Stage Actions and Automation
What happens automatically when contacts enter or exit a pipeline stage
What It Is
Stage actions are automated tasks that execute when a contact transitions into or out of a pipeline stage. They are the wiring between your pipeline structure and the rest of the platform.
When a contact moves from "MQL (Interest Shown)" to "SQL (Meeting Booked)," you might want to: assign the contact to a specific sales rep, send a personalized confirmation email, update a custom field to mark them as qualified, and fire a webhook to notify your external CRM. Stage actions make all of this happen automatically — no manual work, no missed steps.
Actions are configured per stage in the Board Settings. Each stage can have multiple entry actions (triggered when a contact arrives) and exit actions (triggered when a contact leaves).
Why It Matters
In traditional CRMs, pipeline stage transitions are just label changes. Moving a contact from "Qualified" to "Proposal Sent" updates a field — and nothing else. Everything that should happen at that transition — notifying the team, sending a follow-up, updating records, triggering workflows — has to be set up separately in disconnected automation tools.
Stage actions eliminate this gap. The pipeline transition itself triggers the downstream work. This means:
- A contact moving to "Proposal Sent" automatically generates and sends a personalized email with the proposal attached
- A contact entering "Onboarding" automatically assigns them to the onboarding specialist and sends a welcome sequence
- A contact flagged as "At Risk" automatically notifies the account manager with full context
- A contact reaching "Advocacy Activated" automatically triggers a referral request
Because stage transitions happen automatically (driven by SI, form fills, and engagement signals), the actions they trigger also happen automatically. The entire flow — from contact behavior to pipeline movement to downstream action — runs without human intervention.
How It Works
Stage actions are built from a registry of available action types. Each action has a category, options, and configurable parameters:
Assign — Assign the contact to a specific team member. Useful for routing leads to the right person at the right stage (e.g., marketing handles FIND, sales handles WIN, support handles KEEP).
Mark Contact — Update a field on the contact record. Options include: Mark as DNC, set email/SMS opt-out, update a custom field to a specific value, change contact status, or toggle verification flags. Example: when a contact enters "Churned," mark their status as "Inactive."
Send Communication — Send an email or SMS. Two modes: *hyper-personalized* (SI generates a unique message using brand voice and contact context) or *template-based* (use a pre-built template). Optional delay in minutes — send immediately or wait before sending.
Initiate — Trigger a phone call (through Phona call flows), start a workflow (via Flow), or launch another automated process.
Attach — Attach items to the contact record: proposals, invoices, contracts, forms, or documents. Can be generated automatically or selected from templates.
Fire Webhook — Send a POST request to an external URL with the contact and stage data. Use this to notify external systems, trigger Zapier flows, or sync with third-party tools.
Each action can include conditional logic and parameters. For example, a "Send Email" action can be configured with a 30-minute delay and template selection, while a "Mark Contact" action can set a specific custom field to a specific value.
Multiple actions can be stacked on a single stage entry or exit. They execute in sequence.
Examples
A contact moves from MQL to SQL (meeting booked)
Entry actions on the SQL stage: (1) Assign to the sales rep who owns this territory. (2) Send a hyper-personalized confirmation email referencing the meeting time and what to expect. (3) Set custom field "Qualified" to "Yes." (4) Fire a webhook to update the external Salesforce record. All four actions execute automatically the moment the contact enters SQL.
A contact moves into the Onboarding stage after signing a contract
Entry actions: (1) Assign to the onboarding specialist. (2) Send a welcome email with onboarding checklist. (3) Attach the signed contract to the contact record. (4) Mark custom field "Customer Since" with today’s date. (5) Initiate the onboarding workflow in Flow.
A contact’s engagement score drops and they move to At Risk
Entry actions on At Risk: (1) Send an SMS to the account manager: "[Contact Name] has been flagged as At Risk. Engagement score: [score]. Recommended action: personal call." (2) Mark custom field "Retention Priority" to "High." No automated outreach to the contact — this is a moment for human judgment, so the action notifies the human instead.
