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Troubleshoot workflow enrollment issues

Last updated: January 26, 2024

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Review possible reasons why records are unexpectedly enrolling or not enrolling in workflows. 

If you're looking to resolve errors in your workflow, learn how to troubleshoot common workflow errors instead. 

Records not enrolling in workflows

Diagnose why an object is not enrolling in a workflow and view some common reasons why an object may not enroll in a workflow and the typical steps for resolution.

Diagnose workflow enrollment issues from the workflow editor

  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automation > Workflows.
  • Click the name of your workflow.
  • In the top right, click More > Why didn't this [object] enroll?

why-didnt-this-conact-enroll

  • In the right panel, click the dropdown menu and select the object you think should have enrolled. 

sellect-object-to enroll

  • Click the Date range and Time range dropdown menus to select the timeframe in which you expected the enrollment to occur. 
  • Click the Run enrollment checks to view further details about why the [object] would or would not enroll in the workflow.
  • Click to expand each enrollment check to view further details. 
  • Click Workflow revision at the time, to view how the workflow was set up at the time of enrollment.

run-enrollment-checks

  • When you're finished, click Done. Or, click Back to select another object or event.

Please note: only property, list, and form submission filters are supported in this tool.

Common reasons 

Reason Steps to resolve
Workflow is not turned on Records can only be enrolled in a workflow that is turned on. To turn a workflow on:
  • In the upper right of the workflow editor, click Review and publish.
  • Then, click Turn on. The Workflow is ON switch will be toggled on in the top right. 

 

The record doesn't meet the workflow's enrollment triggers Check that the record meets the workflow's enrollment triggers. Be sure to check any AND and/or OR logic in the triggers. You can also test the record against the workflow's enrollment triggers in the workflow editor. 

The record met the workflow's enrollment triggers when the workflow was turned on, but existing contacts were not set to be enrolled When turning on the workflow, the option No, only enroll companies which meet the trigger criteria after turning the workflow on was selected. As a result, only records that meet the enrollment triggers moving forward are added to the workflow.

The record instantly qualifies for workflow unenrollment Depending on the record's object type, records can be automatically unenrolled at the point of enrollment, in the following instances: 
Object was previously enrolled in the workflow, and re-enrollment is not enabled

By default, objects are only enrolled in workflows the first time they meet the workflow enrollment triggers or are enrolled manually.

If an object was previously enrolled in a workflow and re-enrollment is not enabled, it will not be enrolled in the workflow if it meets the workflow's original enrollment trigger(s) again.

To allow for re-enrollment, add re-enrollment triggers to the workflow.

Records unexpectedly enrolling in workflows

When a record enrolls in a workflow unexpectedly, you can use the Diagnose tool to find out when the record enrolled and what events occurred for this to happen.

Diagnose workflow enrollment issues

  • In your HubSpot account, navigate to Automation > Workflows.
  • Click the name of your workflow.
  • In the top left of the workflow editor, click Details.
  • Navigate to the Enrollment history tab.
  • To view further details about the enrollment event, hover over an enrollment event, then click Why did this enroll?.

why-did-this-enroll

  • In the right panel, view the date and time of enrollment and the reason why the record enrolled in the Enrollment information tab. This view displays the exact values at the time of the enrollment.
  • If you're using a property value or form submission enrollment trigger, you can view details about the state of the property when the record enrolled in the workflow by clicking View more details.
  • In the Record timeline tab, view details about the events that led up to the record enrolling in the workflow.

record-timeline-example

  • In the top right, click View record to open the record in your HubSpot account.
  • Click Done to return to the Enrollment history screen.

Reasons a record can enroll unexpectedly

The following are some common reasons why a record may be unexpectedly enrolling in a workflow and how you can prevent this moving forward.

Reason Steps to resolve
Enrollment triggers include OR logic If a workflow's enrollment triggers includes OR logic, a record only needs to meet one set of the enrollment triggers to qualify for enrollment.

For example, let's say your workflow has the following enrollment triggers:

  • Lifecycle stage is any of Customer

    OR
  • has filled out Customer survey form on Any page

A contact with a lifecycle stage of customer that did not fill out the form will be enrolled in the workflow.

To prevent this contact from enrolling, the criteria would need to be separated by an AND operator, rather than OR. Learn more about AND vs OR logic.

Enrollment triggers include does not contain any of or is not equal to any of (contact-based workflows) Contact-based workflows using does not contain any of or is not equal to any of filters will enroll contacts that don't have a specified value for the selected property. If the property is blank, it will meet the enrollment trigger. This also applies to records associated with the contact, such as an associated company.

This can especially affect workflows that use analytics or association properties for enrollment, such as:
  • Create date
  • IP Country
  • Original source
  • Associated contacts

Analytics and association properties are processed and populated almost instantly. However, workflow enrollment may occur before HubSpot fills the property. For example, if your workflow enrolls contacts based on the trigger IP Country is not equal to any of United States, a contact with no value may enroll before HubSpot is able to set the property with the value United states.

To prevent contacts without property values from entering the workflow:

  • In the enrollment trigger editor, add an AND condition underneath the doesn't contain any of filter. 
  • Select the same property that you're filtering for, then select the is known filter.
  • Click Apply filter.

Enrollment triggers include is unknown  The enrollment trigger is unknown searches for records without a value for the specified property. Enrolled records will remain in the workflow even if they gain a value for the property after enrollment.

This can sometimes cause unintended enrollment when using properties that are automatically populated by HubSpot. While HubSpot fills these properties almost instantly, workflow enrollment can happen before the property is filled. 

To avoid similar issues: 
  • Add a 1 minute delay before the first action in your workflow. This delay provides a buffer for HubSpot to fill any automatically populated properties and unenroll them from the workflow.
  • Configure the workflow's settings to unenroll any records that no longer meet the enrollment trigger: 
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