Seven workflows. Every outbound step in all of them is preceded by two silent checks: the contact does not carry sms-opted-out or email-unsubscribed, and the current time is inside the send window. Any step scheduled outside it holds until the window opens.
1. Inquiry Capture and Acknowledgement
Trigger: any of: Parts Inquiry form submitted, Trade Account Parts Request submitted, inbound SMS to the parts number, new web chat conversation, inbound Facebook or Instagram DM, inbound email to the parts address.
Branch on Account Type:
- Trade Account Number present → apply parts-trade, assign directly to the trade desk owner, skip the retail acknowledgement.
- Otherwise → apply parts-retail.
Actions in order:
- Apply parts-inquiry. Set Inquiry Source from the trigger channel.
- Create an opportunity in Parts Inquiries at New Inquiry, named [Registration Plate]: [Part Description].
- Branch: if the trigger was a form, send the acknowledgement immediately. If it was a conversational channel, hand to workflow 2 instead and exit: BO's own first reply is the acknowledgement, and a second automated message on top of it reads like a malfunction.
- Form acknowledgement SMS, no wait: “Thanks [First Name]: got your parts request for the [Vehicle Make] [Vehicle Model]. We're checking availability now and you'll hear back from the counter today. Reply here any time.”
- Wait 2 minutes. Email acknowledgement with the inquiry summary echoed back, so a wrong part description gets corrected before anyone phones a supplier.
- Assign round-robin across the parts team. Create task Identify part: [Part Description], due in 2 business hours.
- Internal notification to the assignee and the parts manager.
Exit: on opportunity reaching Lost or Won – Order Placed.
2. BO Identification and Triage
Trigger: inbound message on web chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram DM where the conversation is unassigned.
Conditions: inside or outside counter hours both proceed: only the closing line changes.
Actions:
- Hand the conversation to BO with the parts knowledge base and the field-capture list attached.
- BO's objective, in order: registration plate, then year/make/model, then part description, then quantity, then Parts Preference, then Urgency, then Fulfillment Preference. Two fields per message maximum.
- BO writes each answer to its custom field as it arrives, so a conversation abandoned halfway still leaves a usable card.
- Branch: answerable from the knowledge base or stock feed (hours, location, delivery, shipping, returns, a confirmed stock line): BO answers, offers a Parts Counter Callback link, applies parts-bo-resolved, moves the card to Quoted only if a catalog price was genuinely given, otherwise leaves it at New Inquiry for the counter.
- Branch: escalation trigger hit (safety-critical category, warranty/recall/return/refund/complaint language, trade account, Urgency = Vehicle Off Road, two stalled turns, or an explicit ask for a person): BO stops, applies parts-escalated, posts “I'm passing this to the parts counter to confirm the exact part against your vehicle: they'll come back to you today.”, assigns, and creates the identification task.
- Branch: outside counter hours: same capture, different close: “Counter opens at [opening time]. Your inquiry is first in the queue and someone will come back to you then.” The identification task is due 1 hour after opening, not 2 hours from now.
Exit: conversation assigned to a human, or parts-bo-resolved applied.
3. Supplier Check and SLA Escalation
Trigger: opportunity stage changes to Awaiting Supplier.
Actions:
- Apply parts-awaiting-supplier. Create task Chase supplier: [Part Number] on the card owner, due in 4 business hours.
- Wait 4 business hours. Condition: still in Awaiting Supplier?
- If yes, holding message to the customer: “Quick update: we're still waiting on our supplier for the [Part Description]. No news is not bad news, we just don't want you sitting there wondering. We'll come back as soon as we have an answer.” This single message prevents most of the calls that interrupt the counter.
- Wait 4 further business hours. Condition: still in Awaiting Supplier?
- If yes, internal escalation to the parts manager with the card link and the age of the inquiry. Task reassigned to the manager.
- Wait until the next business morning, 9am. Condition: still in Awaiting Supplier?
- If yes, a second supplier is suggested on the card and a decision task is created: Source elsewhere or tell the customer we cannot supply. An inquiry that cannot be filled must be answered, not abandoned. An honest no preserves the next inquiry.
Exit: stage leaves Awaiting Supplier.
4. Quote Delivery and Chase Ladder
Trigger: Supplier Check Result form submitted, or stage changed manually to Quoted.
Actions:
- Stamp Quote Sent Date. Apply parts-quoted. Move stage to Quoted.
- Send the quote on Preferred Contact Channel, with an email copy carrying the Quote Reference in every case. SMS version: “[First Name]. Your [Part Description] for the [Vehicle Make] [Vehicle Model] is confirmed and available. Part number [Part Number]. Quote [Quote Reference] is in your inbox with both options. Reply YES and we'll order it in for collection.”
