Manual enrollment targets only the workflow you selected. Starting one workflow from the detail page does not enroll the contact into other manual-trigger workflows in your account.

Getting Started

The fastest way to start is to use a template:

1. Go to Automations > Templates
2. Pick a template like TEST - Speed to Lead - Immediate Response or TEST - Estimate Follow-Up
3. Click Use Template -- this clones the workflow into your account
4. Customize the messages, delays, and conditions to match your business
5. Click Activate

Or build from scratch using the wizard builder or visual canvas.

What You Can Automate

Here are the most common workflows our customers set up:

• Speed-to-Lead: Immediate SMS, internal handoff, and a conditional follow-up if the lead does not reply
• Estimate Follow-Up: Multi-day drip of SMS and email reminders after sending an estimate
• Review Request: Ask for a Google review 1 day after job completion, with a reminder if they do not leave one
• Invoice Reminders: Escalating reminders before and after an invoice due date
• Appointment Reminders: Separate reminders for lead or estimate appointments and scheduled jobs
• Win-Back Campaigns: Quarterly outreach to dormant customers with a discount offer

See Templates for ready-made versions of all of these.