Proper branching (if/else/elseif) in workflow automation

Nikolai Sokolov

Currently, it is only possible to have one condition and the next step only triggers if that condition is met. Which makes workflow automation design super tedious: clone workflow, change the statement, clone again, change the statement again and so forth.

Since it's also not possible to use dynamic values, we just abandon the approach many times to avoid maintenance of dozens of automations.

One step towards a more mature approach:

have proper branching. If, else, else if. If condition is met, do this. If not, do something else, if a third, forth, etc. is met, do something else.

Great example of implementation is how HubSpot handles branching and conditions.

Michael Wallenwein

I 1000% agree with this.
We have around 100 automations for our company, many just a clone of the original with a slight tweak.
Proper branching would allow us to reduce them to around 20.
It would also allow us to build more complex automations. Thats something we not have done so far, as it would get to confusing to have each branch as a standalone automation.

wonders

I couldn't agree more. Pipedrive has been left in the dust by other CRM's. This feature has been requested since 2020 or so but there's been no mention of it or progress made. I'm not sure if they're trying to ride the gravy train and aren't interested in putting money into development or what. We have waited patiently over the last couple years for improvements to be made but have continued to be disappointed. You guys said it all - no ability to create branches, no ability to add/remove users from workflows, poor webhook functionality (albeit, they finally released it), no ability to have multiple triggers for a workflow (ie: deal created in stage vs deal enters stage), no ability to create folders to organize, no native SMS, we operate in multiple languages so we have to have duplicate workflows for EVERY flow and language. It's a nightmare to maintain and then to boot, Pipedrive has the nerve to set a limit to the number of workflows. Our company is looking to expand in the upcoming months and currently evaluating other CRM alternatives. I love the simplicity of the user interface but I just don't see Pipedrive in our future.

Nikolai Sokolov

Hi @wonders I am deeply compassionate about pipedrive hence us just solving everything in make lol. Just more convenient in terms of complexity and maintainability.

But Pipedrive, please make workflow automation more capable because currently, it only covers the most basic use cases and has so many limitations that we mostly avoid it on client work.

Can't mention it often enough in every thread: that webhook in workflows needs to be working for all users w/o admin privileges when set to "triggered by any user". This would allow us to trigger make for automation lol. Currently, its just useless.

Kevinraybor

Esta función es de mucha utilidad. Actualmente no uso las automatizaciones de pipedrive debido a que no hay bifurcaciones de if-else.

Se tiene que agenciar de otras plataformas para eso

wonders

@Nikolai Sokolov Trust me, changing platforms isn't my preferred option either, but PD really needs to pick up it's development game. Avoiding something and hacking workarounds in 2024 due to lack of development isn't really a long term solution IMO. Especially while others are pouring resources into improving and building additional functionality into their platform. It gives me that feeling that PD is more focused on pocketing cash than developing functionality to keep them competitive. People have been asking for split paths and webhooks for a half of a decade and we still don't have a functioning version of either lol. Ironically I got an email about an hour ago from Pipedrive boasting about their new webhooks that we can't do anything with 😁

Nikolai Sokolov

Haha @wonders thats exactly how I felt reading that email. The knowledge base article has a bitter note about this as well: contrary to some expectations blablabla.

@Manuel Oliveira automation webhooks are useless currently. Please push this to the team.

Another point about limitations of branching: its nearly impossible to suggest campaigns to clients because its impossible to build a basic "send out email 2 if client didnt open email 1, otherwise create lead", etc.

Since the condition of opened / replied to email is ONLY available if email is sent in the same automation previously, its impossible to build a second automation for the branch of ELSE "if opened".

This limitation, paired with manual double opt-ins, makes campaigns a very tough sell. Basically, two must-haves people expect from email marketing apps are absent = I cannot wholeheartedly suggest the add-on to anyone.

ma_wove

Hi, I'm new to PipeDrive. Was very excited about working with it, but I just learned about the lack of an IF/ELSE option in any automation. Some of our automations are complex trees full of conditional branches. I'm dreading having to work with a 3rd party service since this seems like another potential place for errors.

Will the if/else feature be added to Pipedrive?

Nikolai Sokolov

Hi @ma_wove while this might take a long minute for pipedrive to integrate, I can strongly suggest the webhook to make/zapier way. It was a gamechanger on our projects, especially since other limitations of workflow automations still make it difficult to build complex logic in pipedrive.

The idea is this: build a very focused condition for leads/deals/contacts/orgs to enter the automation, send an id to webhook of make/zapier, do whatever you want there.

Since both make and zapier offer the widest integration with myriads of tools, its very convenient. They also have robust error catching and are super easy to maintain.

ma_wove

Thank you @Nikolai Sokolov! I'll give it a try.