A Lead Workflow is a series of tasks that you do in the course of taking a new lead to the point of becoming an active, booked job. This to-do list of items will let you know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done during your entire sales process. The tasks in the Lead Workflow work in conjunction with various stages of the lead's life cycle. You can also trigger automated emails and questionnaires to be sent at designated times in the workflow.

First, let's take a look at how to build a Lead Workflow. Then we'll discuss how to use it on a job.

You can create a Lead Workflow under Settings > Workflow & Automation. Just click the "plus" icon to create a new workflow.

First give the workflow a name. You can also automatically apply this workflow to jobs with a particular job type(s). For example, this Portrait workflow can be designated for apply Family, Headshot, and Senior sessions. Whenever those type of jobs are entered in ShootQ as Leads - either manually by you or automatically via your contact form - ShootQ will auto-assign the workflow to the job so that you don't have to manually do it.

The next step is to add tasks to the workflow. A lead goes through several stages en route to becoming a booked job. It's a New Lead when it's first entered into ShootQ. Then it becomes a Qualified Lead when you determine that the client is good fit for you. After you send the proposal or contract to the client, they enter the Proposal/Contract Sent stage. When the client signs it, the job then moves into the Contract Signed status. And finally, after the studio countersigns the contract, the Lead becomes an Active booked job. (Learn more about these stages and the Lead Board in this article).

You can add tasks to these stages by clicking the "plus" icon next to a status. You can then write the task and give it a description if necessary. The description just helps further clarify the task which may be useful in larger studios where multiple people may be accessing the same workflow.

Tasks can be assigned to individuals in your studio.

You can also set a due date when ideally the task should be completed. The due date is in relation to the status the lead is in. After a lead enters a status, the tasks due date will be created.

Tasks can also have sub-tasks if necessary. These are a series of smaller tasks that are related to the task itself. To add a sub-task, just type it in the field and click the "Enter" or "Return" key on your keyboard. For example, in this "Initial Lead Contact" task, there are two sub-tasks - call/email the client and send a pricing brochure. Sub-tasks can be edited and deleted, too (just click on the sub-task name).

In the same manner, you would continue to add all the tasks in your workflow to the appropriate stages of a lead. If necessary, you can delete a task in the upper right corner.

To add automated emails or questionnaires to the workflow, click on the name of the stage to which you would like to add the automation. 

For example, click on Status: New Lead to add an automation to the this status. Then click the 'plus' icon. To configure the automation, do the following:

In this example, I am sending an email template called "Initial Email To Lead" to the primary contact on the job 1 day after the lead is in the New Lead status.

You can create automated emails and questionnaires for any status in a similar way. When the workflow is used on a job, the emails and questionnaires will be sent at their designated times.

You can also schedule automated emails and questionnaires to be sent when a particular task is either due or marked completed. To do this, simply click on the task in the workflow, then add the email/questionnaire just as you would when adding it to a lead stage. However, the due date will be set to when the task is either due or when it's completed.

In the example below, I clicked on the task "Schedule Consultation Meeting" and added an email to be sent when that task is marked completed.

When you're finished configuring your workflow just click the 'Save and Activate' button.

You can create as many Lead Workflows as necessary under the Settings tab. And you can always edit, archive, or duplicate them. 

Important Note: When you edit a workflow under the Settings tab, it does not affect any existing leads that have that workflow already assigned. The changes would only affect future leads.

Now let's take a look at a Lead Workflow in action.

When you manually enter a Lead into ShootQ under the Leads tab, you'll be able to choose a workflow in pop-up modal (if the lead is entered into ShootQ via your contact form it will be auto-assigned a workflow for that job type)

When the job is created, the workflow's tasks appear in the Job timeline under the Events tab. These tasks can be customized if necessary for that particular job.  For instance you can change the task, description, and sub-tasks. You can also change the due date and assigned personnel, and remove the task altogether.

To mark a task completed just click the check mark on the task. You can also check the box next to the task in the Job timeline. Tasks will automatically be marked completed if the Lead moves to the next status. 

Completed tasks will be automatically hidden but you can always show them again.

You can also manually add tasks to the workflow in any stage in the timeline. Just click the 'plus' icon next to the appropriate Lead status.

Any scheduled emails or questionnaires will also appear in the timeline. You can modify when they are going to be sent by clicking on the Status name. You can also add new automated emails/questionnaires to the status. 

Any email that is sent will appear in the log under the Contacts & Emails section of the job.

Note: Adjusting the automations on the job only affects the workflow's configuration for that particular job. It doesn't affect the template itself for future jobs. To edit the template, go to Settings > Workflows and Automations.

Finally, if you need to change the workflow on a job, click the 'Edit' button in the upper right. Changing to a different workflow will delete the previous workflow (and all of its tasks and automations) from the job.

A workflow's tasks are not only visible on a job but also under the Task Manager on the Dashboard. This task manager will show you tasks for all jobs or you can filter them to see only tasks assigned to particular personnel or a particular job. Tasks can be marked completed by clicking the circle icon.

As you can see, the Lead Workflow is a very powerful way of wrangling your leads. And the automated emails and questionnaires in the workflow will keep your sales process moving forward.

When the lead finally becomes an active booked job, the Booked Job workflow will take over and will allow you stay on top of your tasks in the fulfillment of the job for the client.