How do I build a workflow in TactStack?
Short answer
A workflow in TactStack is a trigger plus a list of actions. You pick the event that starts it, such as a new lead or a completed job, then stack the steps that should happen automatically: send a text, wait, assign an owner, update the record, notify someone. You test it on yourself, then turn it on.
Before you start
- One clear job to automate, written as a sentence: when X happens, do Y.
- The message copy you want sent, so you are not writing it inside the builder.
- A test contact you control, with a real phone number and email.
- The person or role who should be notified when a human is needed.
Step by step
- 1
Write the sentence before you touch the builder
Every workflow is one sentence: when this happens, do these things, unless this is true. Write it down first. If you cannot finish the sentence, the workflow is not ready to build.
Most broken automation is a fuzzy idea, not a technical mistake.
- 2
Pick the trigger
Choose the single event that starts the run: a form submitted, a call missed, a stage changed, an invoice paid, a date reached, a tag added. Start with one. You can add more once you trust it.
The trigger decides who enters the automation, and that decides everything downstream.
- 3
Add the first action, and make it fast
The first step should reach the customer within seconds. A short text that names your business and asks one question beats a long email nobody opens.
Speed to first response is the biggest single lever on lead conversion.
- 4
Stack the follow-up with waits between steps
Add a wait, then the next touch, then another wait. A workable default: text now, email in an hour, text again tomorrow morning, call task on day three, then a slow drip.
Follow-up is where most revenue hides, and it only works when nobody has to remember it.
- 5
Branch only on what changes the outcome
Add conditions for the forks that matter: commercial or residential, inside or outside the service area, replied or silent, above or below your call-the-owner threshold.
Two well-chosen branches beat twenty rules nobody can debug later.
- 6
Add the exits
Tell the workflow when to stop: a reply, a booked appointment, an opt-out, a stage change, a payment. Every workflow needs at least one exit.
Nothing burns trust faster than a nurture sequence chasing an existing customer.
- 7
Hand off to a human with context
The last automated step should assign the record, notify the right person, and leave a note with what the customer asked for, so the human picks up mid-conversation.
Automation earns its keep by delivering warm work, not by removing people.
- 8
Test it on yourself, then publish
Run your test contact through the whole path on a real phone. Read every message the way a customer would. Publish, then watch the first ten live runs before building the next one.
Ten watched runs teach you more than a month of guessing.
What good looks like
- New leads get a reply in seconds, at 2pm and at 2am.
- Follow-up continues for weeks without anyone maintaining a list.
- Every run is logged, so you can see what a customer received and when.
- The office stops asking whether anyone got back to them.
Common mistakes
The ways this goes wrong in automation, and what to do instead.
Building the whole business on day one›
Ship one workflow, watch it run, then build the next. A twelve-branch monster is impossible to debug and nobody trusts it.
Do this instead: Pick the single follow-up that loses you the most money and ship only that this week.
No exit condition›
Without a stop rule, customers who already replied or booked keep getting chased. Add exits before you publish.
Do this instead: Add a stop rule for reply, booking, or payment to every sequence before you turn it on.
Messages that sound like software›
Write the way your best office person talks. Short, named, one question. If it reads like a template, it gets ignored.
Do this instead: Read the message out loud. If you would not say it on the phone, rewrite it.
Never testing on a real phone›
Preview screens hide broken merge fields, bad timing, and links that do not open on mobile.
Do this instead: Run yourself through the whole thing as a fake customer before a real one sees it.
Frequently asked
7 questions about build a workflowRelated guides
Pick the next thing to set up, or back up a step if something here assumed work you have not done yet.
Do this next
The natural follow-on tasks once this one is working.
People usually get here from
Guides that lead into this one, in case you skipped a step.
More in Automation
Nearby tasks that share the same setup and vocabulary.
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