Workflow to set a Task- trigger is contacts with no Activity set

[Arnika]

Hi,

I am trying to set up a workflow which sets tasks for any contacts/companies that do not have an Activity set.

Is it possible to do this? 

Thanks

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arnika,

Yes, your first step would be to create a list of contacts / companies that are associated with at least one activity. This could be as simple as this or further specified by activity type:

Next, create a list of contacts which are not in the first list. This is going to be your enrollment list for your contacts / companies workflow. Additionally, I'd recommend adding another filter like "Create date is more than 7 days ago", otherwise any new created record will automatically create a task. (If that's what you want, you can of course leave this part out.)

In your workflow, you can then use the Create task action from the right sidebar and create a task.

Before you do that, I'd recommend checking what the volume will be. For example, if you have 1,000 companies out of which only 100 are on the list you created above, you would be created 900 tasks. This might be fine if you're creating these tasks for a large number of team members. In a small team, it might be overwhelming.

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arnika,

Yes it does, simply change "Activity type is known" to "Activity type is Task".

Best regards!

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arnika,

Are you sure that your contacts are actually associated with tasks? (Is there an entry for contacts in the Associated contacts column under Menu > Sales > Tasks?)

Best regards

[Arnika]

Thank you. I've started the workflow and the tasks have been set. To confirm, there is no way to easily change the date for the task that has been set? I have manually do 100 at a time through sales > tasks?

Kind regards,

Arnika

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @Arnika,

In your workflow, you can change how many days from creation the task should be due. Is this what you're referring to?

If my previous answers helped you with your query, you can help me by accepting those posts as solutions. I'd appreciate it!

Best regards

[Arnika]

Hiya,

I have created the workflow and set the days. I wasn't able to split there aren't the correct fields populated for me to make it work for us.

My question now is whether there is a way to bulk change the date once the tasks have been set?

Thanks

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @Arnika,

Under Menu > Sales > Tasks, you can select tasks. Once selected, an Edit option should appear:

You can then select the Due date and reminder form the dropdown.

Best regards!

[Arnika]

Hi Karsten,

I am aware of this way but I wondered if there was a quicker way as there are quite a lot of tasks!

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @Arnika,

You can select entire pages or even all tasks by clicking into the top left checkbox – have you tried?

Best regards

[Arnika]

Hi Karsten,

Yes I have tried that, and it still requires me to manually do it. I wondered if there was a way to do it faster.

Thanks,

Arnika

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @Arnika,

Could you specify what you mean when you say you have to manually do it?

Best regards

[Arnika]

Hiya,

As in I have to manually select the tasks (Even if it is 100 at a time) and change the date. Is it possible to export the tasks, change the date on a csv and then import it back into hubspot?

I need to set different dates for the tasks which is why I don't want to select all and then assign the same date.

Thanks,

Arnika

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @Arnika,

If you're selecting different tasks, then no, this is as good as it gets, unfortunately. Tasks can't be exported+imported.

Best regards!

[Arnika]

Okay great.

I have followed the instructions but the list is not being populated- see screenshot.

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arnika,

Are you sure that your contacts are actually associated with tasks? (Is there an entry for contacts in the Associated contacts column under Menu > Sales > Tasks?)

Best regards

[Arnika]

Thanks, I was in my developer account 😆

With regards to this:

Before you do that, I'd recommend checking what the volume will be. For example, if you have 1,000 companies out of which only 100 are on the list you created above, you would be created 900 tasks. This might be fine if you're creating these tasks for a large number of team members. In a small team, it might be overwhelming.

Is there a way to spread out the tasks being set? So I can set 20 per day.

Thanks,

Arnika

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arnika,

No, there is not, unfortunately. It's not possible to throttle workflows. You would have to split your bigger list into smaller lists, e.g. by filtering for certain zip codes or countries etc.

Best regards

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arnika,

Yes, your first step would be to create a list of contacts / companies that are associated with at least one activity. This could be as simple as this or further specified by activity type:

Next, create a list of contacts which are not in the first list. This is going to be your enrollment list for your contacts / companies workflow. Additionally, I'd recommend adding another filter like "Create date is more than 7 days ago", otherwise any new created record will automatically create a task. (If that's what you want, you can of course leave this part out.)

In your workflow, you can then use the Create task action from the right sidebar and create a task.

Before you do that, I'd recommend checking what the volume will be. For example, if you have 1,000 companies out of which only 100 are on the list you created above, you would be created 900 tasks. This might be fine if you're creating these tasks for a large number of team members. In a small team, it might be overwhelming.

Let me know if you have any follow-up questions!

[Arnika]

Hi Karsten,

Thank you :).

Just to confirm, i meant task not activity.

So any contacts/companies with no tasks set .

Does the above still apply?

Thanks,

Arnika

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @Arnika,

Yes it does, simply change "Activity type is known" to "Activity type is Task".

Best regards!