My workflow isn't working as expected

Workflow issues almost always come from one of three places: the trigger is not firing, contacts are being filtered out by conditions they do not meet, or the workflow is active but contacts are not entering it. Work through the sections below based on what you are observing.

The workflow is active but no contacts are entering

Go to your workflow report and verify the "x contacts" section of the start block. This shows how many contacts have entered your workflow. If the count is zero or lower than expected:

• Check the trigger: verify that the trigger event has actually occurred for the contacts you expect. For example, if your trigger is "contact subscribes to an interest", check whether any contacts have recently subscribed to that interest.
• Check entry conditions: if you added entry conditions to restrict who can enter the workflow, verify that your target contacts meet all of them.
• Check whether the workflow was active when the trigger occurred: contacts who matched the trigger before the workflow was activated do not enter retroactively.

Contacts enter but skip steps or exit early

If contacts are entering the workflow but not completing it as expected:

Condition blocks

A condition block splits contacts into two paths based on whether a condition is met. Contacts who do not meet the condition follow the "No" branch, not the "Yes" branch. Check each condition block in your workflow and verify that your contacts actually match the criteria.

Wait blocks

Contacts at a wait block are not skipping the next step, they are waiting. Click the "x waiting" link in your workflow report to see which contacts are currently waiting at a specific step. This is normal behaviour.

The workflow ran an action I did not expect

If a contact received an email they should not have, or had a field updated unexpectedly:

• Review the workflow path that contact followed. Open the workflow report, click the "x contacts"  section of each block, and find the contact. This way you can trace the contact's path.
• Check condition logic carefully. A condition set to "is NOT subscribed to interest X" will include contacts who have never had any interest data set, not just those who explicitly unsubscribed.
• Check the order of blocks. Actions execute in sequence from top to bottom. If an action block appears before a condition that should gate it, the action runs for all contacts regardless of the condition.

Contacts entered the workflow more than once

By default, each contact can only enter a workflow once. If a contact has entered multiple times, it is either a reoccurring workflow based on a date or the contact has been unsubscribed and re-subscribed to the account. Check the workflow settings and set the trigger to ‘once’, if that was not intentional. Create a contact report to check if a contact has been re-added to your account.

The workflow stopped working after I edited it

Changes to an active workflow only affect contacts who enter the block after the change is saved. Contacts that are waiting will resume the workflow from the position they are in, if the workflow is active on the exact moment the contact is planned to stop waiting.

The "when to stop" condition is not working as expected

If contacts are exiting earlier than expected, an unintended stop condition may be triggering. Check the configuration of all if/else blocks in your workflow.

See "When to stop your automation campaign" for a full explanation of stop conditions and when to use them.

Common mistakes to avoid

Activating a workflow without testing it first

There is no undo for workflow actions that have already executed. A workflow that sends the wrong email or modifies contact data incorrectly cannot be reversed. Always test with a small internal group before activating it for your full contact list.

Editing an active workflow mid-send

Editing a workflow while contacts are actively in progress can cause unexpected behaviour. If you need to make significant changes, deactivate the workflow first.

Next steps

• See "Create a workflow" for a walkthrough of the full workflow setup process.
• See "Edit active workflows" for guidance on making changes to workflows that are already running.
• See "When to stop your automation campaign" for how to configure stop conditions correctly.
• See "Workflow blocks and triggers reference" for a full list of available triggers, conditions, and actions.