Overview
Contact Assignees in Element451 refer to your internal staff members (or Teams) assigned to specific student or people records. The most common use case for a contact assignee is to designate an admissions counselor or person responsible for helping students through the funnel. They serve as the primary point of contact for the students. You can assign someone as early as the inquiry stage.
Adding + Removing Assignees Manually
To manually manage a person's Assignee:
Navigate to the person's profile/record
Locate the Assignee on the System card.
If the person has no assignee, a search field will appear, allowing you to search and select an assignee from your internal user list. If an assignee does exist, the name will be displayed on a chip. You can click the chip to edit the Assignee.
Adding + Removing Assignees Automatically
Element451 can automatically manage your assignees using Workflows and Rules. You can create a Workflow or Rule to automatically add or change a user's Assignee based on a trigger and conditions.
📙 Note: Before starting this process, we recommend having a good understanding of creating Workflows and Rules. You can learn more about these in the Workflows + Rules Collection of the Help Center.
Should I use a Workflow or a Rule?
To choose between a Workflow and a Rule, consider how you manage student assignees. If a student's Assignee won't change due to updates in their information, like moving or changing schools, then a Workflow is good for you. Workflows are a one-time process; once students enter a specific Workflow, they cannot do it again. But, if a student's Assignee might change when their details are updated, you should use a Rule. Rules can be applied multiple times to the same student whenever triggered.
Triggers
You can kickstart the automation of adding an assignee with many different triggers, but some of the most commonly used Triggers are:
Form Submitted
Event Signup
Application Started
Territory Changed
Steps/Actions
Once you have defined the Trigger for your Workflow or Rule, you can customize the automation process by adding steps with conditions and actions.
Two actions can be used for managing assignees:
Change Assignee: Set the person's Assignee
Remove Assignee: Clear the person's Assignee
Adding Assignee Based on Territory
You can follow the steps below to automate setting the Assignee based on an update to a person's Territory.
Before You Start:
Be sure to configure your dynamic territories so that people's records are assigned to the appropriate territories. Check the Territory Management article for more details.
Have a good understanding of Workflows + Rules.
Determine whether you should use a Workflow or a Rule. See 'Should I Use a Workflow or a Rule' to help you choose.
Creating a Workflow or Rule to Set Assignee by Territory
Create a new Workflow or Rule (Data + Automation > Workflows)
Configure Workflow/Rule Settings
Trigger: User Territory Changed
Territory: Leave the Territory field blank (you will add Territories using conditions in step 3).
Add a Step: It's best to create a new step for each Territory, even if a staff member covers more than one. This keeps things neat and organized, whether using a Workflow or a Rule. Plus, it simplifies updating if there are any changes in staff assignments or Territories.
Action Type: Change Assignee
Assignee: Select the staff member(s) or Team you want to be assigned to the first Territory. We'll add the Territory condition in the next step.
Assignment Behavior: Selected, Rotational, or Balanced (learn more about these behaviors here)
Add Condition:
Choose Condition Type: User Segment
Add Filter: Territory
Add Condition:
Operator: is
Value: Territory Name
Add Additional Steps for Each Territory:
For each Territory that requires an assignee, repeat steps 2 and 3.
After Creating the Workflow/Rule
Be sure to activate the workflow/rule so they will run as intended
You can add additional steps under the "change assignee" step
For instance, let's say you are changing the Assignee based on submitting an inquiry form. In that case, you may consider adding another action to assign the "Inquiry" label to the student's profile. However, remember that if you do this, you must create an additional rule to remove the "Inquiry" label when appropriate.
Creating a Segment Based on Assignee
You can create a Segment using the 'Assigned To' filter to organize a staff member's assigned records. To learn more about creating a Segment, review our Create a Segment help article.
Tip: If you want the Segment to be updated automatically (add/remove student records if the assignee changes), be sure to make it a Calculated Segment.
Creating a Segment Based on No Assignee or Territory
Based on your processes and use cases, creating a calculated segment that pulls in student records missing an assignee or Territory can be helpful. By regularly reviewing this Segment, you can maintain clean data and ensure every student record has an assignee and/or Territory. You can filter 'Territory is Empty' or 'Assigned To is Empty.'
