Dynamics 365 Sales – Automating Playbook with Business Process Flow (Part 2)
We know from our previous post in this blog series that Playbooks automate the creation of repeatable activities. But what about automatically launching a Playbook in Dynamics 365 Sales based on a Business Process Flow stage Entry or Exit? One of the issues I have with the Playbook is that it is extremely manual. I find it somewhat unrealistic to think that a user would know when to launch the Playbook. As such, I see a tremendous amount of value in automating the launching of the Playbook. In this blog we will review how to do just that. Let’s get started!
The first step is to create and publish a Playbook Template. Be sure to add Activities. In this example, we added a Task, Phone Call, and an Appointment.
Automate Creation of a Playbook
Next step is to create the Workflow. The Workflow will automate the launching of the playbook. As noted in the image below, we begin by naming the process, selecting Workflow from the category options, and selecting Lead as the entity. We also want this to run in the background.
Workflow Details
The workflow we are setting up is an on-demand process that is triggered when the business process flow stage changes.
Available to Run
Set to as an on-demand process.
Options for Automatic Processes
Scope: Set to Organization.
Start when: Record is created.
Add Step
Select Create Record.
Create
Select the Playbook Entity.
Set Properties
First thing that needs to be done is add a Name to the Playbook.
Next step is to relate to the Lead by adding the Lead to the Regarding field.
Activate the Workflow
Once everything is setup on the Workflow be sure to click Activate.
Business Process Flow
The next step is to add the Workflow to the Business Process Flow. Navigate to the Business Process Flow and select the stage and Click Add Workflow.
First select the Workflow and then select the Trigger.
The trigger can be setup either for Stage Entry or Stage Exit.
Save & Validate
Note that Workflow has been added to the Triggered Process below. Be sure to Save and Activate the Business Process Flow.
Create Lead
So now let’s test it by creating a lead. Note that the Task, Phone Call, and Appointment that we created in the Playbook template is now added to the lead Timeline.
