Working with flows

Sales rep, Sales manager

Gong Engage*

Gong Engage flows help you engage with people at scale using a predetermined series of actions. Flows offer a time-saving combination of automation and personalization when it comes to sales engagement. Whether or not you can create and manage personal and company flows depends on the permissions your admin has defined for you.

Types of flows

• Your flows: These are the flows that reps can create for themselves. If reps duplicate any company flows and save them with changes, they’ll appear in this section. You can define which team members can create and manage personal templates through the available permission settings in their permission profile.

• Company flows: These flows are available to everyone in your org. They can only be edited by people who are authorized to do so through their permission profile, but anyone can duplicate them and save them as their own flows.

  • Starter flows: These flows are available to everyone in your org. They’re pre-built by Gong to help team members speed up onboarding and reach out to prospects faster.

To get started with flows, you can choose a starter flow or a company flow and duplicate it, or create a new personal flow from scratch.

How to create a personal flow

Engage > Flows > Personal flows

1. Open the Personal flows section and select the folder where you want the new company flow to live, or create a new folder.

2. Click  to create a new flow.

3. Click at the top to give your flow a descriptive name.

4. Add steps to the flow: To learn more about how each step type works, see Understanding flow steps.

   Available step types are:

   1. Manual email: Craft an email or generate one using AI.

   2. Auto email: Set up an email that sends automatically. The sender/to-do assignee is the person who adds the contact/lead to the flow. If flow automations are set up, the to-do assignee and sender can be specified by an automation.

   3. Call: Schedule a call step.

   4. LinkedIn connect: Plan a LinkedIn connection request.

   5. LinkedIn message: Plan a LinkedIn message.

   6. Task: Any actions that aren’t necessarily call, email, or LinkedIn-related, like sending a gift, prepping for an upcoming meeting, or researching a company.

5. Set time delays between steps: After adding each step, define the delay before the next step occurs.

6. Review step order and rearrange as needed.

7. Define the flow’s visibility: Enable or disable the flow at the top left corner.

   1. Enabled means you can add contacts and leads to the flow and the flow appears in the Add to flow menu for you, but not for other team members.

   2. Disabled means that no one can add contacts and leads to the flow. It does not appear in the Add to flow menu for you or other team members.

8. Select the flow’s ruleset: If your company allows contacts and leads to be active in multiple flows at once, you have the option to set the flow as exclusive. To learn more about rulesets, see Understanding rulesets.

   1. Go to the Settings tab.

   2. Click Change ruleset to select a different ruleset.

9. Save the flow.

How to add attachments to a flow step

Engage > Flows

Open the flow you want to work on, then add attachments to flow steps by clicking . The email body size can be up to 3 MB. Body size does not include attachments, but it does include in-line images and GIFs. The total size of an email including attachments can be up to 20 MB.

When adding an attachment to a step in a flow that hasn't been saved yet, you'll be prompted to save the flow first in order to add the attachment. If you add an attachment to the flow step and then add a template that has attachments, any attachments you previously added will be removed or replaced with the template's attachments.

How to edit a flow

Engage > Flows

Open the flow you want to work on, then drag and drop flow steps on the left side to rearrange them or add and remove steps. You can edit a flow any time, even when there are contacts and leads in an active flow.

To prevent you from accidentally overwriting another team member’s work or losing your own, Gong detects when a flow has been updated by someone else while you’re viewing or editing it. Gong also detects when new contacts were added to the flow while you were viewing or editing it. When a potential conflict is detected, you'll get a notification with options to safely manage your changes.

When you make changes to a flow, those updates apply to to-dos that have already been generated, including scheduled auto emails, so you can fix mistakes or make improvements.

Edits applied to existing to-dos

• Message edits: Updates to the content of a step, like email copy, will reflect in existing to-dos

• Timing adjustments: Changes to delays or scheduling between steps will update accordingly

• New steps added to the end of the flow: These will be assigned to active contacts and leads as they reach that point in the flow.

Edits not applied to existing to-dos

• Reordering steps: Changing the order of steps won’t affect contacts already in the flow to maintain a logical progression. For example, if step 5 is moved to the beginning, contacts currently on or past step 5 won’t go back and repeat earlier steps.

How to duplicate a flow

Engage > Flows

When you duplicate a company or starter flow and save it as your own personal flow, the automations that were set up for automatically adding people to that company flow don't carry over to the duplicated version, as automations can be applied to company flows only.

When you duplicate a company or starter flow and save it as your own personal flow, the automations that were set up for automatically adding people to that company flow don't carry over to the duplicated version, as automations can be applied to company flows only.

