Using Action Plans in 8020CRM
- Apr 30
- 9 min read
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Overview
What Are Action Plans?
Action Plans in 8020CRM are automated task sequences triggered by events in the system - a stage change, a field update, a date being populated. When the trigger condition is met, the platform creates a defined set of tasks, assigns each one to the right team member, and releases them in the correct order based on the dependencies you configure.
Action Plans are the primary way 8020CRM teams ensure that every deal follows the same process regardless of who is working it. The system enforces the workflow so your team does not have to remember it.
Before You Begin
What You Need
The Action Plans app must be installed in your org. Navigate to the App Launcher and search for Action Plans - if it does not appear, contact your System Admin.
Building and editing templates requires System Admin access or a profile with Action Plan Template permissions. Daily task completion is available to all standard users.
To use the assignment type 'User From Record,' the relevant role fields (Transaction Coordinator, Acquisition Manager, Disposition Agent, etc.) must be configured on your record pages.
Why It Matters
The most common reason deals stall or fall through is not bad leads or bad sellers - it is inconsistent execution. A TC who knows the process versus a new team member who does not. A handoff where someone assumed someone else was handling the title. An inspection that did not get scheduled because no one assigned it.
Action Plans eliminate that variability. The same sequence of tasks fires on every deal, assigned to the right people, in the right order, with the right due dates. Your team leads can audit progress at any time. New team members follow the same workflow as veterans. And nothing falls through the cracks because the system is tracking completion, not a spreadsheet.
How Action Plans Work
Every Action Plan in your org is driven by a template. The template defines what triggers the plan, what tasks are created, who they are assigned to, and in what order they must be completed. When the trigger condition is met on a record, the platform fires the template and begins creating tasks automatically.
Concept | What It Means |
Template | The blueprint. Defines all triggers, tasks, assignments, and dependencies. Built and maintained by admins. |
Action Plan | A running instance of a template attached to a specific record. Created automatically when the trigger fires. |
Entry Trigger | The condition that starts the Action Plan - a field value change, a stage update, a status change. |
Exit Trigger | A condition that stops the Action Plan and removes incomplete tasks if the record reverts or the deal changes. |
Finish Trigger | A condition that closes the Action Plan gracefully when the record reaches its end state. |
Task | An individual to-do assigned to a specific team member with a subject, due date, priority, and instructions. |
Dependency | A prerequisite requirement - a task will not appear until the task it depends on is marked complete. |
Date Trigger | A task that fires at an offset from a specific date field being populated - e.g., 0.5 hours after Offer Accepted Date. |
Accessing Action Plans
Click the App Launcher (nine-dot grid icon at the top left of any page).
Search for Action Plans and click the result.
The Action Plans app has five tabs: Home, Action Plans (all running and completed plans), Action Plan Templates (blueprints), Import Action Plan Template and Checklists (sub-task lists for individual tasks).
Building an Action Plan Template
Navigate to the Action Plan Templates tab and click New. You will see the following configuration fields:
Field | What to Enter |
Template Name | A clear, descriptive name. Recommended convention: object abbreviation + trigger event. Example: 'PT New Contract' or 'Lead Qualified Follow-Up.' |
Related Object | The Salesforce object this template runs on: Lead, Opportunity, or Property Transaction. |
Description | Optional. A brief note on what this template does and when it fires. Useful when you have a library of templates. |
Re-Entry Criteria | Controls whether this plan can fire more than once on the same record. For most workflow templates, set to Do Not Re-Enter to prevent duplicate task sets. |
Skip Weekends | If on, task due dates that land on a Saturday or Sunday shift to the configured day - Start of Next Week (Monday) or End of Previous Week (Friday). |
Configuring Entry, Exit and Finish Triggers
Configuring Triggers
Triggers are the most important configuration on the template. They determine when the plan starts, stops, and ends.
Entry Trigger Field
Select the field to monitor and the value that fires the plan. Example: Stage Name = Under Contract. Multiple trigger values can be entered comma-separated - for example, 'Under Contract, Under Inspection' will fire the plan when either value is set.
Exit Trigger Field
Optional but strongly recommended. Defines the condition under which the plan stops and removes its incomplete tasks. Example: Stage Name = Negotiating. If a deal falls through and the stage reverts, the Exit Trigger cleans up tasks that are no longer relevant. Without an Exit Trigger, stale tasks accumulate on dead deals.
Finish Trigger Field
Defines when the plan closes. Example: Stage Name = Closed. When the record reaches the end state, the Finish Trigger stops the plan from generating any remaining tasks and marks the plan complete.
BEST PRACTICE: Always configure all three triggers. Entry fires the plan. Exit handles deals that fall through or revert. Finish closes the plan cleanly when the deal is done. Omitting Exit or Finish means stale tasks and incomplete plan records in your org.
Building the Task Sequence
Scroll to the Tasks section and add tasks in the order you want them to appear. Each task has the following fields:
Field | What to Enter |
Subject | The task name. Be specific. 'Submit Docs/LOI to Title/Attorney to Kick-off Process' is useful. 'Follow up' is not. |
Days to Complete | Days until this task is due, counted from when the Action Plan fires (for non-dependent tasks) or from when the prerequisite is completed (for dependent tasks). Zero = due same day. |
Dependent On | The prerequisite task. Set this to another task if you want this task to only appear after the prerequisite is completed. Set to None for tasks that should fire immediately. |
Assignment Type | Specific User (named individual), User From Record (pulls from a lookup field on the record), or Record Owner. |
Assignment Record Field | If Assignment Type is User From Record, select the field - e.g., Transaction Coordinator, Acquisition Manager, Disposition Agent. |
Priority | Critical, High, Normal, or Low. Critical or High tasks generate more prominent notifications and appear at the top of the assignee's queue. |
Send Email | Sends an email notification to the assigned user when the task is created. Recommended for High priority tasks. |
Reminder | Sets a platform reminder at a specific time. The default is 8:00 AM (480 minutes from midnight). |
Comments | Instructions for the task assignee. Include what Done looks like, any relevant links, checklist items, or context. Your team sees this when they open the task. |
Checklist | Attach a pre-built checklist if this task requires the assignee to confirm multiple sub-items before marking complete. |
Task Dependencies and Date-Triggered Tasks
Task Dependencies
Dependencies are what make Action Plans sequential rather than just a batch of tasks. A dependent task does not appear in anyone's queue until its prerequisite is marked complete. The 'Days to Complete' countdown for a dependent task begins from the moment the prerequisite is finished - not from when the Action Plan first fired.
