Troubleshooting workflow delay based on meeting start time

[heatherlodge]

My client wants to send a custom email the day before a discovery call. This is how I have set the workflow, but no one moves through the delay. Any idea what I have wrong here?

If it helps, the meeting is round robin.I Thanks in advance!

[heatherlodge]

Thank you, @PamCotton. Everyone is enrolling and going through the prior steps in the workflow without issue. No skipping steps or removals. It's once they get to the delay that they get hung up and don't move any further.

It's a bit of a head scratcher for me. @Mike_Eastwood and @TomM2, if you have any suggestions, I'll take 'em!

[andrewzistler · Accepted solution]

Hello @heatherlodge, 

I've run into this issue before. Your problem is likely being caused by the specific way the "Delay until Event occurance" action works - it waits for your event to happen while the record is in the delay:

"Please note: in this type of delay, if an event has already happened when a record enters the delay, it will not immediately exit the delay. Records will only exit the delay if the event occurs while the record is in the delay. " (Documentation Source)

So, contact enrolls, moves to the delay, then sits and waits for an additional meeting title containing "Discovery" and/or an additional form fill.

However, the "Meeting Start Time" is less than 1 day trigger might still work, since that value needs to constantly be calculated.... but "Meeting Start Time" is also an activity property, not a contact property - which can also cause other cross-object issues. 

If updating your delay until function doesn't work: here's how I've solved the issue of triggering emails from meeting dates in the past:

1. (Most easy) Use HubSpot's built-in meeting reminder emails (but I'm assuming this won't work for your particular email...)
   
   
2. We want to trigger a Contact-based action from an associated activity property, on a specific date in relation to said activity property. So, instead of using the "Delay" function, I would instead place that "check" into the trigger of a separate workflow. 
   
   • Contact-based workflow
   • Trigger: When filter criteria is met
   • Filter 1: contact has completed x,y,z forms AND
   • Filter 2: (Change filter to filter on activities) AND meeting title = discovery
   • Filter 3: (Activities again) AND meeting start time is less than 1 day from now
   • Filter 4: (extra) AND meeting start time is not in the past
   • Filter 5: (extra) AND marketing email [name of day before email] has not been sent.
     
     With this workflow, contacts should only enroll when they're ready for the email to be sent. 
     
     Note that because you're using activities (a separate object) in your trigger, your trigger is really looking for contacts that have filled out the forms and are associated to any activities that fit the filter criteria. Because of this, re-enrollment will not work - and the workflow could trigger off of different activities, if I recall correctly. So, that's why I added two extra filters as insurance the filter is looking at the correct activity.
     
     Anyway, @heatherlodge - I hope that works for you! Apologies in advance as I'm away from my portal and cannot test at the moment. Triggering email updates like this based on meetings / other activity dates is certainly a hassle.
     
     Good luck!

[heatherlodge]

I think this worked! I guess I was trying to combine too many things into one workflow and should've just split them up. Thank you so much for your help!

[andrewzistler]

Fantastic! Glad to hear it! 😁

[TomM2]

Hey @heatherlodge if you navigate to your workflow and click on performance history > troubleshoot enrollment and enter a contact you believe should have enrolled what information do you see? 

[heatherlodge]

Thanks for the reply, @TomM2. Here's where it gets weird. This particular contact DID in fact enroll, and not only that, got stuck in the delay.

However, when I troubleshoot enrollment, I see this:

And, I can confirm on her contact record she did in fact fill out the meeting form shown above that HubSpot says she DIDN'T fill out.

Any ideas?

[TomM2]

Hey @heatherlodge from your screenshot it looks like they didn't meet the criteria? It seems they didn't submit the meeting link outlined. 
If you check your workflow revision history was this changed after the contact enrolled? 

[PamCotton]

Hey @heatherlodge, thank you for posting in our Community!

Please make sure the enrollment criteria are correct, and verify the delay is set properly relative to the meeting time. Also, confirm the workflow is active and that contacts aren't being removed or skipping steps. If everything looks right, try testing the workflow with a sample contact. 

To our top experts @Mike_Eastwood and @TomM2 do you have any recommendations for @heatherlodge matter?

Thank you,

Pam