Transaction Based Automations

Transaction based automations are used to effectively communicate and advance your loan process. From loan milestone communications, updating borrowers throughout the process and setting tasks and follow-up.

In this article, we'll review creating a new automation, Entry Conditions, all the available 'Actions and Enabling an automation.

• What is a 'transaction based' automation
• Create new automation
• Set 'entry conditions'
• Build the 'actions' in an automation
• Available 'actions' and what they do
• Publish/activate an automation

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What is a Transaction Based Automation

Transaction Based automations can only be assigned to a Transaction or loan. However, they can interact with both the transaction, and, any related contact on the transaction. This provides the ability to communicate with all contacts that are associated with a single transaction. Additionally, they provide the ability to update the Borrower and Co-borrower with updated Statuses and Tags throughout the process.

Just about anything having to do with a teams loan process can be automatically assigned and communicated to from within Aidium.

Nearly all of the functionality one can expect from a Contact Based Automation can be done (and more) with a Transaction Based Automation. Here are some of the common uses:

• Send loan milestone updates to all related contacts. Borrower(s), Agents, Title Rep, Insurance and more with email and SMS.
• Send notifications to your team for important milestones and your loan process
• Assign follow-up to members of your team
• Trigger automatic gifting automation
• Update the Status and Tags on Borrower(s)

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Create New Automation

1. To create a new automation, choose 'Automations' in the menu group on the left side.
   
   
2. Click the '+ Create Automation' button in the upper-right corner.
   
   
   
   
3. At this point, the automation builder will load on the screen. The next step is to name the automation. It's incredibly important that we have a consistent, logical and recognizable naming convention. It is also important when viewing what automations are currently assigned or completed, when looking at the Borrower's contact detail.
   
   Initially, it will say, 'Untitled Automation' - click in that text box to edit.
   
   
   Edit the text to name our new automation - We can change the name later, at any time, without affecting the automation or it's assignments. Then click the 'Save Changes' button.
   
   
4. The last step to create the automation, before customizing, we'll chose the 'Automation Purpose'. In this case, we will choose, "Transaction-based automation" by clicking that option and then clicking the 'Continue' button, in yellow.
   
   
   
   

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Set Entry Conditions

Entry conditions are used to assign an automation to many existing transactions at once and/or to transactions as they meet those entry conditions. The most common use is to assign the automation based on the entry conditions matching a combination of Loan Milestone and Loan Type - to send loan communications to the Related Contacts.

We will review many of the important Entry Conditions, but in this case, we will concentrate on assigning an automation when a transaction is both 'Sent to Processing' and a 'Purchase' loan.

1. Status = Sent to Processing
2. Loan Type = Purchase

The completed entrance conditions will look like this:

To build these entrance conditions, watch the animated GIF below:

We can also add Condition Groups to expand the reach of our entrance conditions while also narrowing them down. By adding a condition group, we can provide more than one way for a contact to enter an automation.  For example, we want to assign based on a loan milestone of 'Respa', as well.

1. Status = Respa
2. Loan Type = Purchase

The completed entrance conditions will look like this:

To build these entrance conditions, watch the animated GIF below:

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Build the 'actions' in an automation

Actions are added one at a time and we can choose to whom outbound actions are sent, emails and SMS. We can also assign tasks to specific users with delayed due dates. Tags can be added to the assigned contact, while Status can be updated, both will assist with keeping contacts organized and potentially triggering future contact based automations.

Adding Actions is effectively the same no matter the Entrance Conditions added to our automation. After adding entrance conditions, we will look for the following 'Actions' section in the automation builder.


After clicking the '+ Add Action' button, a slide-out will appear on the right. From there we will choose the action we want to add. To begin, it's best to add a 'Delay' action. Even if the delay is just a few seconds, by adding a delay first, it will always be available, which will provide flexibility for future automation edits.


Next we will set the delay to 10 minutes and click, 'Apply' at the bottom-right.


Now, we have our first action complete. To add additional actions in the order they will take place, click the '+' button.

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Available 'actions' and what they do

In the above section, we showed how to add an Action. In this section, we will review what each Action accomplishes and the available options within each. This should provide you with all you need to know to build a powerful and comprehensive transaction based automation.

Timers - There are 3 types of timer delays that we will cover.

1. Delay by Period - This is a standard count-down timer. Simply choose the delay period, then the unit of measurement - Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks or Months
   
   
2. Delay until Day - This allows choosing a specific day and time within the coming week.
   
   
3. Delay until Date - This allows choosing a specific date and time in the future. There is no set limit on how far into the future.
   
   

Communication - This allows adding an outbound email or SMS directly to any transaction Related Contact. Like, borrower, co-borrower, agents, title rep, insurance and more!

1. SMS - Sending a direct SMS is a great option for communicating quick info to transaction/loan related contacts. Chose to whom the message is going to, then, utilizing merge fields, we quickly tailor a message that feels personal.
   
   
   
   
2. Email - Sending a direct email is always a solid and expected method for providing updates during the loan process. Just like with SMS, choose the appropriate recipient for this action and we can either start typing our message, or, if we have the text or HTML prepared - paste it in the appropriate editor.
   
   

In-app actions - These give more control over how the system will interact with the borrower and co-borrower contacts. We'll show how to utilize these 3 available actions to update those contacts for easy identification, long-term marketing and check-ins.

1. Apply Tags - Applying a tag to a borrower is a great way to add context to ensure we have the full story on the contact. Tags can be whatever we want, we can assign as many tags at one time as well.
   
   
2. Create Task - This is a great and effective way to schedule followup actions and for check-ins. Just keep in mind that if we want to task to be assigned later, we'll want to add a 'Delay' action before the Create Task action.
   
   
3. Update Status - Changing or updating the borrower and co-borrower contacts is a must to keep our contacts well organized. Be sure to update the status at the truly important milestones. Like, Sent to Processing, Pre-approved and Loan Closed. Additionally, we can update the Transaction Status using this method.
   
   
   
   

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Publish/Activate a transaction based automation

Publishing is incredibly easy and uncomplicated, especially when we have 'Enroll existing records' turned off, as we do in our automation.

It's very important to understand that if we turned on 'Enroll existing records', it would automatically assign to existing transactions that meet the Entry Conditions. There will always be a calculated count of transactions that 'meet the condition below'. If the number is 0, nothing will happen until a transaction meets those entry conditions in the future. However, if the number is 1 or more, each transaction that meets those entry conditions will automatically enroll the transaction (or borrower contact on the transaction) in the automation, when activated - as well as any transaction that meets those entry conditions in the future.


Now that we're happy with our new automation, it's time to save and activate it. While it's best to save often while building an automation, it's also a great step to save one last time before enabling. In the animated GIF below, we'll demonstrate the final steps to activate or enable an automation.



There is a safety feature built into any automations when it's active - we are unable to edit the automation until we click the 'Edit Automation' button at the bottom. At that point, we'll be able to edit. And again, we will make sure to click save to make sure any changes we are happy with are saved. However, if we make a mistake, we will click the '<--' (back button) at the top-left.