building your first flow

Building Your First Flow

Ready to process your first lead? In the next 10 minutes, you'll build a working flow that receives leads, validates them, and delivers them to a destination. Let's dive in!

📍 You Are Here

You're about to create your first flow - the intelligent pipeline that processes leads from arrival to delivery. Think of it as setting up an automated quality control department that works 24/7.

🎯 What You'll Build

By the end of this guide, you'll have:

• A working flow that can receive leads
• Basic validation to ensure data quality
• A destination configured for lead delivery
• Your first successfully processed lead!

📋 Prerequisites (2 minutes of prep)

Before we start, you'll need:

• Access to your account (you're probably already logged in)
• A destination in mind (your CRM, email, or even just a webhook for testing)
• 10 minutes of uninterrupted time

🚀 Step 1: Create Your Flow

Let's create your flow:

1. Navigate to Flows

   • From the main navigation, click Flows
   • You'll see the flows list (might be empty if you're brand new)

2. Create a New Flow

   • Click the Create Flow button (usually a blue button in the top right)
   • Give your flow a meaningful name like "My First Lead Flow" or "Insurance Leads - California"

   💡 Pro tip: Use descriptive names. "Test Flow 1" becomes confusing when you have "Test Flow 47"

3. Save Your Flow

   • Click Create or Save
   • Congratulations! You now have a flow. It doesn't do anything yet, but we'll fix that.

🔌 Step 2: Add a Source (Where Leads Come From)

Your flow needs at least one source - the entry point for leads:

1. Open Your Flow

   • Click on your flow name to enter edit mode
   • Look for the Sources tab

2. Add Your First Source

   • Click Add Source
   • For your first flow, choose Default Source (it's the simplest)
   • Name it something clear like "Web Form" or "API Endpoint"

3. Configure the Source

   • Note the submission URL - this is where leads will be sent
   • Copy this URL, you'll need it for testing
   • Leave other settings as default for now

💡 What just happened? You created an endpoint that can receive lead data. It's like setting up a mailbox for your leads.

✅ Step 3: Set Up Basic Validation

Let's add some acceptance criteria to ensure you only process quality leads:

1. Find Acceptance Criteria

   • In your flow, look for Acceptance Criteria or Pre-Processing
   • Click Add Rule or Configure

2. Add Your First Rule

   • Let's start simple: require an email address
   • Create a rule: email is not blank
   • Add a clear rejection reason: "Email address is required"

3. Add Another Rule

   • Require a phone number: phone is not blank
   • Rejection reason: "Phone number is required"

💡 Why this matters: These rules protect you from processing incomplete leads. If someone submits without an email or phone, they'll get a clear message about what's missing.

📤 Step 4: Add a Destination (Where Leads Go)

Now let's configure where your validated leads should go:

1. Navigate to Flow Steps

   • Find the Steps or Flow Steps section
   • Click Add Step

2. Choose Step Type

   • Select Destination (or Recipient for internal notifications)
   • For testing, Webhook is perfect - it just sends data to a URL

3. Configure Your Destination

   • For webhook: Use a service like webhook.site for testing
   • Name it clearly: "Test Webhook" or "My CRM"
   • Map the fields you want to send

💡 Quick Test Option: Use webhook.site to create a free test endpoint. You'll see exactly what data is being sent.

🧪 Step 5: Test Your Flow

Time to see your flow in action:

1. Prepare Test Data

   {
     "email": "test@example.com",
     "phone": "555-123-4567",
     "first_name": "Test",
     "last_name": "Lead"
   }

2. Submit a Test Lead

   • Use a tool like Postman or curl
   • Send a POST request to your source URL
   • Include your test data as JSON

   Example using curl:

   curl -X POST https://app.leadconduit.com/flows/YOUR_FLOW_ID/sources/YOUR_SOURCE.json \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"email":"test@example.com","phone":"555-123-4567","first_name":"Test","last_name":"Lead"}'

3. Check the Results

   • Go to your flow's Events tab
   • You should see your test lead!
   • Check if it was accepted and delivered

🎉 Success! What Just Happened?

If your test worked, here's what your flow just did in milliseconds:

1. Received the lead at your source endpoint
2. Validated the data (parsed the email and phone)
3. Checked your acceptance criteria (email and phone present)
4. Delivered the lead to your destination
5. Recorded every step in the event log

You just built a working lead processing pipeline!

🚫 Troubleshooting Common Issues

"My lead was rejected"

• Check the Events tab for the specific rejection reason
• Verify your test data includes all required fields
• Make sure the data format matches (e.g., valid email format)

"I don't see my lead"

• Confirm you sent to the correct URL
• Check if you included Content-Type: application/json
• Look for authentication errors in your HTTP response

"Delivery failed"

• Verify your destination configuration
• Check if the destination URL is accessible
• Review the error message in the Events tab

🎯 Next Steps

Your basic flow is working! Here's how to level up:

Add More Sophistication

• Add more sources for different vendors
• Configure field mapping for complex data
• Set up filters for routing

Enhance Your Validation

• Implement TrustedForm for consent verification
• Add suppression lists to prevent duplicates
• Configure volume caps to control flow

Connect Real Systems

• Integrate your CRM
• Set up email notifications
• Connect to dialers

💡 Pro Tips

Start Simple: Get a basic flow working before adding complexity. You can always add more steps and rules later.

Use Clear Names: "California Solar Leads" is better than "Flow 1". You'll thank yourself later.

Test Often: Send test leads whenever you make changes. It's easier to spot issues early.

Check Events: The Events tab is your best friend for understanding what happened to each lead.

📚 Related Documentation

• Flow Concepts - Deep dive into how flows work
• Source Configuration - Advanced source options
• Event Reference - Understanding the event system

🎉 Congratulations! You've built your first flow and processed your first lead. You're officially on your way to mastering lead management. Keep experimenting, and don't hesitate to reach out to support@activeprospect.com if you need help!