Automation triggers reference
Triggers are the events that start an automation workflow. This page lists every available trigger, organized by the category you'll find it under in the automation builder.
Some triggers work out of the box; others require you to specify trigger options. For example, A sales order status is changed requires you to specify the order origin and the status it's changing to.
Triggers marked (draft) are in development and may change or be removed before general release.
Companies
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A call activity is created or modified for a company | Starts the workflow when a call activity is logged or updated on a company. | When a discovery call is logged, notify the assigned salesperson to prepare follow-up materials. | |
| A company is added to a list | Starts the workflow when a company is added to a specified list. | When a company is added to the Enterprise Prospects list, assign it to the enterprise sales team. | |
| A company is created or modified | Starts the workflow when a company is created or its details change. | When a company's industry field is updated, re-evaluate its segmentation tags. | |
| A company is created (draft) | Starts the workflow when a company is created. | ||
| A form is submitted for a company | Starts the workflow when a form is submitted in association with a company. | When a company submits a pricing-request form, create a follow-up task for the account owner. | |
| A company is removed from a list | Starts the workflow when a company is removed from a specified list. | When a company is removed from the Active Trials list, log the drop in the CRM. | |
| A form is submitted for a contact | Starts the workflow when a form is submitted by a contact associated with a company. | When a contact submits a demo-request form, alert the assigned salesperson. | |
| An email activity is created or modified for a company | Starts the workflow when an email activity is logged or updated on a company. | When an inbound reply is logged, mark the company as engaged. | |
| A meeting activity is created or modified for a company | Starts the workflow when a meeting activity is logged or updated on a company. | When a meeting is logged, advance the associated opportunity to the next pipeline stage. | |
| A note activity is created or modified for a company | Starts the workflow when a note is added or modified on a company. | ||
| A CRM sales task is created or modified for a company | Starts the workflow when a sales task is created or updated on a company. | When a sales task is completed, create the next task in the sequence. | |
| A CRM sales task is overdue for a company | Starts the workflow when a sales task on a company becomes overdue. | When a task is overdue, notify the assignee's manager. |
Contacts
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A call activity is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when a call activity is logged or updated on a contact. | ||
| A contact is added to a list | Starts the workflow when a contact is added to a specified list. | When a contact is added to the VIP list, start a personalized onboarding campaign. | |
| A contact is created or modified | Starts the workflow when a contact is created or their details change. | When a contact's lifecycle stage changes to Lead, route them to the qualification workflow. | |
| A contact is created (draft) | Starts the workflow when a contact is created. | ||
| A contact is removed from a list | Starts the workflow when a contact is removed from a specified list. | ||
| An email activity is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when an email activity is logged or updated on a contact. | ||
| A meeting activity is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when a meeting activity is logged or updated on a contact. | ||
| A note activity is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when a note is added or modified on a contact. | ||
| A CRM sales task is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when a sales task is created or updated on a contact. | ||
| A CRM sales task is overdue for a contact | Starts the workflow when a sales task on a contact becomes overdue. |
Custom objects
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A custom object is added to a list | Starts the workflow when a custom object record is added to a specified list. | ||
| A custom object is created or modified | Starts the workflow when a custom object record is created or updated. | ||
| A custom object is removed from a list | Starts the workflow when a custom object record is removed from a specified list. |
Accounts
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| An account is created | Starts the workflow when an account is created. | Can't detect likely duplicates (e.g. Jim's Mowing vs. Jim's mowing). | When an account in Quebec is added, tag it as possibly needing a French-fluent salesperson. |
| An account is updated | Starts the workflow when an account's details change. | ||
| An account is added to a list | Starts the workflow when an account is added to a specified list. | Won't fire for accounts that are already on the list when the trigger is set up. | When an SMB is added to the High Touch Client list, assign an experienced salesperson. |
| Account custom data fields are updated | Starts the workflow when one or more custom data fields on an account change. | When the Renewal Risk field changes to High, notify the account manager. |
Users
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| An account group user is claimed (draft) | Starts the workflow when a user claims an account group. | ||
| A user on an account asked a question | Starts the workflow when a user sends a message through Business App. | When a user clicks the help button, assign a fulfillment agent to follow up. | |
| A user verifies their email address | Starts the workflow when a user verifies the email address on their account. | When a user verifies their email, send a welcome campaign. | |