Example: Task 1 fires on Day 0 (the day the contract is signed). Task 2 is dependent on Task 1, with Days to Complete set to 1. If your TC completes Task 1 on Thursday afternoon, Task 2 is due Friday afternoon - one day from completion of the prerequisite.
NOTE: If you set Days to Complete to zero on a dependent task, it will be due immediately when the prerequisite is completed - the same day. Use this for tasks that should follow on immediately after the previous step.
Date-Triggered Tasks
Tasks can also be triggered by a specific date field being populated on the record, independent of other task dependencies. Select the date field in the Dependent On field and set an offset in hours or days.
Example: A Follow-Up task set to fire 0.5 hours after the Offer Accepted Date is populated. The moment someone fills in that field on the record, the timer starts and the task appears 30 minutes later. If the field is blank when the Action Plan fires, the task waits until the field receives a value.
Testing a Template
Always test new templates on a demo or test record before activating them for your team. Do not test on a live client record.
Open a test Lead, Opportunity, or Property Transaction (match the Related Object of your template).
Trigger the entry condition - for example, change the stage to the value defined in your Entry Trigger.
Wait a few seconds and check the Activity Timeline. The first task or tasks should appear.
Mark the first task complete and confirm the dependent tasks appear as expected.
If you have a date-triggered task, populate the relevant date field and wait for the task to fire at the configured offset.
Check the Action Plans Home tab to confirm the plan is showing correct progress.
Trigger the Exit condition to confirm incomplete tasks are removed.
Viewing and Managing Running Action Plans
The Action Plans Home tab gives you a management view of all active and completed plans in your org. Each entry shows the plan name, the record it is attached to, how many tasks have been completed, and when it was created.
Click into any running plan to see the full task list with completion status for each step. This is useful for auditing deal progress, identifying where a workflow stalled, or troubleshooting why a task did not appear.
From the template page, you can also see all currently active plans running from that template - a quick way to see how many deals are in a given workflow stage across your portfolio.
Receiving and Completing Tasks (All Roles)
If you are a TC, Acquisition Manager, Lead Manager, or Disposition Manager, Action Plans work for you automatically. You do not need to configure anything. Tasks appear in two places:
Today's Tasks widget on your Salesforce home page - shows all tasks due today across all records.
The Activity Timeline on any record you are working - tasks appear inline alongside call logs, emails, and notes.
When a task appears, open it to read the Comments field - that is where your team lead has documented exactly what needs to be done before you mark the task complete. Complete the work, then mark it done. The next dependent task will appear automatically.
CRITICAL: Do not mark a task complete before doing the work. The next task in the sequence is created with a due date counting from the moment you complete the current one. Marking tasks complete prematurely creates inaccurate due dates downstream and misleads your team lead on deal progress.
Action Plans vs. Salesforce Flows
Action Plans and Salesforce Flows are complementary tools. Understanding the boundary between them prevents a common mistake: trying to use Action Plans for automated external communications.
Action Plans | Salesforce Flows |
Create tasks for human team members to complete | Execute actions automatically without human involvement |
Cannot send automated emails to external parties | Can send automated emails to title companies, attorneys, buyers |
Cannot post to Slack or send SMS automatically | Can post Slack messages, send SMS, create records, update fields |
Best for: sequential internal workflow checklists | Best for: automated external notifications and system-to-system triggers |
Built and managed in the Action Plans app | Built in Salesforce Setup under Flows - admin task; recommend Salesforce Trailhead for learning |
If your team wants to automatically email the title company when a contract is signed, or post to a Slack channel when a deal closes, that requires a Salesforce Flow - not an Action Plan. Action Plans create the task for a team member to send that email. Flows send it without anyone pressing a button. Both have their place; the right tool depends on whether a human needs to be involved.
Best Practices
Always configure Entry, Exit, and Finish triggers on every template. Omitting Exit or Finish leads to stale tasks and incomplete plan records.
Use 'User From Record' assignment wherever possible rather than assigning to a specific named user. This keeps templates portable - any TC on any deal receives the right tasks without template modifications.
Write comments as if you are writing instructions for a new team member on their first day. The person completing the task should not need to ask anyone what Done means.
Set Re-Entry to Do Not Re-Enter for transaction and contract workflows. Allowing re-entry on these creates duplicate task sets when stages are updated more than once.
Test every template on a demo record before activating for your team. Test the full sequence including Exit Trigger - confirm tasks are removed when the deal changes.
Do not create multiple async flows on the same object if you also have Action Plans running. Concurrent async operations on the same record can conflict. Coordinate with your admin if you are building both Flows and Action Plans on the same object.
Audit the Action Plans Home tab weekly. Stalled plans - those with low completion percentages and old creation dates - indicate deals where workflows have broken down and need attention.
THE RULE: Complete every task in full before marking it done. Action Plans are only as good as your team's compliance with completing them honestly. A marked-complete task that was not actually done is a process failure that will surface as a missed step downstream.
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