Automations let Powerlily respond to activity across your sales, project, customer, and service records. A rule watches for a trigger, checks its conditions, then runs a sequence of steps such as sending an email or t
The current automation model
Automations belong to your company. A rule can apply company-wide or be limited to a workflow when that makes sense. This lets you build one shared process without copying it into every workflow, while keeping workflow-specific playbooks where they are useful.
Automations can begin from four types of record:
- Quotes and projects for proposal, signing, stage, task, invoice, and project activity.
- Leads for intake, assignment, lead-stage, canvassing, inactivity, and conversion workflows.
- Clients for portal registration, login, messaging, and document activity.
- Monitored systems for opened and resolved fleet-health incidents.
The trigger determines the record type. Powerlily then offers only the steps and conditions that are valid for that type of record.
The three building blocks
- Trigger: the event or timing rule that enrolls a record.
- Steps: the actions Powerlily performs in order.
- Conditions: optional rules controlling who can enter and when an active sequence should stop.
Triggers
Each automation has one trigger. Event triggers respond when something happens. Time triggers are checked on a schedule.
Quote and project triggers
- Quote is created or enters a stage
- Proposal is sent, opened, or signed
- A document is signed
- Project status changes
- A task is completed or becomes overdue
- A comment is added
- A payment is received or an invoice is paid
- A safety form is completed
- The quote has remained in a stage or had no activity for a chosen number of days
- A chosen number of days has passed since signing or project completion
- An invoice is overdue
Lead triggers
- Lead is created or assigned
- Lead enters a stage
- A door-knock outcome is recorded
- The lead has had no activity for a chosen number of days
Client triggers
- Client account is created
- Client logs in
- Client sends a message
- Client uploads a document
Monitoring triggers
- A monitoring incident opens
- A monitoring incident is resolved
Steps
Steps run from top to bottom. A Wait step pauses the sequence. Other steps run as soon as the previous step is complete.
- Wait for minutes, hours, or days.
- Create a task on the current record.
- Create an event for a quote or project.
- Send an email using a reusable branded template.
- Send a text message where recipient and consent rules allow it.
- Notify a user or everyone watching a project.
- Add a note or comment.
- Add or remove a tag.
- Assign an owner to a specific person or through round-robin routing.
- Move a quote to another stage.
- Set project status.
- Create a Site Safety form.
- Convert a lead into a quote.
- Trigger a webhook to send the event to another system.
Not every action is available for every record type. Converting to a quote is a lead action, while moving a workflow stage is a quote action.
Entry and stop conditions
Conditions keep a broad trigger from doing the wrong thing.
- Only run if is checked before enrollment. Every entry condition must pass.
- Stop early if is checked before each step. If a stop condition becomes true, the remaining sequence ends.
For example, a proposal follow-up can enroll when a proposal is sent, wait two days, and send a reminder only if the quote is still unsigned. Add Signed is true as a stop condition so a customer who signs during the wait receives nothing further.
Email templates and merge fields
Send Email uses a reusable company email template. Templates support merge fields for the current quote, lead, client, system, owner, and company, depending on the automation subject. Preview and test the template before activating the rule.
Marketing email is subject to suppression, consent, and frequency controls. Transactional messages should only be used for legitimate service or project communication.
Text messages and consent
Send Text Message uses Powerlily's customer messaging controls. The recipient must have a usable phone number, and Powerlily applies the appropriate service or marketing consent and suppression rules. An automation cannot manufacture consent that has not been recorded.
Workflow scope
A workflow selection limits a quote automation to that workflow. Leave the workflow blank when the same rule should apply across the company. Lead, client, and monitoring rules use their own record scopes.
Testing before activation
- Keep the automation paused while building it.
- Confirm the subject type, workflow scope, and entry conditions.
- Review every recipient, assignee, stage, template, and wait.
- Send test emails where available.
- Use Run now with a known record to confirm the complete sequence.
- Check the enrollment and run history after testing.
An active rule begins enrolling matching records when its trigger fires. Activation does not normally replay every historical event, so use segment enrollment or Run now when you intentionally want to process existing records.
Example playbooks
- Proposal follow-up: proposal sent, wait two days, create a call task, wait three days, send an email. Stop if signed.
- New lead response: lead created, assign through round robin, add a tag, create a task, and send the first-touch message.
- Lead qualification: lead enters the qualified stage, create a task, then convert the lead into a quote.
- Installation handoff: proposal signed, create a Site Safety form, notify operations, create an event, and move the project.
- Overdue invoice: invoice overdue, notify the owner, create a task, and send an appropriate reminder.
- Fleet incident: monitoring incident opens, create a service task and notify the service manager.
Related guides
- Workflows, Clients, and Quotes: How the CRM Fits Together. Understand the records an automation can act on.
- Managing Leads: List, Board, Filters, and Insights. See how lead stages, owners, and activity work.
- Campaigns, Segments, and Branded Email. Use campaigns for planned audience-wide messages.
- Conversations, SMS, and Team Collaboration. Keep triggered messages connected to the right records.
- API Credentials, Webhooks, and Integrations. Connect external systems when an internal rule is not enough.