| A user is added to an account | Starts the workflow when a user is added to an account. | If a user is removed and re-added, the automation may fire again. | When a staff member is added to an SMB account, start an email campaign with onboarding info. |
| A user is active in Business App | Starts the workflow when a user logs into Business App. | When a user logs in, notify the assigned salesperson. |
Campaigns and emails
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| There's activity on a campaign email | Starts the workflow when a campaign email is opened or clicked. Open and click events can be differentiated. | Only CTA clicks are counted — you can't differentiate which specific link was clicked. If the account has multiple users, the trigger fires only for the first user to click unless Run multiple times per account is enabled. | When a lead clicks an email in a cold-outreach campaign, assign a salesperson and mark the account as a hot lead. |
Fulfillment
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A fulfillment project status is changed | Starts the workflow when the status changes on a fulfillment project. | When a project moves from Open to In Progress, email the assigned salesperson with an update. | |
| A fulfillment project for an order changes status | Starts the workflow when the status changes on a fulfillment project tied to an order. | ||
| A fulfillment task status is changed | Starts the workflow when the status changes on a fulfillment task. | When a task moves from In Progress to Complete, email the assigned salesperson with an update. |
Products
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A user shows interest in a package | Starts the workflow when a user views a package in the Business App store. | When an SMB shows interest in Website Pro, send a promotional email with a discount. | |
| A product is activated | Starts the workflow when a product is activated (including custom products enabled by the partner). | A product may be activated multiple times, but the trigger can be configured to fire only once. | When a website trial is activated, send an email advertising web-development services. |
| A product is deactivated | Starts the workflow when a product is deactivated (including custom products enabled by the partner). | A product may be deactivated multiple times, but the trigger can be configured to fire only once. | When a high-margin product is cancelled, notify a salesperson to follow up. |
| A shopping cart is updated | Starts the workflow when a shopping cart is updated in the marketplace. | Only the product marketplace is supported. | When a cart is updated but no order is placed within three days, send a follow-up email. |
Sales
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| An opportunity is created or changed | Starts the workflow when an opportunity is created, moves into a new pipeline stage, or is closed. | Won't fire if an opportunity begins in the indicated pipeline stage. | When an opportunity is identified, raise the hotness level of the account. |
| A sales activity is created | Starts the workflow when a sales activity is created. | ||
| A salesperson is assigned to an account | Starts the workflow when a salesperson is assigned to an account. | When a salesperson is assigned, send them an in-app notification with the account summary. | |
| A sales task status is changed (legacy) | Starts the workflow when a legacy sales task changes to a specified status. You can filter on assignee and task name. | The Delay until an event happens step that uses this trigger doesn't currently support assignee or task-name filters. | When a task named Follow up assigned to Joe Smith changes to Waiting on customer, email the customer a status update. |
| A Snapshot Report is created/refreshed | Starts the workflow when a Snapshot Report is created or refreshed. | Snapshots typically start as F ratings because web scraping takes time. Add a delay step after this trigger to ensure accurate ratings are available. | When a Snapshot is created, create a task to schedule a follow-up call and assign it to a fulfillment agent. |
| A Snapshot Report is opened (draft) | Starts the workflow when a Snapshot Report is opened by the recipient. |
Billing
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| You are billed wholesale for a product | Starts the workflow when you're billed the wholesale cost of a product. | When a partner is billed for a product, log the wholesale cost for margin tracking. | |
| An invoice is created (draft) | Starts the workflow when an invoice is created. | ||
| An invoice status changes to past due | Starts the workflow when an invoice's status changes to Past due. | When an invoice goes past due, start a dunning sequence of reminder emails. | |
| A user on an account makes a payment | Starts the workflow when a customer makes a payment. You can filter on success, failure, or both. | When a payment fails, start a dunning process to ensure payment is collected. |
Inbox
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A contact communication summary is created | Starts the workflow when an AI-generated communication summary is created for a contact. | When a summary is created, attach it as a note to the associated opportunity. | |
| Web Chat captures a lead | Starts the workflow when Web Chat captures a new lead. | When Web Chat captures a lead, create a contact and notify the assigned salesperson. | |
| A contact requests a follow up (AI conversation event) (draft) | Starts the workflow when an AI conversation flags a follow-up request from a contact. | ||
| An Inbox message is sent to (or received from) an account | Starts the workflow when an Inbox message is sent or received on an account. | When a message is received, log the interaction as an activity on the account. |
Manual
Manual triggers let you run an automation on demand from a specific record — similar to a shortcut. Useful for one-off tasks that don't warrant a scheduled or event-based trigger.
