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managing flow steps

Alex Wolfe

Managing Flow Steps

Master the art of configuring, organizing, and optimizing steps within your LeadConduit flows. Learn how each step type works and how to build efficient lead processing pipelines.

📍 You Are Here

You're learning to manage the building blocks of your flows - steps. Each step performs a specific function, from validating data to delivering leads, and understanding how to configure them is key to successful lead management.

🎯 What You'll Master

  • Understanding step types and their roles
  • Configuring step components
  • Managing step order and dependencies
  • Enabling/disabling steps
  • Troubleshooting step issues

🧩 Step Types Overview

Enhancement Steps

Add or modify data:

  • Data Append: Add demographic info
  • Validation: Verify email/phone
  • Scoring: Calculate lead quality
  • Geocoding: Add location data

Filter Steps

Control lead flow:

  • Business Rules: Stop low-quality leads
  • Compliance: Block non-compliant data
  • Routing Logic: Direct to specific paths
  • Volume Control: Enforce caps

Delivery Steps

Send leads to destinations:

  • Recipients: CRM systems, dialers
  • Webhooks: Custom endpoints
  • Email: Notifications
  • Storage: Data warehouses

🔧 Step Components

Step Criteria

Control when a step executes:

Execute When:
- Previous step succeeded
- State equals "CA" or "TX"
- Lead score > 70
- Time is between 9 AM - 5 PM

Configuration Example:
Step Criteria Configuration

Field Mappings

Connect LeadConduit fields to destination fields:

Source Fields → Destination Fields

email         → contact_email
phone_1       → primary_phone
first_name    → fname
last_name     → lname

Best Practices:

  • Map all required fields
  • Use consistent naming
  • Apply transformations as needed
  • Test with sample data

Rules (Filters Only)

Define conditions to stop lead processing:

Common Filter Rules:

  • Stop if email invalid
  • Stop if phone disconnected
  • Stop if duplicate detected
  • Stop if outside business hours

Feedback Configuration

Enable two-way communication:

  • Receive delivery status
  • Update lead outcomes
  • Track conversions
  • Handle rejections

📋 Configuring Steps

Step 1: Add a Step

  1. Click Add Step in your flow
  2. Choose step type:
    • Enhancement
    • Filter
    • Delivery
  3. Select specific integration

Step 2: Basic Configuration

Name Your Step:

Bad:  "Step 1"
Good: "Validate Email - BriteVerify"
Best: "Email Validation - Stop Invalid"

Add Description:

  • Purpose of the step
  • Special configuration notes
  • Business rules applied

Step 3: Configure Components

For Enhancements:

  1. Select data provider
  2. Map input fields
  3. Configure output fields
  4. Set error handling

For Filters:

  1. Define filter rules
  2. Set stop conditions
  3. Configure rejection reasons
  4. Enable logging

For Deliveries:

  1. Enter endpoint details
  2. Map all fields
  3. Set authentication
  4. Configure retries

Step 4: Set Step Criteria

When should this step run?

// Always run
criteria: "none"

// Conditional execution
criteria: {
  "previous_step.outcome": "success",
  "lead.state": ["CA", "TX", "FL"],
  "lead.score": { "greater_than": 50 }
}

🔄 Step Order and Dependencies

Understanding Flow

Steps execute sequentially:

  1. Source receives lead
  2. Each step processes in order
  3. Filters can stop processing
  4. Deliveries send to recipients

Managing Dependencies

Before Moving Steps, Consider:

  • Data dependencies
  • Filter logic
  • Enhancement requirements
  • Delivery prerequisites

Example Flow Order:

1. ✓ Standardize Phone Format
2. ✓ Validate Phone Number
3. ✓ Check Phone Against DNC
4. ✓ Filter: Stop if DNC Hit
5. ✓ Deliver to Call Center

❌ Wrong Order:

1. Check Phone Against DNC (fails - not formatted)
2. Standardize Phone Format
3. Validate Phone Number

🚫 Enabling and Disabling Steps

When to Disable vs Delete

Disable When:

  • Temporarily stopping functionality
  • Testing flow changes
  • Seasonal adjustments
  • Troubleshooting issues

Delete When:

  • Permanently removing functionality
  • Cleaning up old configurations
  • Simplifying flows

How to Disable

  1. Click the gear icon on the step
  2. Select Disable Step
  3. Acknowledge warnings about dependencies

Disable Step Menu

Understanding the Impact

When you disable a step:

  • ⚠️ Lead data doesn't get processed by that step
  • ⚠️ Downstream steps may fail if they depend on it
  • ⚠️ Field mappings may break
  • ⚠️ Filters may not work correctly

Visual Indicators:

  • Disabled steps show with strikethrough
  • Affected downstream steps are highlighted
  • Warnings appear on dependent steps

Disabled Step Warning

Re-enabling Steps

  1. Click gear icon on disabled step
  2. Select Enable Step
  3. Verify all configurations still valid
  4. Test with sample lead

💡 Step Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Create clear, descriptive names:

✅ "Email Validation - Stop Invalid"
✅ "Phone DNC Check - Compliance Filter"
✅ "Salesforce Delivery - New Leads"

❌ "Step 1"
❌ "Filter"
❌ "Delivery"

Organization Strategies

Group Related Steps:

  1. All phone validations together
  2. All compliance checks together
  3. All deliveries at the end

Use Notes:

Note: This step requires phone to be formatted as 10 digits.
Business rule: Stop all leads outside CA during pilot phase.

Performance Optimization

Minimize API Calls:

  • Batch when possible
  • Cache results
  • Use conditional execution

Order Efficiently:

  1. Cheap/fast filters first
  2. Expensive enhancements later
  3. Only enhance leads that will convert

🚧 Common Issues and Solutions

"Step Configuration Incomplete"

Check:

  • All required fields mapped
  • Authentication configured
  • Endpoint URL valid
  • Required criteria set

"Downstream Steps Affected"

When disabling causes issues:

  1. Review dependent steps
  2. Update field mappings
  3. Adjust filter criteria
  4. Test thoroughly

"Step Timing Out"

Solutions:

  • Increase timeout settings
  • Check endpoint health
  • Reduce batch size
  • Add retry logic

"Mappings Not Working"

Verify:

  • Field names match exactly
  • Data types compatible
  • Required fields present
  • Transformations applied correctly

📊 Monitoring Step Performance

Key Metrics

Track for each step:

  • Success rate
  • Average processing time
  • Error frequency
  • Data append rate

Using Step Reports

Access from Reporting:

Report: Step Performance Analysis
Columns: Step Name, Success %, Avg Time, Error Count
Group By: Step Type
Filter: Last 7 Days

Optimization Indicators

Needs Attention When:

  • Success rate < 95%
  • Processing time > 2 seconds
  • High error rate
  • Frequent timeouts

🎯 Step Management Checklist

Before going live:

  • All steps named clearly
  • Configurations complete
  • Dependencies verified
  • Step order optimized
  • Error handling configured
  • Notes added for complex logic
  • Test data processed successfully
  • Performance metrics acceptable

📚 Related Documentation

🎯 Step Mastery: Well-configured steps are the foundation of reliable lead processing. Take time to understand each component, test thoroughly, and monitor performance for optimal results!

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