HubSpot Ideas

dkap

Pause a Workflow

I would like the ability to pause a workflow, thus keeping all users at the step they are in, and then unpause it a few days later.  Adding delay steps will not accomplish the same thing.  For example, I want to pause a campaign during a holiday week, but start it again the following week without losing anyone.  There is no way to successfully do this with a delay step unless every user is at the same step - which obviously will never be the case. 

HubSpot Updates
Being Reviewed
March 25, 2020 10:11 AM

Hi everyone,

 

I’m Megan, a Product Manager for the Automation team. I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to submit, upvote, and comment on this Idea. I wanted to give an update on this feature request, given the gravity of the current COVID-19 situation, and how it's impacting your business.

 

To be transparent, this “Pause” workflow feature won’t be delivered in the immediate future, as other highly-requested features have been ahead of it on our roadmap. Given the current situation though, we would like to dig into the problems outlined here a bit deeper, as we need more information to determine the best solution. When we’ve researched this request in the past, we’ve found a wide variation in needs, and haven’t been able to find the right solution to meet the majority of those needs.

 

Some of the comments above mention delay centered challenges, and there have been changes to delay behavior that can be impactful in some of the scenarios outlined here. For example, in our upgraded contact workflows, editing the length of a delay will automatically update that delay time for all contacts already active in the workflow (this now matches the behavior of the other workflow types). Read more about the impact of editing a delay here.

 

And there are a few things currently on the roadmap that may help some of the problems here like:

  • Wait until actions: Utilizing event delays to trigger actions in workflows. This way workflows aren’t solely reliant on arbitrary time delays and can be driven by customer behavior.
  • Improving time-based delays: Adding more options to time delays for more precise control.
  • Delay visibility: Seeing the objects (e.g. contact, company, deal, ticket, or quote) currently waiting in a workflow delay.

 

Otherwise, to make progress on evaluating this request, we request your help. What we need from you: If you have a minute, please fill out this form to provide additional feedback about the pause feature and your needs.

 

Thanks again for your time, I hope you and your families are safe and healthy.

Megan

60 Replies
Rob-NWB
Participant

@MeganLegge - A month since your request for more information via that form and nothing. If we're all lucky this will be over before WF pausing exists. 

 

Hopefully, the countless hours lost to our efforts to find a workaround, or worse, our reputation lost due sending inappropriate automated messages does not compound the already dire situation for many businesses.

 

C'mon Hubspot - Be Better.

jamabryan
Participant

It would be so nice to have this ability!!

RicardoCampos
Top Contributor

It´s a good idea, and this ability it would be an main requirement. Please, try to improve it 🙂 Our live would be so much better.


While it happens, I´m working with WF partitions. I mean, instead of working on 1 WF, I´m workin with more than 6 WF "playing" with the delays and propierties. If your reason for stopping is a date, you can modify the date properties and the next WF partition behaviour. 


Not sure if I could explain it well 🙂

 

Regards!

aarthur
Member

I was just about to submit on this same topic - discouraging to see that this was first submitted in 2017. Any progress since?

vdecker1
Top Contributor

3 years and still not an option?

Rob-NWB
Participant

@vdecker1 - this has been a pain point for us for 2 years. With the holiday season coming up they still have nothing to show to solve this problem. In fact - after our hack around last fall we had to rebuild several workflows to correct the logjamb created by it.

 

@MeganLegge - WHY IS THIS TAKING SO LONG for a solution?!? This is inexplicable when your competitors have this out of the box? Bronto, Klaviyo, even MailChimp!?!?

kaious
Top Contributor

@Rob-NWB the ridiculous thing is they came so close to at least partly solving it with the ability to select days to run contact workflows - I saw that and thought, oh I can just deselect all the days, and it won't run ...but no, deselecting all days flicks it straight back to run everyday.

 

It's a shame, because we've seen so many other great developments in HubSpot in the last 12 months, but it's still being held back by these really basic holes.

cfleish
Participant

I still want this. 

JoeMayall
HubSpot Alumni

Hey folks!

I wanted to pop in with a quick update. Our Product team is workshopping a few different ways to solve this problem.

 

We've heard a lot of feedback around the need for a "workflow pause button", as well as a separate feature of specifying which dates a workflow should skip. We're exploring both of these options. Because workflows are automatic, our Product teams thoroughly test each new feature to make sure there aren't any unintended consequences. I don't have any timelines to share right now, but all future developments will be relayed through this thread.

 

Best!

Joe

Ideas Forum Manager

 

 

cfleish
Participant

@JoeMayall that's great news and we look forward to future progress! 

gavinb
Member

@JoeMayall it's been two years and counting since the request by multiple companies (your customers) and one of the most fundamental requirements. Please keep the pressure on! 

IfanK
Member

@JoeMayall good to hear! Hoping this can be implemented ASAP.

Nick_Peterson
Member | Platinum Partner

We could really use this feature right now...

JoeMayall
HubSpot Alumni

Hi folks!

 

I wanted to pop in here with a quick update. While our team is still evaluating the "pause a workflow" feature, we do have a brand new feature that might solve some of your problems.

 

The ability to skip dates in a workflow is now in public beta. In workflow settings, you can now define specific dates on which you don't want workflow actions to execute. You can even set these on a workflow-by-workflow basis.

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You can learn more about it here: https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/Work-flow-option-Avoid-bank-holidays/idi-p/11338

 

If you'd like to gain access to this beta, please reach out to your HubSpot point of contact (CSM, Customer Support). They can get you enrolled.

 

Best!

Joe

kaious
Top Contributor

Thanks for the update @JoeMayall ! Speaking personally: that would definitely help in most of the cases where I want to pause a workflow.

 

Cheers,

Kai

Sugarphly
Member

We need this ability so bad it's not even funny! This would be a massive game changer for when we have people out on maternity/sick/vacation leave. It would save me hours of trying to find "lost" contacts and building additional temporary workflows to try to get them back into the spot they were previously in the automation flow. If there is any way to get this expadited, I'm all about it!

 

Thanks!
Phly

SLlontop
Member

It would be helpful if a pause bottom could be added in the workflow.


There are different scenarios as reviewing a campaign or holidays and I would like to avoid any delays in the process. 

 

Looking forward to listening from this new feature soon 🙂 

 

Thank you!

mmleziva
Participant

Definitely need this! It's a waste of an email to send during the holiday season when everyone is on vacation. 

AntonyA
Participant

A massive shortcoming, quite surprising.

JRanalletti
Member

This is a flaw. I need this option for when a member on the team is traveling for work for a few days/week and unable to complete tasks for their list -- I do not off load more work onto others, esp if its for a week. Its a waste of time and resorces to even spend the time off-loading that to others. 

Example, I have clients in workflows and when I am in Europe and not about to make a bunch of sales calls to clients/customers the the US, I need this workflow to beable to pause. 

This is another area where the system is not sophistacated/Streamlined enough for some levels, companies, and users.