1. Hover over the flow you want to duplicate. Click  and select Duplicate
   

2. Choose the folder where you want the duplicated flow to live

3. Open the duplicated flow to edit it

How to move a flow between folders

Engage > Flows

1. Hover over the flow you want to move. Click and select Move

2. Choose the folder where you want the duplicated flow to live

To move a personal flow into a company folder or a company flow into a personal folder, use the Duplicate option instead.

How to share personal flows

Engage > Flows > Personal flows

While company flows are automatically available to all team members, you may have personal flows or folders that you want to share with specific team members. Once shared, teammates can view it in their flow libraries and use it for sales engagement.

Sharing a single flow

1. Click next to the flow you want to share.

2. Click

3. Select the name of a team member or entire team to share the flow with.

Sharing a folder

1. Click next to the folder you want to share.

2. Click

3. Select the name of a team member or entire team to share the flow folder with.

Only the owner of a folder can add content to a folder they share. To un-share a flow or folder, follow the same process and remove the selected team members. Once contacts or leads have been added to the flow, you cannot un-share it.

The ability to share flows, as well as the ability to duplicate personal flows into company flows, are managed through your permission profile. If you don’t have access to share flows or duplicate personal flows to company flows and you think you should, talk to your admin.

Admins can view all personal content of the team members in their org, while managers can view all personal content of the team members reporting directly to them. Admins and managers cannot edit other team members’ content.

How to view flows shared with you

Engage > Flows

To see flows that have been shared with you, open the Shared with you folder in your flow library.

You can’t edit content shared with you unless you duplicate it and save it as your own. The Archive option is only available for flows in the Shared with you folder, since you cannot delete a flow that was shared with you. To archive a flow, hover over the flow you want to archive in the Shared with you section.

Click and select Archive. Archived flows can be restored depending on whether you want to see them in your library. Archived content is not available for use from your flows library or when adding people to flows.

How to see the list of contacts and leads previously in a flow

Engage > Flows > Open the flow you want to work on

While working on a flow, go to the People tab to see the list of people currently or previously in the flow. Search for specific contacts or leads in the list. By default, the list is sorted by the contacts and leads that were most recently added to the flow. See the status of their current flow(s), their “do not contact” status, and quickly add them to other flows from here.

Click View flow history next to someone’s name to see a comprehensive, chronological view of their flow history. You can use flow history for key details such as the reason why an automatic email failed to send, why someone’s flow status changed, why a flow stopped or started, and more.

Managing people in flows

How to add people to flows

Contacts and leads from your CRM are automatically synced into Gong so you can add them to flows. You do not need to be a contact or lead owner to add them to a flow.

Engage > Accounts or People

Click Add to flow next to their name.

In People, add multiple people at once by selecting the checkbox to the left of their names, and then from the bulk actions menu at the bottom, choose Add to flow

From the list of people you selected, we’ll identify anyone who is marked as “do not contact”, in an exclusive flow, or in other flows, so you can decide if you want to remove those people from the selection before adding them to another flow.

You can also add people to a flow from person view. Click on their name anywhere in Engage to open person view, then click on their flow label (in the example below, the green label that says In 2 flows) to manage their flows.

How to add people to flows on behalf of another person in your company

Add a contact or lead to a flow and assign someone else in your company to the associated flow to-dos. Non-managers require permission to add people to flows on behalf of another person in your company, while managers can assign on behalf without this permission.

Engage > click on someone’s name to open person view > click on the person’s flow status

or Engage > Accounts > Contacts

1. Click Add to flow or Manage flows

2. Choose the flow assignee

3. Click Save

How to identify people who finished a specific flow and add them to a new one

Engage > People

1. Click + Add filter and choose a field that will help you identify the flow the contacts and leads were previously in. If you don’t see the field you need, ask your admin to map that field from your CRM to Gong.

2. Search for or select the flow the contacts and leads were previously in

3. Click + Add filter again and select Engage flow status (your admin can map this field in the CRM integration page to make it available for you to use as a filter). Maybe you want to see only the people removed from the flow because they replied, in which case, you’d select the Removed Response status

4. Now that you have the right list of people, use the checkboxes on the left to select the ones you want to add to a new flow

5. At the top right, select Add to flow from the Actions menu, and choose the new flow you’d like to add them to.

Add people to the middle of a flow

Start a flow from any step to support mid-flow re-engagement, including cases where earlier steps were already completed manually or elsewhere. Add the person to the flow as you normally would, and then select the step where you want the flow to start.

