Step Processing Phase

Overview

Once a lead passes all business logic gates, it enters the step processing phase - your flow's assembly line. This is where you customize exactly what happens to each lead through a sequence of configured steps that filter, enhance, route, and deliver.

Think of steps as workers on an assembly line, each with a specific job:

Some inspect and route (Filter Steps)
Some add value (Enhancement Steps)
Some notify teams (Recipient Steps)
Some deliver the final product (Destination Steps)

Step Types

Filter Steps: The Traffic Controllers

Filter steps evaluate rules to make routing decisions. They're the switchboards that direct leads down different paths.

Capabilities:

Evaluate any rule condition
Continue to next step on match
Skip to specific step on no match
Stop flow entirely (success or failure)

Common Patterns:

High-Value Router:
├── Rule: loan_amount > 100000
├── On Match: Continue to premium processing
└── On No Match: Skip to standard processing

State-Based Routing:
├── Rule: state is in ["CA", "NV", "AZ"]  
├── On Match: Continue to West Coast team
└── On No Match: Skip to National team

Quality Gate:
├── Rule: appended.phone_verify.valid is true
├── On Match: Continue processing
└── On No Match: Stop - "Invalid phone"

Configuration Options:

Continue - Proceed to next step
Skip to [step] - Jump to named step
Stop Success - End flow, mark successful
Stop Failure - End flow, mark failed

Enhancement Steps: The Value Adders

Enhancement steps call external integrations to append data to your lead.

How They Work:

Call integration with lead data
Receive additional information
Append results to appended.* namespace
Data immediately available to subsequent steps

Key Characteristics:

Non-blocking (timeouts don't stop flow)
Results in appended.{service_name}.*
Failed enhancements don't fail leads
Can run expensive operations safely

Common Enhancements:

Service	Appends	Available As
TrustedForm Insights	Full consent data	`appended.trustedform.*`
Phone Intelligence	Carrier, line type	`appended.phone_intel.*`
Demographic Append	Age, income, etc.	`appended.demographics.*`
Business Lookup	Company details	`appended.business.*`

Using Enhancement Data:

After phone validation:
- appended.phone_intel.carrier = "Verizon"
- appended.phone_intel.line_type = "mobile"
- appended.phone_intel.prepaid = false

In next filter step:
- Rule: appended.phone_intel.line_type equals "mobile"
- Route mobile phones differently

Recipient Steps: The Internal Handlers

Recipient steps handle internal notifications and data routing within your organization.

Use Cases:

Email alerts to sales managers
Webhook calls to internal systems
Slack/Teams notifications
Internal API updates
Logging and monitoring

Key Differences from Destinations:

Don't represent lead delivery to buyers
Usually for internal use
Don't affect lead acceptance
Can't reject leads

Common Patterns:

Manager Alert:
├── Type: Email
├── When: High-value lead arrives
├── To: sales-manager@company.com
└── Include: Lead details + score

System Update:
├── Type: Webhook  
├── When: Every lead
├── To: Internal tracking API
└── Purpose: Update dashboards

Quality Alert:
├── Type: Slack
├── When: Low quality score
├── To: #lead-quality channel
└── Message: Review needed

Destination Steps: The Delivery Points

Destination steps deliver leads to their final recipients - your CRM, dialer, or buyer's system.

How They Differ:

Represent actual lead delivery
Track success/failure per destination
Can have multiple per flow
Generate delivery events

Delivery Patterns:

Single Destination:

CRM Delivery:
├── System: Salesforce
├── Mapping: Standard fields
├── On Success: Lead ID returned
└── On Failure: Retry logic

Multi-Destination (Waterfall):

Premium Buyer:
├── Attempt delivery
├── If rejected → Continue
Standard Buyer A:
├── Attempt delivery  
├── If rejected → Continue
Standard Buyer B:
├── Final attempt

Parallel Delivery:

All destinations receive:
├── CRM System
├── Dialer Platform
├── Email System
└── Analytics Platform

Step Execution Flow

Sequential Processing

Steps execute in order unless routing changes the flow:

Step 1 executes
If continue → Step 2
If skip → Jump to named step
If stop → End processing

Branching Logic

Filter steps enable complex branching:

Lead Flow:
├── Filter: Premium Check
│   ├── Yes → Premium Enhancement → Premium Buyer
│   └── No → Standard Check
│       ├── Yes → Standard Enhancement → Standard Buyers  
│       └── No → Basic Buyer

Error Handling

Each step type handles errors differently:

Step Type	Error Behavior
Filter	Error = No Match (continue/skip)
Enhancement	Error = No Data (continue anyway)
Recipient	Error = Logged (continue anyway)
Destination	Error = Failed Delivery (tracked)

Working with Step Data

Variable Access

All steps can access:

Original lead data: lead.*
Source info: source.*
Enhancement data: appended.*
Flow metadata: flow.*

Data Flow Between Steps

Data accumulates as leads progress:

Start: Basic lead data
  ↓
After Enhancement 1: + appended.service1.*
  ↓
After Enhancement 2: + appended.service2.*
  ↓
After Filter: Routing decision made
  ↓
At Destination: All accumulated data available

Conditional Logic

Steps can use all available data:

Filter Step Rule Examples:
- lead.state equals "CA"
- appended.credit_score.value > 650
- appended.trustedform.age_seconds < 300
- lead.email.domain not equals "test.com"

Best Practices

Step Ordering

Cheap filters first - Simple rules before API calls
Required enhancements early - Data needed for decisions
Optional enhancements later - Nice-to-have data
Destinations last - After all processing

Performance Optimization

Set reasonable timeouts (3-5 seconds)
Run enhancements in parallel when possible
Filter before expensive operations
Cache enhancement results when applicable

Error Resilience

Don't require enhancement success
Have fallback routing for errors
Log failures for monitoring
Test timeout scenarios

Clear Naming

Name steps descriptively:

✅ "Route CA Leads to West Coast"
✅ "Enhance with Phone Validation"
❌ "Filter 1"
❌ "Step 3"

Common Step Patterns

The Quality Ladder

1. Basic Quality Check (Filter)
2. If passed → Phone Validation (Enhancement)
3. If valid → Premium Buyer (Destination)
4. If invalid → Standard Buyer (Destination)

The Enhancement Pipeline

1. TrustedForm Validation
2. Phone Intelligence  
3. Email Verification
4. Demographic Append
5. Lead Scoring
6. Deliver Enriched Lead

The Distribution Network

1. Filter: Exclusive Buyer Check
2. If yes → Exclusive Buyer Only
3. If no → All Buyers Parallel:
   - Buyer A
   - Buyer B  
   - Buyer C

Technical Notes

Step Processing Performance

Steps execute sequentially (not parallel)
Each step typically: 50-3000ms
Enhancements are the slowest
Filters are near-instant
Total time depends on step count

Data Persistence

All step results are persisted
Available in events for analysis
Enhancement data retained
Full audit trail maintained

The step processing phase is where your flow becomes truly yours. Through the thoughtful arrangement of filters, enhancements, and deliveries, you create a unique lead processing pipeline that matches your exact business needs.