Consistent Automations 2.0 Conditional Logic Triggers

​@Diana The Finer Points - Would you be able to chime in on this? You are more of an expert at the Automations 2.0 than I am. :) 

​@Abbey Butcher without knowing specifics, it’s hard to answer this. I’ve only heard of one time where an automation hasn’t run due to a glitch - HoneyBook immediately emailed me with next step instructions and which projects were affected. It was resolved very quickly. If you can provide screenshots where an automation was supposed to run but didn’t, I could provide more insight. Happy to take a look 

​@Diana The Finer Points  -   I have been told directly by honeybook that time based automations can only trigger once per project.  (ie if a file is to be sent two weeks before the project end date).   This was after multiple months of talking to them.     Such an automation was working just fine on my files initially, then stopped, then worked again before Honeybook finally stated that their engineers declared that such automations can only be applied once per project.     

I’m attaching one of the automations that this has happened to.    This is for a recurring package -  I would reset the project dates at the end of the month and expected that this automation would trigger. each time there was a new future project date.

Yeah that scenario is hard. It’s not the best way to run a recurring timeline.

2 suggestions:

have you considered a “wait 4 weeks” step instead of the same run every time? 
 

another brainstorm suggestion would be to have the automation change pipeline stages every 4 weeks. When it moves to the next stage, the run would trigger the next step. 
 

essentially, 2.0 project date isn’t built for recurring automations, so it’s going to glitch on you. Is there another trigger you can think of? Something that happens right before this that we could use to trigger monthly? Do they pay an invoice every month? 

​@Diana The Finer Points   Yes I have considered that and the trouble with it is that not all of my clients stay on the recurring program.   They have the ability to move between low and high touch support based upon their needs -      Simply adding weeks would not work and would also continue to eliminate the ability to apply the automation again once they return to the recurring package.

My other concern after speaking with customer support is that none of this is plainly out there for business owners to make the best decisions or use the features effectively.   How is one to know that 2.0 isn’t built for recurring automations, particularly when it worked just fine in such case initially.

I’m not really looking for alternative ways to build automations for my clients -  I can do that given a bit of time.    I was looking for others who have had a similar situation and how it was resolved.   I guess the alternative ways to build the automations could be the resolve…..unfortunately it sounds like what I need is no longer going to exist. - the ability to run an automation if the client returns to the project.

If they return to that project, would you send a specific invoice? Cause that would be your trigger then for each scenario.

and I’m double checking if recurring invoices could be a good alternative as a trigger as well. 
 

I get that it’s not the same as 1.0, but ultimately it does give more control. It’s not fully rolled out yet either, so it will improve. Until then, happy to brainstorm other ways to resolve the current headache! 

Yes I would send a specific invoice -    that’s another one that’s requiring some new thinking -   I learned that the invoice is not considered paid if it’s recurring until it ends - this ultimately messed up some the rest of the automation as it started triggering reminders to pay.   Frustrating because the project and the file both reflected that it had been paid.

This would also only work if the client was starting with the package -   if they remain on the package for more than one month no invoice is sent as it’s a recurring payment.

​@Abbey Butcher brainstorming! You’re not alone in this struggle. I think something new needs to be developed. Let me bring it to them for more brainstorming! 

​@Abbey Butcher okay - I spent some time thinking this one through, I think the way to give you the most control, is to create a separate run for each scenario. Not try to create one singular long automation. That way, no matter what your client chooses, the automation will follow. 

Hi Diana,

I appreciate your creativity and thoughtfulness but that will not actually solve the problem.  1 I already have a separate run for each scenario.    My clients switch between scenarios based on needs.   Once they choose each scenario one time I can no longer guarantee the automation will run as it should.    I’ll come up with a better options that works for me but overall am pretty unimpressed with it all given the lack of information to make informed decisions -   some will run repeatedly within a project and some won’t.