FAQs: Cadences | FAQs

FAQs: Cadences

What are Cadences?

Cadences are a new tool in customer relationship management that changes the way businesses talk to their customers. It helps businesses make their marketing and sales plans better by being very precise and personal. This tool lets companies send out specific messages or tasks based on what they want to achieve with each customer.

Cadences Studio lets you send out different types of messages like emails, calls, or tasks that are specially designed to get a reaction from customers. This helps make sure every message sent out is meaningful and helps yourN business meet its goals. The tool is smart enough to stop sending messages once it gets the response it was looking for, which saves time and makes the strategy more effective.
Cadences Studio is also flexible and can be used in many different types of businesses, like online shops, healthcare, software as a service (SaaS), and real estate. This means it can help improve how businesses talk to their customers, leading to better engagement and more sales, no matter the industry.

For example, a real estate company can use Cadences Studio to manage their follow-ups with people interested in properties. Depending on how these potential buyers respond, or if they don’t respond at all, the tool can send out the right kind of message at the right time. This makes the process more efficient and increases the chances of making a sale.

Cadences Studio is a useful tool for businesses to manage conversations with customers. It allows for automated, personalized follow-ups, making each customer interaction more relevant. This helps businesses of all kinds improve how they connect with customers and grow.

What is the difference between Cadences and Workflow rules? 

Cadences and Workflow Rules are both powerful automation tools in Zoho CRM, but they serve different purposes and offer unique functionalities:
Purpose: Cadences are designed to streamline and automate sequential follow-ups with customers. They are particularly useful for managing ongoing interactions over a period of time.
Cadences
Workflow Rules
Cadences
Features:
  1. Multi-channel Follow-ups: Cadences support follow-ups via emails, calls, and tasks, allowing for a personalized and varied communication strategy.
  2. Sequential Automation: Actions are triggered based on customer responses or specific conditions, creating a structured follow-up sequence.
  3. Target Audience: Users can enroll or remove targets manually or automatically based on custom view criteria.
  4. Automation: Automatically removes records that have reached their desired outcome, focusing efforts on active opportunities.
  5. Analytics: Provides detailed reports to analyze the effectiveness of follow-ups and customer engagement. 
Use Case: Ideal for sales and marketing teams that need to maintain consistent and structured engagement with leads and customers over time.
  1. Guide new customers through the onboarding process with a structured communication plan. Send a welcome email, followed by a series of instructional emails, and schedule a check-in call after two weeks.
  2. Follow up with attendees after a webinar or event to gauge interest and move them further down the sales funnel. Send a thank-you email immediately after the event, followed by a survey email, and schedule a call to discuss the attendee's interest.
  3. Let’s consider the nurturing process for a prospect to book a test drive. This process would vary for each lead. If a lead shows much interest by attending your calls, asking questions, etc,. a sales rep would prefer to schedule calls and get things done soon. For leads who doesn’t respond much, still you would want to send nurturing contents but for this kind of prospects you might prefer emails. Contrary to workflows, this is not a single-step automation; rather, it involves a series of steps. 

    Cadences aims to educate prospects gradually, leading to more informed discussions and better ways to connect with the prospects. 
See Also >> Cadences

Workflow Rules
Purpose: Workflow rules are designed to automate routine business processes by triggering specific actions based on predefined conditions. They help streamline repetitive tasks and ensure timely follow-ups.

Features:
Action Triggers: Workflow rules can trigger actions such as sending emails, assigning tasks, and updating fields when certain conditions are met.
Conditions: Multiple conditions can be set to refine when the rule should be triggered.
Flexibility: Can be used across various modules and for a wide range of automation needs within the CRM.

Use Case: 
  1. Suitable for automating specific tasks and actions that need to occur immediately or on a scheduled basis when certain criteria are met, such as sending a welcome email when a new lead is created.
    When a new lead is created, assign it to a sales rep based on predefined criteria such as territory or industry. Automatically assign the lead to the appropriate sales rep and notify them via email.
  2. After a lead status changes to "Qualified," create a follow-up task for the assigned sales rep to schedule a meeting. Create a task and set a due date for the follow-up action whenever the lead status is updated to "Qualified."

Summary:

Cadences are focused on managing and automating sequential customer follow-ups across multiple channels, providing a structured approach to customer engagement.

Workflow Rules are more about automating individual tasks and processes based on specific triggers and conditions, ensuring routine tasks are handled efficiently.

What permission is required to create Cadence in my CRM account?

Users with the Cadences permission under Automation in their profile can access Cadences. Based on whether they have Enroll and/or Un-enroll permissions their actions will vary between applicants.


How can I configure a cadence? 

Configuring Cadences is a two-step process.  

Step 1 - Choosing your Target Audience
Cadences in Zoho CRM is module-specific. The user can choose the target audience for Cadences from:
  1. Manual Enrollment: Choose the targeted users later after Cadences creation
  2. Custom view: The custom views in the chosen module
Note: You can target records in all user-based modules, both system defined like l\Leads and Contacts, and custom modules like Vendors, as well as for deals.
Step 2 - Configuring the Follow-ups
In Cadences, you can configure three types of follow-ups:
  1. Email
  2. Tasks
  3. Calls
Each follow-up type has specific configuration options to suit your requirements.

How can I see active cadences for my records?

When a record is added to Cadences, the related list on the record detail page showcases all the details of them. You can also customize the columns for the details of the cadences that you want to be shown in the related list.


Is there any limit on the number of followups that can be created?

Follow-up limits for Cadences depend upon the type of subscription you have.

