Not all automations need to run chronologically. You can build decision logic into any sequence of events with IF and THEN events: IF “this thing” (which you set in the edit dialog), THEN “this other thing,” which is one or more other events that you drag under the IF clause.
Adding an IF event to a sequence automatically places an END event after it, since you are essentially adding a mini-sequence within your larger one:
Click the END event to edit the name. Click the IF event to see the edit dialog:
You can add more than one condition. It could be an AND condition – limiting clients to those who meet both conditions to go through this part of the sequence. It might be an OR condition, which is broader. You also can place both kinds of conditions on an IF sub-sequence.
Note: If a client meets none of the conditions, that client will simply skip the IF block.
For example, as part of your automation for a specific service, you want to send an email to clients who have completed that service but the email needs to be different for clients who have been with you for a long time. You might want to offer them specific new sub-services that newer clients don’t receive, or ask for feedback based on their long-term relationship with your company.
In the example, if your client has been with you since before August 1, 2015, you are going to send one email. Save the event and drag an Email event under the IF event. You’ll see that it is indented slightly.
This tells you that it is part of the IF event and, now, any client who is in the sequence and has been with you since August 1, 2015 will receive that email.
If you want your post-August 1st, 2015 clients to receive a different email instead of just skipping to the next part of the sequence, you can create an “ELSE” event within the IF portion of the sequence.
Branching
A branching icon appears at the top right of the IF event. Click it to make an ELSE event appear in the sequence.
This event is like the IF event, but it is only taken into consideration when the IF conditions fail and you want something more than to have the client just move out of the IF sub-sequence and continue in the larger sequence. The edit dialog mirrors the IF dialog.
If you have special conditions that need to be met within the ELSE event, you’ll add them as you did with the IF conditions.
In the example, we want all our post-August 1st, 2015 clients to get this email. But if we want only those who were newer than August 1st, 2015 and haven’t already signed up for a certain package, we could add that condition in the ELSE dialog.
For our example, we will send a different email to clients who came to the company after August 1st, 2015 without excluding anyone or making any further condition. So, we would drag the Email event into the ELSE sub-category and customize that email.