- Wait 4 business hours. Condition: no inbound reply since the quote?
- Nudge one: “Just checking you got quote [Quote Reference] for the [Part Description]. Want me to put it on order, or do you have a question about the options?” Move stage to Awaiting Customer.
- Wait until 9:30am the next business day. Condition: no reply?
- Nudge two, by email, reply-to the counter: a short restatement of both options and the collection window, plus the Parts Counter Callback link for anyone who would rather talk it through.
- Wait 2 business days. Condition: no reply?
- Create a call task on the card owner: Call before closing: quote [Quote Reference]. A person, not a message, because at this point the silence usually means a question nobody wanted to type.
- Wait 2 business days. Condition: no reply and task not completed? Move stage to Dormant, apply parts-no-response, set Loss Reason = No Response.
Exit immediately on: any inbound message or call from the contact, stage change to Won – Order Placed, or sms-opted-out being applied mid-ladder.
5. Vehicle-Off-Road Priority Lane
Trigger: Urgency set to Vehicle Off Road, by form, by BO, or by hand.
Actions:
- Apply parts-vor. Raise the opportunity value weighting so the card sorts to the top of the board.
- Immediate notification to the parts manager and the on-duty counter lead: push and SMS, not email.
- Create task due in 30 minutes, not 2 hours: VOR: identify and source [Part Description].
- Customer acknowledgement, immediately: “Understood: vehicle off road. We've flagged this as priority and someone is on it now. You'll hear from us within the hour, not at the end of the day.”
- Wait 45 minutes. Condition: card still at New Inquiry or Identifying Part and task not completed? Escalate to the parts manager's mobile and, after a further 30 minutes with no movement, to the dealer principal. A promise of an hour has to be enforced by something other than goodwill.
- On reaching Quoted, suppress the standard 4-hour nudge and replace it with a 60-minute one. A VOR customer is actively deciding right now.
Exit: stage reaches Won – Order Placed or Lost.
6. Missed Call and After-Hours Capture
Trigger: call to the parts number ends with status missed, abandoned, or voicemail left.
Branch on time:
- Inside counter hours → text-back within 1 minute: “Sorry we missed you: parts counter here, we were with a customer. What vehicle and what part do you need? Reply here and we'll sort it, it's usually faster than holding.”
- Outside counter hours → text-back within 1 minute: “Thanks for calling the parts counter: we're closed, open again [opening time]. Tell me the registration and the part you're after and I'll have an answer ready for you first thing.”
Actions:
- Create the opportunity at New Inquiry with Inquiry Source = Phone. A missed call is an inquiry and gets a card like any other.
- If a voicemail exists, transcribe it, attach the transcript and recording to the card, and include the transcript in the internal notification so the callback can be prepared rather than discovered.
- On any reply, hand straight to workflow 2 so BO completes the capture.
- Wait 15 minutes (inside hours) or until 30 minutes after opening (outside hours). Condition: no reply and no outbound call logged? Create a callback task on the counter ring group.
- Wait 1 business day. Condition: still no two-way contact? One final SMS, then move to Dormant with Loss Reason = No Response.
Exit: any inbound reply, or an outbound call connecting.
7. Order Arrival, Collection and Dormant Revival
Trigger A: arrival: Supplier ETA Date reached on a card at Won – Order Placed.
- Task on the counter: Confirm [Part Number] received and shelved under customer name.
- On task completion, SMS: “Your [Part Description] is in and set aside under your name. Book a 10-minute collection slot here, or just walk in: ask for the parts counter.” with the Parts Collection Slot link.
- If a slot is booked: reminder 1 hour before. If not booked within 2 days, SMS reminder; at 5 days, a call task, because an uncollected part is cash on a shelf.
- On collection, close the card, apply parts-won, and if the contact already carried parts-won from a previous inquiry, add parts-repeat-buyer.
- Wait 2 days. Fire the review request on the reputation workflow.
Trigger B: revival: daily at 7am, every card in Dormant for 45 days whose Loss Reason is No Response or Availability, and which has no open card on the same plate.
- One SMS only, never a sequence: “[First Name]. We quoted you a while back for a [Part Description] on the [Vehicle Make] [Vehicle Model]. Still need it? Stock and lead times have moved since then, so it's worth a fresh look. Reply and I'll re-check.”
- On reply: create a new opportunity at New Inquiry, hand to workflow 2, and leave the old card closed rather than reopening it, so cycle-time reporting stays honest.
- No reply within 7 days: suppress this contact from revival for 12 months. A dormant list is a once-a-year asset, not a monthly one.
Exit: reply received, or the 7-day window closes.