Plan

Cadences

Maximum follow-ups

Emails

Tasks

Calls

Standard

9, up to 3/module

6

6

-

Professional

15, up to 5/module

10

10

10

Enterprise

150, up to 10/module

20

20

10

Ultimate

300, up to 25/module

25

25

15

What is a manual enrollment and custom view enrollment while creating a cadence?

Zoho CRM's Cadences feature allows for effective follow-up management by enrolling records into predefined sequences of actions.

There are two primary ways to enroll records into a cadence: Manual Enrollment and Custom View Enrollment.
Manual Enrollment
Custom View Enrollment
Manual Enrollment
Manual Enrollment allows users to select and enroll records into a cadence manually after the cadence has been created. This method offers flexibility in choosing specific records that need to be included in the follow-up sequence.

Manual enrollment is useful when you want to selectively enroll records based on specific criteria that might not be captured by a custom view. It’s ideal for situations where you need to quickly add individual records as they come in.

To enroll records in Cadences manually:
  1. Go to the records page in your module (Leads, Contacts, Deals).
  2. Select the records either individually, one after the other, or in bulk by checking the box at the top.
  3. Click Actions at the top, select Cadences, then choose the Add to Cadence option.
  4. Choose the cadence you want your records to be enrolled in from the list of published cadences.

Note: You need to have one or more cadences already published for the module you want to enroll records to.

For example: A sales rep meets a new lead at a conference and wants to enroll them in a follow-up sequence immediately after entering their details into Zoho CRM. They select the lead manually and enroll them in the relevant cadence for new conference leads.

Custom View Enrollment
Custom View Enrollment uses predefined custom views to automatically enroll records into a cadence based on specific criteria. Custom views are filters created within a module to display records that meet certain conditions.

Custom view enrollment is beneficial when you want to automate the enrollment process based on dynamic criteria. This method is ideal for ongoing campaigns where records are continually being updated and you want to ensure that all relevant records are automatically enrolled.

For example: A marketing team runs a campaign targeting leads from a specific industry. They create a custom view filtering leads by industry type. All leads matching the industry criteria are automatically enrolled in the cadence designed for that campaign.

What are the Un-enroll option and properties in Cadences?

In Cadences, the Un-enroll option is designed to manage how and when records are removed from a cadence. Here's a detailed explanation:

Un-enroll Option and Properties in Cadences 

The Un-enroll feature is essential for ensuring that records no longer relevant to a cadence are automatically removed, keeping your follow-up sequences clean and focused. This helps in maintaining efficiency and relevance in your customer engagement processes.

Properties and Settings
  1. Automatic Un-enrollment: 
    1. Criteria-based Un-enrollment: When a user creates a cadence based on a custom view, the records that meet the criteria defined in the custom view will be enrolled in the cadence.
      If after enrollment, a record no longer meets the defined/selected custom view criteria, it will be unenrolled from the cadence automatically.
    2. Outcome-based Un-enrollment (email replies): When a customer replies to a follow-up email sent via cadence or a response/reply is received, the system will un-enroll/remove that customer's record from the ongoing cadence automatically. This means that once a reply is received, the customer will no longer receive subsequent follow-up emails that were scheduled as part of that particular sequence.
    3. Un-enrollment on a particular date: Un-enrollment of records will happen based on a chosen date.
  2. Manual Un-enrollment: User-triggered: Admins or users can manually un-enroll a record from a cadence if they determine that the follow-up is no longer necessary or relevant.
  3. Re-enrollment Prevention: Once Un-enrolled, Not Re-enrolled: By default, once a record is un-enrolled from a cadence, it will not be re-enrolled automatically, even if it later meets the initial criteria again. This prevents redundant follow-ups and ensures that the cadence remains relevant and streamlined.
  4. Tracking and Reporting: Activity Logs: Zoho CRM keeps track of all un-enrollment actions, whether automatic or manual, providing a clear history of why and when a record was un-enrolled. This helps in analyzing the effectiveness of your cadences and making necessary adjustments.
The un-enroll feature in Cadences ensures that your follow-up processes are not only automated, but also adaptable and responsive to changing customer statuses and outcomes, enhancing overall engagement and productivity.

Is Cadences applicable for custom modules as well? 

Yes, cadences are applicable for custom modules. However, only emails and tasks are available for follow-up. Currently, calls are not supported as follow-up actions in custom modules.

Which modules are available in Cadences? 

Leads, Contacts, Deals, Vendors, and Assets modules are available in Cadences.


Can I use Cadences for all the records in my module?

Yes, you can use cadences for all the records in your module either by manually enrolling them or by creating a custom view which incorporated all the available records in the module.

Can I use a date/time-field as a trigger in Cadences?

No, you cannot use it directly. However, you can set a date field as a criterion in a custom view and use the custom view instead.
For example, if you have a custom view called "Today's Leads" with the criterion "Created date is today," you can use this custom view.

Can one cadence work across multiple modules? 

No, but a single module can have multiple cadences.
For example, the Contacts module can have several cadences. However, each cadence is specific to one module, so if you want to use cadences for different modules, you will need to create distinct cadences for each module.

If a custom view is selected as the trigger, what happens if a record initially meets the custom view criteria but later the data changes and the record no longer fits the criteria? 

You can choose to un-enroll a record when it no longer meets the custom view criteria. This option is available under Un-enroll properties.
If the record meets the criteria again later, it will not be re-enrolled.

Can we generate tasks or emails, as well as calls, based on the same action type again? 

No, once you have created an email, task, or call based on a specific action type (e.g., when an email is 'Replied'), the option for 'Replied' will be disabled automatically the next time you schedule an email or task.