Overview - Automation
The 'Automation' Settings screen will allow Dealers to setup actions, for example an Email Response that are triggered by certain events such as closing a lead as won or lost. Dealers can set the Timeframe the action is taken and the Standard Response template that should be used.
The ability to set this by Yard is also available. It should be noted that if there are multiple automation records for a Dealer, and a Yard exists in both, for example 'Yard A' has it's own record, but there is also a record with 'All Yards' then this could result in multiple emails to the Customer.
The Automation record will require;
- Name - specific to Dealer
- Trigger - there are a number of trigger options which will then have varying options of Trigger filters and / or different event types which are outlined below. The Trigger options are:
- Calendar Event Completed
- Calendar Event Created
- Calendar Event Due
- Calendar Event No Show
- Customer Replied to Email
- Customer Replied to SMS
- Email/SMS Failed to Send
- Lead Closed Lost
- Lead Closed Won
- Lead Created
- Lead Inactive
- Lead Not Updated
- Lead Overdue
- Lead Progress Not Updated
- Lead Progress Reached
- Lead Progress Sold
- Lead Stalled
- Test Drive Completed
- User Created
- Active flag must be set
- The Automated records can be set by Yard
It is possible to stop automation activity occurring on selected leads;
- Read more about excluding individual leads HERE
- Read more about Blackout Periods HERE and TimeZone settings HERE
- Read more about Automation Brakes HERE
- Download the attached xls to see how AutoPlay Automation can be configured
Actions (Read More HERE)
For all Automation Triggers there is the ability to complete specified actions instead of sending emails, SMS or in-app notifications;
- Close Lead As Lost - will automatically close the lead as lost - can select a Close Reason to be applied here
- Create Calendar Event - will automatically create a calendar event - can select a Event Type to be applied here
- Reallocate Lead - will automatically reallocate the lead - can select a user to reallocate to
- Create Appraisal Offer - used in conjunction with the 'Group Account Visibility' role can be used to automate the creation of Appraisal Group Offers when completing Appraisals
Communications (Read More HERE)
Automation can be used to set up automated external or internal communications. It is possible to set up several different types of communications;
- Email Notification
- Email Response
- In App Notification
- SMS Message
- SMS Notification
- SMS Response
To find out more about automated communications you can read more HERE.
Added Leads Created In Last X Days To All Triggers (SPW-3939)
When setting up Automation triggers the account may have a lot of old leads that have yet to be closed lost. In some scenarios it's appropriate to reach out to these cold leads, whilst in others you may want to ensure that your automation trigger only triggers against more recent leads. When setting up a new Automation trigger you can now add the age of the leads you want to be triggered against - giving dealerships greater control over who they contact and why.
Added 'Process Each Lead Only Once' Checkbox (SPW-3943)
The previous iteration of Automation had some rules bakes into certain triggers to ensure that they didn't trigger repeatedly if it wasn't appropriate to do so. For example if checking for leads that reached Test Drive Progress you do not want to necessarily keep emailing a customer for as long as the lead remains at Test Drive. These settings were baked in, however they were invisible and not configurable. In 20.9.1 it's now possible to specify whether you want automation to trigger only once on each automation trigger, or trigger multiple times if appropriate. Existing Automation settings have been automatically set up to trigger only once with the exception of 'Customer Replied To Email/SMS', and 'Email/SMS Failed To Send' triggers.
An example of where it is appropriate to trigger multiple times is when a lead is Inactive. You may decide it's appropriate to send a notification to the owner of that lead every 4 hours until he updates the lead record.
The Lead Inactive Timeframe Can Now Be Specified By Hours & Minutes (SPW-3945)
When configuring the 'Lead Inactive' trigger it is now possible to specify the "inactive" period by Hours and Minutes, instead of only by the number of Days. This enables this trigger to be more widely utilized as an alternative to 'Lead Not Updated' or 'Lead Progress Not Updated' triggers.
Added 'Status' Setting To Control Automation Triggers On All Lead Statuses (SPW-3983)
In earlier iterations the majority of Automation triggers would only trigger against 'Open' Leads. We've now added a drop down selection to allow users the control to specify whether they want the automation to be triggered against All Leads, only Open Leads, only Closed Leads or even more granular - only Closed Lost or Closed Won leads. The type of action or message that might be appropriate for an Open Lead vs a Closed Won Lead could be quite different and this setting now provides far more transparency over which leads will trigger the automation.
Selecting Leads To Trigger Automation
When setting up Automation you can specify the type of Leads you want to trigger the Automation. You can choose from the below;
- Yards (select one or multiple yards incl Not Allocated)
- Users (select one or multiple user incl Not Allocated)
- Source (select one or multiple Sources incl Not Specified)
- Campaign (select one or multiple incl Not Specified)
- Makes (select one or more Makes)
- Contact Groups (select one or more Contact Groups)
When all of these settings are specified the lead must match ALL of the settings in order to qualify to trigger the automation action. This means meeting all the requirements for Yards, Users, Source etc that are specified on the automation setting.
It is also possible to set up Trigger Filters to further narrow down the leads you want to include in your Automation Trigger.
There are numerous 'Types' available to further narrow down the selection of leads that would trigger your Automation including;
- Calendar Event Type (e.g Booked Test Drive, Scheduled Vehicle Appraisal, Visit Inbound etc)
- Form Type (e.g Test Drive Form, Appraisal Form, Write Up Form, Wishlist Form)
- Lead Closed Type (e.g Close Reasons supplied when lead is Closed As Lost)
- Lead Origin (e.g the uneditable true source of where the lead came from such as Manually Loaded or API)
- Lead Type (Walk In, Phone, Email, Other)
- Listing Body Type (e.g Hatch, Sedan, SUV etc)
- Listing Fuel Type (e.g Petrol, Diesel, Electric, Hybrid)
- Manager Approved Status (e.g. is the Appraisal Approved or not)
- Progress Item Type (e.g Awaiting Action, Phone Call Made, Meet & Qualify, Test Drive, Finance etc)
- Traded Status (e.g. is the Appraisal marked as Traded or not)
Setting Automation Via Dealer Group Settings (Read more HERE)
With the popularity of AutoPlay Automation growing we've now added some tools to make it easier to set up for OEM's and Dealer Groups enmasse. Instead of having to replicate 20 unique Automation settings for 20 different AutoPlay accounts you can now set up just one Automation under the parent account.
Selecting 'Process For Child Dealers' will result in a 'Dealers' box appearing within the Automation screen.
Within the 'Dealers' section you will be able to select any of the dealers that share a Dealer Group with the parent account you are viewing. Within this selection you can opt to trigger the automations within the parent account, or exclude the parent account and only trigger automations for activity in the child accounts. Selecting 'All Dealers' will include the parent account in your automation setting.
When setting up Automation for Groups you are restricted to selecting Yards that are enabled as 'brochureware' only. If you need to specify other yards within the dealership you will need to set up either individual automation settings in the dealers account, or utilising the 'Make' filter options to control which leads trigger the automation without needing to specify individual Yards.
When viewing the Automation record in a individual Dealer account the Automation record will be visible, however it will be locked and unable to be modified (however all logging of Automation events triggered will be available in each account). If you need to modify anything such as the Email Response Template to suit an individual dealership you will need to revert back to creating individual Automation settings for each dealer in the group.
It is also possible to trigger automated Live Leads or other Email Campaigns on a On Demand or Monthly basis. You can read more about this process HERE
Want to find out more about how AutoPlay Automation can be used and view a sample deployment? Click HERE
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