Configure ruleset rules

Who can use this: Business admin

Available on: Gong Engage

Required permissions: Create and manage flow rulesets

Configure the rules that define how your flows respond to replies, meetings, CRM changes, and bounces. These settings apply when you are creating a new ruleset or editing an existing one.

Flow properties

Flow properties control whether a person can be active in more than one flow at a time and whether the cool-off period applies after they finish a flow.

These settings interact with company-wide flow settings. If your company has disabled multiple active flows globally, the exclusivity option in rulesets is locked and cannot be changed at the ruleset level.

To configure flow properties:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset: click Create ruleset for a new ruleset, or click the More actions iconand select Edit.

3. Under Flow properties, choose This flow is exclusive or This flow is not exclusive to control whether contacts can be in multiple flows simultaneously.

   • Exclusive: A contact can only be in one exclusive flow at a time. Adding them to another flow is blocked until the current flow ends or they’re removed.

   • Not exclusive: A contact can be in this flow alongside other non-exclusive flows.

4. If the cool-off setting is enabled for your company, select Ignore or Apply the cool-off period between flows.

Outbound emails

Outbound email settings control whether flow emails include an opt-out link. If your company enforces a global opt-out requirement, this option may be locked and cannot be turned off.

To configure outbound email settings:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset: click Create ruleset for a new ruleset, or click the More actions icon and select Edit.

3. Under Outbound emails, select Display an opt-out footer or Don't display an opt-out footer. If you choose to display a footer, select either Dynamic opt-out footer or Select opt-out footer. Dynamic applies the appropriate filtered path based on the recipient’s CRM data; Select opt-out footer applies one specific path.

Note:

When an auto email fails to send, it is converted into a manual email to-do so the rep can send it themselves. This rule is not configurable.

Response handling

Response handling controls what Gong does when contacts engage with your flow emails or book meetings. Configure each trigger event independently.

Email reply handling

Set the flow's response when a contact replies to a flow email. You can pause outreach, remove them from the flow, or continue it regardless of the reply.

To configure email reply handling:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset: click Create ruleset for a new ruleset, or click the More actions iconand select Edit.

3. Under Response handling, click the dropdown next to When someone replies via email and select what happens to the contact:

   • pause the flow: The contact's flow stops progressing and a to-do is created for the rep to follow up. The flow resumes when the rep acts on the to-do.

   • remove them from the flow: The contact is removed. Their flow status updates to Finished (replied).

   • continue the flow: The flow proceeds as scheduled regardless of the reply.

   • remove all account contacts from all flows: All contacts at the same account are removed from all flows across your team, even flows owned by other reps. This option applies to contacts only. Leads are not affected because leads do not have an account entity.

4. (Optional) Select create a response to-do to generate a follow-up task for the rep when a reply is received.

Email bounce handling

When a flow email cannot be delivered, two settings determine what happens next: how Gong handles the contact, and whether a follow-up task is created for the rep.

To configure email bounce handling:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset: click Create ruleset for a new ruleset, or click the More actions iconand select Edit.

3. Under Response handling, click the first dropdown next to When an email bounces, and select what happens to the contact:

   • pause the flow: The contact's flow is paused.

   • remove them from the flow: The contact is removed from the flow. Their flow status updates to Bounced.

   • move them to another flow: The contact is moved to a different flow that does not include email steps. Select the destination flow from the list that appears.

4. Click the second dropdown and select whether to create a to-do for the rep:

   • create an email bounced to-do: Generates a task for the rep to follow up.

   • don't create an email bounced to-do: No task is created.

Note:

Bounce rules are not retroactive. They apply only to bounces that occur after you save the rule. Both hard and soft bounces trigger the rule. If the destination flow is unavailable or the contact cannot enter it, Gong pauses the contact's current flow and creates a bounce to-do instead.

Note:

How much of the bounce rule you can configure depends on your company. For many companies the bounce rule appears as fixed text with no dropdowns, and the option to move someone to another flow is available only to some companies.

Meeting booked handling

Choose what happens to a flow when the person in it books a meeting, and whether the rep gets a to-do about it.

To set meeting booked handling:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset you want to change, or click Create ruleset.

3. In the Response handling section, find When someone books a meeting.

4. Select what happens to the flow:

   • pause the flow: The flow is paused and the remaining steps stop.

   • remove them from the flow: The person exits the flow and no further steps run.

   • continue the flow: The flow runs on as though nothing happened.

5. Select whether to create a to-do:

   • create a meeting booked to-do: The rep gets a to-do telling them the meeting was booked.

   • don't create a meeting booked to-do: The flow changes silently.

6. Click Save.

Note:

A meeting counts when it is between the person in the flow and someone from your company, and is scheduled during or after the flow. An invitation counts whether or not it has been accepted. Recurring meetings do not count.

For some companies a fourth option appears: remove all account contacts from all flows. [VERIFY: confirm what makes this option available to a company, and confirm that it removes every contact at the account from every flow rather than only the person who booked.] Learn more about [configuring a ruleset for account-based outreach].

Responses the ruleset handles for you

Two more responses appear in the Response handling section, and neither is configurable. They are shown so you can see what the ruleset already does, and there is nothing to set.

To see these in a ruleset:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset you want to review.

3. In the Response handling section, review the two rules below.

   • A returned call that is missed: When someone returns a call and nobody picks up, the ruleset shows this as pausing the flow, and Gong emails the flow assignee. This applies only to a missed call that follows a call step.

   • An out-of-office reply: The current flow step is snoozed until the person's return date, rather than the flow being paused or the person removed. Gong detects the return date from the reply itself, so if no date can be found, nothing is rescheduled.

CRM change

CRM change rules automatically remove a person from a flow when a field in your CRM reaches a defined value. Use this to stop outreach when a lead is disqualified, an account churns, or a deal closes.

CRM change rules respond to field transitions, not continuous checks. If a CRM field already has the trigger value when a person is added to a flow, the rule will not fire. The field must change to the trigger value after the person is already in the flow.

To add a CRM change rule:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset: click Create ruleset for a new ruleset, or click the More actionsand select Edit.

3. Under CRM change, click + Add rule.

4. Select the CRM object to monitor: Lead, Contact, Account, or Opportunity.
   Note: Opportunity rules apply only to contacts in flows linked to that opportunity.

5. Select the field and the trigger value. You can add multiple values for the same field.

6. Select the action: remove the contact or lead from the flow.

7. Click Apply.

You can add multiple CRM change rules to one ruleset. Each rule is evaluated independently.

Flow end

Flow end contains one rule, and it is not configurable, so it is shown for reference rather than as a setting you choose.

To review the Flow end rule:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset you want to review.

3. Under Flow end, review the rule.

Note:

When someone is marked as "opt out" or "do not contact", they are removed from the flow.

Flow status change

Flow status change rules automatically update a lead’s CRM status when the lead’s flow status changes in Gong. Supported CRMs include Salesforce, HubSpot, and Dynamics 365.

For Salesforce Contacts, use a separate Salesforce Flow to map the Gong Engage Flow Status field to the Contact’s status. Direct Contact-object updates are not configured through this Gong ruleset action.

To configure flow status change:

1. From the left sidebar, click Assets, and select Flow rulesets.

2. Open the ruleset: click Create ruleset for a new ruleset,  or click the More actions iconand select Edit.

3. Under Flow status change, click + Add rule.

4. Map a Gong flow status, for example, In progress or Finished, to the corresponding CRM lead-status value.

Frequently asked questions