Table of Contents
What is a Workflow?
Workflows give users, such as a Sales Manager, the ability to create an approval process for their sales reps prior to delivering a bid.
For example, you might want a manager to approve any contract with a dollar value over $25,000 before delivering to the client to make sure it was bid accurately.
Creating a Workflow
1. Go to Profile Icon.
2. Go to Administration.
3. Next, click the Estimating tab.
4. Then, click the Workflows subsection.
5. You will see current workflows created if any exist. Select New to start a new workflow.
6. The Workflow Screen will appear. The Active slider will be yellow and in the On position. To inactivate a workflow, click the yellow slider and then click Save.
7. Name the workflow. Multiple workflows may exist for the same division and opportunity type so naming conventions should be specific.
For example, Contracts Over 25K For Maintenance, Work Orders over 5K for Construction.
8. Assign the Division. The workflow will be matching this to the division assigned on the Opportunity.
9. Assign the Branch. Only one branch can be assigned per workflow.
10. Assign the Opportunity Type (Contract or Work Order).
11. Next, fill out the Approval Email Subject and Message fields. The magnifying glass (🔍) in both the subject and message areas provides a list of tokens to customize the email subject and body for each approval request that come through. We highly recommend using these when building your message.
Subject Example:
Message Example:
This email will be sent to the sales rep if the opportunity is approved by the assigned person.
⚠️ If you are the approver and you click the link inside the email, the opportunity will automatically be approved.
12. As well, fill out the Denial Email Subject and Message fields. The magnifying glass in both the subject and message areas provides a list of tokens to customize the email subject and body for each approval request that come through. We highly recommend using these when building your message.
Subject Example:
Message Example:
This email will be sent to the sales rep if the opportunity is approved by the assigned person.
Creating a Step in the Workflow
1. Below the Denial Email Message box, the Steps section will show any current steps in the workflow. To create a new step or steps, click the blue plus to create approval steps.
2. The Workflow Step screen will appear. Name the approval step. It's common to name it with the role or person that is assigned as approver. In this example, we use Branch Manager Approval.
3. When assigning the approver, you'll have two options in the dropdown menu. You can select a role or Select User.
If clicking Select User, an additional dropdown will appear of employee names to select.
4. Enter in the dollar value of the opportunity that triggers the approval. If the opportunity is equal to or greater than the dollar value, the workflow will go through approval process. This means any opportunity less than the dollar value can be completed without approval.
⚠️ If creating multiple workflow steps, always start first with the highest dollar value! Read more in the below section.
5. Fill out the Notification Email section. This email will be sent to the person in the Approver field when the workflow is triggered. This will let them know an opportunity is available to review. As before, the magnifying glass (🔍) in both the subject and message areas provides a list of tokens to customize the email subject and body. We highly recommend using these when building your message.
Subject Example:
Message Example:
6. After all information is entered, click Save in the upper right. The step will be saved to the workflow.
Creating Multiple Steps in a Workflow
If projects require approval of the bid depending on the multiple ranges of dollar values, you may want to create multiple steps in your workflow. This can be common in construction projects.
Example: For construction work orders estimated over $100,000, we want our Division Manager to approve before sending the proposal. However, for construction work orders estimated over $500,000, we'll want the branch manager's approval for the bid. By doing this, we are creating multiple ranges that have different approvers.
Value | Approver | Notification |
$500,000 and above | Branch Manager Approval Needed | Notification Only Sent to Branch Manager |
$100,000 - $499,999 | Division Manager Approval Needed | Notification Sent to Division Manager |
$0 - $99,999 | No Approval Needed | No Notification |
⚠️ If creating multiple workflow steps, always start first with the highest dollar value! Then create steps for the highest values in descending order. For example, using the table above:
Step 1 would be $500,000 (for bids $500,000 and above)
Step 2 would be $100,000 (for bids $100,000 to $499,999)
📌 Note: If the construction work order is at or above $500,000, only the branch manager will be notified. As more steps get added, the email notifications are specific to the ranges that are created.
To create multiple steps in a workflow, just follow the instructions in the previous section.
After clicking Save on the first step, repeat the instructions again while keeping in mind the dollar values for each additional range.
Deleting a Step in a Workflow
1. Navigate to the Workflows screen by going to Settings ➡️ Administration ➡️ Estimating ➡️ Workflows
2. Click into the Workflow and scroll down to the Steps section. Click on the step needing deleted.
3. In the upper right of the Workflow Step screen, click the triple dot menu.
4. Select Delete to delete the step from the workflow. You will then be taken back to the Workflow's record.
Considering Hierarchy Values
Even if our workflow has been created, there is still one more step in the setup process to make sure it is being triggered for the right users.
When modifying or creating User Roles, a Hierarchy value is required on the role setup. (Settings ➡️ Administration ➡️ User Management ➡️ User Roles)
Hierarchy value ranks our employees and is used in the workflow process. The lower hierarchy number is the higher ranked employee in the workflow process.
Let's take this for an example. There is a role for Salesperson and Sales Manager.
Our Sales Rep, with the Salesperson role, has a hierarchy value of 60.
Our Sales Manager, with the Sales Manager role, has a hierarchy value of 20.
To trigger the workflow:
To trigger the workflow, the Sales Rep of the opportunity has to have a higher hierarchy value than the person listed as the Approver in the workflow's step.
The Sales Rep decides to create an opportunity that would normally need approval. Since our Sales Rep's role had a hierarchy value of 60, and the Sales Manager's role had a hierarchy value of 20, the workflow was triggered and approval is needed.
To bypass the workflow:
However, let's say our Division Manager, with a Division Manager role, has a hierarchy value of 30 and is an approver in a workflow. If the Sales Manager, with a hierarchy value of 20, were to create an opportunity, all workflows where the Division Manager is an approver would be bypassed. This is because the Sales Manager has a lower hierarchy value than the Division Manager.
If any employee creates an opportunity meeting the workflow criteria that has a lower number than the assigned approver, the workflow will be bypassed, permitting the sales rep to complete and deliver the estimate.