Introduction

Data changes

Automating processes and communication

Workflows - comprising Projects (designed for project management - tables of tasks) and Sequences (designed for automatically sending a series of emails to customers)

Formula Fields - automatically perform data calculations

Health Scores - calculate the "health" of Companies based on rules you configure

NPS campaigns - automatically send your NPS surveys using Planhat

Notifications you configure in your User Profile

The Planhat API - which you can use to send data to/from Planhat

... and more

Formula Fields can roll data from other models up to the Company model (e.g. display the value of Licences on the Company level), but this referencing is not possible in the opposite direction (down from Company to another model such as Licence). Automations, however, can post data from any model to any model, so they can take Company data and move it "down" the data hierarchy - e.g. see the example here

Only certain field types are supported by Formula Fields. Fields of the following types can't be Formula Fields: rating, day, list, multipicklist, team member, team members, URL, phone, email, End User, and End Users

Each Formula Field is for one piece of data - one calculation displaying one result (per applicable record). For example, a Formula Field could be: display the License value for the most recent License that has the status "ongoing". In contrast, Automations can update multiple pieces of data at a time - e.g. they can update multiple fields on a record at once, and carry out multiple action steps, (e.g. see this example) as part of the same Automation run. For example, you could have an Automation: when a Company enters the "Success" Phase, update the following fields: "Owner", "Co-Owner" and "Success Date"

Automations can be used to send a notification or public Slack message, whereas Formula Fields can't - but if you need to use a Formula Field to carry out a calculation, this could potentially feed into a Automation for a notification/message

Formula Fields make it easy to run a wide range of advanced data calculations, whereas Automations are less designed for calculations. (It is possible to transform data using Automation JavaScript "Execute Function" steps - but these are relatively advanced rather than something to use as standard)

Formula Fields keep being recalculated regularly. Automations only run when triggered. Typically Automation triggers are looking at specific data changes such as "when a Company changes Phase to Onboarding, run the Automation"; it is possible - although less common - to run an Automation on a specific schedule, or trigger an Automation manually

Transforming data on a single model, particularly involving any mathematical operations applying to numeric or date fields, or logical operations involving IF. For example:

Bringing data from other models up to the Company level, for example:

Bulk data moving or transformation operations, such as:

Types of sophisticated data transformations, such as:

POST (create) data to the URL

PUT (update) the entire data on the URL

PATCH (update) targeted pieces of data on the URL

DELETE (erase) data on the URL

Automations: can be used to generate tasks and/or notifications, and for sending single emails / chat messages to customers. Generally these are individual actions, based on a single trigger (e.g. when an End User enters a filter, send an email, or create a task) - in contrast to Workflows (next bullet point)

Workflows (Projects and Sequences): a series of tasks and/or emails - generally you have lots of different tasks and emails, and they can be activated at different points based on different conditions, and the whole process can be ended early if an outcome is met (e.g. a Sequence sends a series of emails to encourage a new End User to set up an account in your product and carry out some initial onboarding steps, and the Sequence ends once they have completed the desired actions)

NPS surveys: NPS is Net Promoter Score - these are campaigns designed to request/receive feedback from your customers

Personal notifications: configured via your User Profile, these are very similar to the Automation Templates in the App Center, but are less customizable and are specific to your User

Project Workflows: optimal if you're looking to schedule a series of tasks when a certain initial condition is met. Different tasks happen over time, with advanced scheduling options available, and steps can even be enabled/disabled based on conditions. These tasks can either be for your internal team or to share with your customer via their Portal. For example:

Automations: best if you want one or a small number of internally-facing tasks to happen at once in response to a certain event or change in state. For example:

Sequence Workflows: Sequences are designed for sending End Users a series of multiple emails working towards a goal, and you can use various advanced scheduling methods, enabling different emails to be sent or cancelled in reaction to changing End User behaviour while the Sequence is running. For example:

Automations: in the Apps Library, you'll find a selection of Automation Templates in the "Contact Customers" category. Here you can send either an email campaign or a chat (Intercom) campaign in response to a trigger. Note that "campaign" in this sense refers to sending a single email or chat message to each relevant End User, rather than a series of emails as you would have in a Sequence Workflow. For example:

NPS surveys: this is a specific type of customer communication, where you are asking for a particular kind of feedback (NPS survey responses), rather than informing your customers about something or aiming to get them to accomplish a particular action in your application