Understanding Flows, Triggers, and Actions

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Introduction

Zoho Flow makes business process automation simple and powerful by helping you connect your cloud apps through custom workflows. Whether you’re new to automation or want to streamline existing processes, understanding the key components—Flows, Triggers, and Actions—is the foundation for building effective automations. 

Let’s explore how each part works together to help you automate your work, save time, and reduce manual effort. 

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. What Is a Flow in Zoho Flow?

A Flow is a workflow you build in Zoho Flow to automate a specific business process across cloud apps. 

Each flow includes: 

  • One trigger: the event that starts the flow
  • One or more actions: the tasks that happen as a result

Example: 

When a new form entry is submitted in Zoho Forms, the flow checks Zoho CRM. If the customer exists, it updates their info; if not, it creates a new contact. 

Flows help you: 

  • Eliminate repetitive tasks 
  • Keep systems in sync 
  • Improve response times 

You can start from scratch or use a prebuilt flow template to get going quickly. 

2. What Is a Trigger?

A Trigger is the event that starts a flow. It can be either: 

  • App-based: Happens when data is created or updated in a connected app
  • Scheduled: Happens at a specific time (e.g., daily or weekly)


Examples of triggers: 

  • A new form entry is submitted in Zoho Forms 
  • A new lead is added in Zoho CRM 
  • Every day at 10 AM, send a report email 

🟢 The trigger is always the first step in any Zoho Flow. 

3. What Is an Action?

An Action is a task that the flow performs after being triggered. These are the steps that carry out your business process. 

Actions can include: 

  • Creating or updating data in another app (like Zoho CRM)
  • Sending emails or Slack messages
  • Delaying a response for a set amount of time
  • Running a custom function to perform a calculation or API call


Example: 

A form is submitted → 
Action 1: Delay for 15 minutes → 
Action 2: Send an email → 
Action 3: Update contact in CRM based on form data 

🛠️ Even processing steps like delays, conditions, and functions count as actions in a flow. 

 

Tips:

  • Use scheduled triggers for recurring tasks like reports or reminders.
  • Combine multiple actions to build advanced workflows across multiple teams.
  • Monitor flow runs in the history section to catch errors or check performance.
  • Start small—then expand as you identify more processes to automate.
  • Secure your flows by managing user roles and permissions inside Zoho Flow.

Related Articles

Basics - Previous How to Set Up Your Zoho Flow Account

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