Add people to the middle of a flow

Start a flow from any step to support mid-flow re-engagement, including cases where earlier steps were already completed manually or elsewhere. Add the person to the flow as you normally would, and then select the step where you want the flow to start.

You can also skip steps from anywhere in Engage where your to-do list is shown.

Delay when a flow starts

Choose how many days to wait before a flow begins instead of starting it immediately to better pace outreach and prevent daily task overload. Add the person to the flow as you normally would, and then choose the number of business days you want to delay the flow start by.

Link flows to deals

While adding people to flows, whether individually or in bulk, you have the option to link flows to deals. Once you’ve selected people and chosen which flow they should be added to, click Link flow to deal. You can then select the deal you want each person’s flow to be linked to.

How to remove people from a flow

If you remove someone from a flow and then add them back in, they will start from the beginning of the flow.

Engage > Accounts or People

Look for the green In flow label next to any contact or lead's name. Click the green label to manage that person's flow.

Engage > People

To remove multiple people from flows at once, select the checkbox to the left of the relevant people, then click Remove from flow from the bulk actions menu.

Engage > To-dos

From To-dos, you can also clicknext to the relevant to-do and then click Remove person from flow

How to pause individual people in a flow

If a flow is paused and then resumed, it will resume from the step in the flow where the person was at the time of the pause. After 30 days, anyone who is still paused in a flow will be automatically removed from the flow.

Anywhere in Engage

Click on a contact or lead's name to open person view in a right panel. You can also open person view while working on a to-do by going to the Contact section.

From here, click and select Manage flows.

Engage > Accounts or People

People in flows are marked with a green In flow label. Click on the label to manage the person’s flow.

How to pause all account contacts in their flows

Engage > To-dos

1. Find the relevant response to-do showing you who responded to an email sent from a flow
   

2. Click and select Pause flow for all account contacts. After 30 days, anyone who is still paused in a flow will be automatically removed.

How to resume someone’s flow

Someone’s flow can be paused manually or by an automation rule. If you resume it, they'll continue receiving communications from the flow.

Engage > To-dos

If someone responds to an email sent from a flow, you'll get a Response to-do in To-dos letting you know the flow has been paused for this person. Other contacts and leads who are also active in this flow are not affected.

1. Find the relevant response to-do showing you who responded to an email sent from a flow

2. Clickand select Resume flow for this person

Engage > Accounts or People

People whose flows are paused are marked with a yellow Paused label. Click on the label to manage their flows. From here, you can also see who paused the person's flow and when.

Change someone’s flow

Depending on your company’s setup, you may need to remove someone from their flow before adding them to another one.

Engage > Accounts or People

Click on the green In flow label next to any contact or lead’s name to manage their flows.

How automatic pausing works when someone is in multiple flows

For flow to-dos: Bounced email, Email response, and Meeting booked

If you receive any of these to-dos, only the relevant flow is automatically paused. You can choose to pause all flows for that person or all flows for the entire account. Emails already scheduled to go out from another flow to that bounced address will still send to that address unless action is taken prior to the scheduled send time

If you start drafting a new message via another flow to the email address that bounced, that bounce will have marked that address as invalid. You’ll see that it’s invalid in the “To” field when when writing the draft.

For Out of Office response

If you receive an out of office message, the current to-do for all flows the person is in will be snoozed. The flows will remain paused until the return date, ensuring follow-ups resume only after the contact is expected to be back. If Gong can't detect a date of return, the flows will not be paused and will continue as originally scheduled, even if the only replies are repeated automated OOO messages.

For a missed call back

Only the flow from which the call originated will be paused.

What happens when a contact or lead in a flow is deleted from your CRM?

When a contact or lead is deleted in your CRM, Gong helps keep your flows running smoothly by automatically replacing the deleted person in the flow with a matching duplicate. Gong checks for another contact or lead in your CRM with the same email address.

If exactly one match is found, Gong will replace the deleted person with the matching contact or lead and automatically continue the flow without interruption.

If there are multiple matches or no matches, Gong will stop the flow.

This automation helps avoid unnecessary flow interruptions when contacts or leads are merged in your CRM, reducing manual cleanup.

How to reassign flows to another person in your company

Engage > To-dos

Reassigning flow to-dos includes reassignment of the flow instance itself, plus any future to-dos from the same flow. One-off and Gong-recommended to-dos aren’t included. Non-managers require permission to reassign flow to-dos, while managers can reassign without this permission. Learn more about flow to-dos.

*The features available to you depend on your company’s plan and your assigned seats.