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Workflow automation

Admissions workflow automation you can read at a glance.

Build follow-up for the whole admissions cycle on a visual canvas, from first inquiry to the deposit stage. Pick a trigger, add conditions and waits, then send messages, assign counselors and move stages. Each workflow's run history records what started every run and how each step went.

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  1. On Lead created, 8 steps: assign, branch, wait
  2. Save checks the flow first: Looks good, no issues
  3. Back to Workflows: three are active
  4. Runs: the history for New inquiry nurture
  5. A new lead starts a run: Event trigger
  6. Step results: WhatsApp sent, the wait is running
Recreated product screens with fictional sample data.

Triggers, actions and logic for the admissions cycle.

A trigger starts the workflow, actions do the work and logic steps set the timing and direction. Connect them on the canvas and the builder draws the path an applicant takes, from inquiry through application and deposit stages.

Triggers

13 options

What starts a workflow

  • Lead created
  • Stage changed
  • Application stage changed
  • Document uploaded
  • Form submitted
  • WhatsApp message received
  • Messenger message received
  • Campaign email opened
  • Campaign email clicked
  • Campaign email bounced
  • Lead score or tier changed
  • Scheduled
  • Webhook

Actions

13 options

What the workflow does

  • Send email
  • Send SMS
  • Send WhatsApp
  • Send campaign
  • Notify
  • Assign counselor
  • Change stage
  • Update field
  • Add note
  • Create follow-up
  • Adjust score
  • Run chatbot
  • Refresh lead

Logic

6 options

How it waits and branches

  • Wait
  • Delay until
  • Condition
  • Switch
  • Parallel
  • Merge

Four enrollment automations, step by step.

Each pattern matches a moment in the admissions cycle: a new inquiry, an application left half-finished, an open house and a prospect gone quiet. Copy the logic, then set the wording, timing and owners for each program and entry term, or for each campus at multi-campus universities.

New inquiry nurture: an owner and a reply on arrival

New inquiries get a counselor and a first message on the channel they arrived on, then a phone call from that counselor if the prospect stays quiet.

  1. Trigger: a prospective student's inquiry is created, from a program page form, WhatsApp or another source.
  2. Assign counselor to the named counselor who owns new inquiries, here Daniel Brooks.
  3. Condition: came from WhatsApp? WhatsApp inquiries get the welcome template on WhatsApp. Other sources get the program brochure by email.
  4. Wait two days.
  5. Condition: replied on WhatsApp? A reply moves the stage to Engaged. Without one, the counselor gets a follow-up to call within a day.

Run history

Find the failed step before deadline reminders stall.

A workflow's run history lists each run's status (running, completed, failed or canceled), whether a lead event, the schedule or a webhook from your portal started it, and the start time. Expanding a run shows each step's result and any error message, and the list refreshes live.

  • Step-by-step results, with the error on the step that failed
  • Event, schedule or webhook shown as the start of each run
  • Stage changes and notes a workflow makes stay on the lead's record
Automation logs in reporting

Alerts for your team, instant answers for applicants.

Notification workflows

Alerts routed to the counselor, their manager or a role.

Notification workflows have their own builder. Pick the event, such as a transcript upload or an application stage change, then the recipients: the assigned counselor, their manager, a role such as graduate admissions officers, or specific users. Alerts arrive in the app, by email or both, digest steps bundle them into one summary, and a test send to yourself previews the result.
  • New inquiry assigned to you
  • An applicant replied on WhatsApp
  • A transcript or test score uploaded for review
  • An application moved to a stage such as Admitted

WhatsApp and Messenger auto-replies

Answer common questions before a counselor opens the thread.

Keyword auto-replies respond to incoming WhatsApp and Messenger messages in the conversations inbox. Application deadlines, tuition pages and application links go out straight away, and the thread stays open for a counselor.
  • Keyword rules: contains, exact match or starts with
  • A welcome message once per conversation, plus out-of-office hours in your time zone
  • Start a chatbot for program and scholarship questions
See the chatbot builder

For IT and compliance review

Guardrails to show when IT reviews your automation.

