Pipelines are a thing of miracles. At least, that’s what we are told. They have been described as ‘game-changers’ in automating client communication and keeping clients in the loop. They have other uses too. They also enable users to create tasks to hold themselves and their team accountable.

In this short article, we’re going to explore what a pipeline does and how some users are implementing them (with practical examples).

What is a pipeline?

A pipeline within WillSuite is a journey or a process that ties into a case. There are two different types (case and questionnaire pipelines) and they are fully customisable. In fact, users start off with a blank canvas and are able to design their own procedures from scratch. With a pipeline, notifications or alerts can be added in at any point in the process.

Within WillSuite the alerts or notifications enable you to:

• Create a task for a system user
• To send an email notification to someone (client, system user or other)
• Send an SMS to someone (client, system user or other)
• To reset a pipeline
• To enter another step in the pipeline

To create pipelines, all you need to do is to click on ‘your name’ in the top corner, click on ‘company settings’ and then, on the left hand menu click ‘pipelines’. Within the pipeline settings navigate to either questionnaires or case pipelines.

Here are a couple of pipeline examples that you may wish to use as inspiration: (Will Questionnaire Pipeline)

This is a pipeline for the Will Questionnaire and for the Will Writing process/journey. There is no limit to the number of steps you are able to create or alerts within each pipeline step. Additionally you can add a watermark to a pipeline step which means that when you’re in the pipeline step, the specified watermark will apply to the documents. When you’re ready to remove any watermarks all you need to do is ensure that there are no watermarks on the next step within the pipeline.

Another example of a pipeline our clients are using is:

TYPE: Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE: Health & Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney

ONE: 

STEP: Draft Documents

ALERTS: Task (delayed for 2 weeks) - “Have you completed the LPA drafts yet?”

TWO:

STEP: Send to Client for approval and signing

ALERTS: 

SMS to client - “We have drafted your LPA and posted it to you for checking and signing.”

Email to client - (delayed for 2 weeks) - “We have drafted your LPAs and emailed them to you. Have you received them and the accompanying singing instructions. Is everything ok?”

Task - Chase client (delayed for 4 weeks)

THREE: 

STEP: Send LPA to OPG

ALERTS: 

SMS to client - “We have posted your LPA/s to the Office of the Public Guardian for registration. We will let you know when this has been completed.”

Task (delayed for 20 weeks) - chase OPG for update and update the client / client file

FOUR:

STEP: LPAs Registration Complete

ALERTS:

SMS to client - “Your LPA registration is complete. The completed documents will be posted to you and should be with you in the next couple of days. If you have any questions, let us know.”

Task - Post LPAs to client.

Another example of a pipeline can be found below. In this example, this is how it appears within a case:

If you would like any assistance in creating pipelines, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzI-Z2Vuy0E

If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact support@willsuite.co.uk