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triggered manually for an account | Run the automation on demand from an account's detail page. | Re-enroll a selected account in an onboarding sequence after a process change. | |
| Triggered manually for a company | Run the automation on demand from a company's detail page. | Bulk-tag a list of target companies with a single action. | |
| Triggered manually for a contact | Run the automation on demand from a contact's detail page. | Send a custom follow-up campaign to a selected contact. | |
| Triggered manually for a custom object (draft) | Run the automation on demand from a custom object record. | ||
| Triggered manually for an order | Run the automation on demand from an order's detail page. | Archive an order and add a tag if it has been in Draft for more than 30 days. |
Sales orders
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A sales order status is changed | Starts the workflow when a sales order's status changes. You can filter on the order's origin. | Won't fire if the order begins in the indicated status. | When an order is drafted, wait up to 24 hours for the status to move to Pending. If it hasn't moved, create a task to investigate. |
| A sales order is expiring | Starts the workflow when a sales order is approaching its expiration date. | When an order is expiring, notify the assigned salesperson to follow up with the customer. |
Advanced
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triggered via API for an account | Starts the workflow when your API call invokes it for a specified account. | See the API documentation. | Integrate Vendasta with a third-party system that runs account-scoped workflows. |
| A webhook is received | Starts the workflow when a POST arrives at the trigger's unique URL with a user-defined payload. | Integrate Vendasta with a third-party system. | |
| Triggered via API for an order | Starts the workflow when your API call invokes it for a specified order. | Integrate Vendasta with a third-party system that runs order-scoped workflows. | |
| A connection is changed (draft) | Starts the workflow when a connection is added, modified, or removed. | ||
| Triggered via Zapier | Starts the workflow when the Run Automation action is used in the Vendasta Zapier app. | See Trigger an automation using Zapier. | Trigger an automation from Zapier to update CRM contacts with data from another system. |
Integrations
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| A QuickBooks invoice is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when a QuickBooks invoice is created or updated for a linked contact. | When a QuickBooks invoice is created, log it as an activity on the contact's timeline. | |
| A QuickBooks payment is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when a QuickBooks payment is created or updated for a linked contact. | When a payment is received, update the contact's payment status and notify the salesperson. | |
| A QuickBooks sales receipt is created or modified for a contact | Starts the workflow when a QuickBooks sales receipt is created or updated for a linked contact. | ||
| A ServiceMonster invoice is created for a contact | Starts the workflow when a ServiceMonster invoice is created for a linked contact. | When a ServiceMonster invoice is created, start a billing follow-up campaign. |
Time-based
| Trigger | Overview | Special Cases | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| On a schedule | Runs the automation at scheduled times — daily, weekly, or monthly. Configure the time of day, days of week/month, and optional start and end dates. | Respects the automation's timezone setting. For monthly schedules, selecting day 31 only runs in months with 31 days. Use End of month for consistent month-end execution. | Every Monday at 9:00 AM, notify your team to review the weekly pipeline. On the 1st of each month, send a reminder to follow up on outstanding invoices. See Time-based triggers. |
Related resources
- Automations overview — concepts and your first automation
- Creating and configuring automations — entry settings, error handling, and more
- Automation steps reference — what can happen after a trigger fires