Validated before it goes live

An issues panel and per-step badges catch a disconnected trigger, a loop, an unreachable step or an invalid value while you edit. Errors block saving, and a workflow with warnings saves as a draft.

Branches for each program and office

Conditions test application stage, source, country, lead score or a custom field such as program. A switch on country can hand international applicants to a named counselor in the international office.

Runs on the admissions calendar

Schedule a workflow in the time zone you choose, once or for each matching lead, such as a weekly nudge to unfinished applications in the month before a deadline.

Started by your portal or SIS

Each webhook trigger has its own URL, protected by a secret header you can regenerate. Your application portal or student information system posts to it, the lead is found by email or lead ID, and later steps can use the request body.

Tied to rule-based scoring

A change in score or tier can start a workflow, and an adjust score step can add points when a prospect registers for a campus visit or uploads a transcript.

A record IT can review

Run history keeps each run's status, trigger and step results. Edits to a workflow are captured in the audit log, and the stage changes and notes it makes appear on the lead's history.

Start with the sequence you already send.

Bring a sequence your team sends by hand today, such as the reminders before an application deadline, and we'll rebuild it on the canvas with you.

Book a demoStart your pilot

The parts of higheredcrm.ai your workflows act on.

FAQ

Questions admissions and IT ask about workflows

Which admissions events can start a workflow?

A new inquiry, a lead or application stage change, a document upload such as a transcript, a form submission such as an open house registration, an incoming WhatsApp or Messenger message, a campaign email opened, clicked or bounced, or a change in lead score or tier. A workflow can also run on a schedule in the time zone you set, or start when your application portal or SIS posts to its webhook.

Does our IT office have to build the workflows?

No. Admissions staff whose role allows it build workflows on the visual canvas, and the builder blocks saving until errors are fixed. IT gets involved when your portal or student information system will start workflows through a webhook trigger, which is protected by a secret header.

Can a workflow wait until a deadline or a campus visit?

Yes. A wait step pauses for a set period, such as five days after an application is started, and a delay-until step holds until a date and time, such as 8:00 AM on the day of a campus visit. When the wait ends, the workflow picks up at the next step.

How would we investigate a workflow that misfired during deadline week?

Open that workflow's run history. Each run shows its status (running, completed, failed or canceled), whether a lead event, the schedule or a webhook started it, and its start time; expanding a run lists each step's result and error message. Changes a workflow made to a record, such as a new stage or a note, are in that lead's audit history, and edits to the workflow itself are logged too.

When should we use a workflow, a chatbot or an auto-reply?

A workflow handles follow-up across the cycle, such as reminders between application start and the deposit stage. A chatbot runs a menu-based conversation on WhatsApp, Messenger or website chat, for example to ask a prospect's program and entry term. Auto-replies send keyword answers, a welcome message and out-of-office replies on WhatsApp and Messenger, and a workflow can start a chatbot with its run chatbot action.

Can workflows alert the graduate or international admissions office?

Yes. The notify action alerts staff from inside a workflow. Notification workflows send in-app and email alerts to the assigned counselor, a manager, everyone in a role or specific users when events such as a document upload or a lead assignment happen, with optional delay and digest steps.

Does automation use AI to decide what to send?

No. A workflow follows the triggers, conditions and actions you configure, so an admissions director or IT reviewer can read exactly what it will do. Lead scoring is rule-based as well. The AI Assistant is a separate chat for questions about your leads and numbers.

Glossary: Workflow automation, Speed-to-lead, Application abandonment, Summer melt, Drip campaign · Developer docs for the webhook trigger

Map your admissions cycle onto workflows, with counselors in the loop.

Bring your deadlines and open house dates. We'll sketch the follow-up as workflows, run the builder's validation check and show the run history your team would use to review them.

Book a demoSee it in action