How Flows Work

professional working on charts

What are Flows? 

In the world of business, maintaining an organized and efficient workflow is key to success. 

Alvanda‘s platform introduces a simple solution to this challenge through its innovative concept of “Flows.” 

Flows are a core feature designed to be a central view of the current status of all the moving parts within your business, streamlining operations and enhancing productivity. 

For instance, consider the process of managing invoices in a service-oriented business. 

Flows make it possible to easily track the status of each invoice, whether it has been issued, received by the client, paid, or is overdue. 

This level of transparency is not just limited to financial transactions. It extends across all facets of the business, including sales cycles and service or product delivery.

Users can customize their flows to match the unique processes of their business. 

This customization is facilitated through a user-friendly Builder interface, allowing for the adjustment of Business Components such as, for example, Invoices, Contracts, Blog Posts, Candidates, or anything else relevant to your business and industry. 

This adaptability ensures that the platform can serve a wide array of business needs, from tracking the progression of sales prospects through various stages—such as initial contact, discovery calls, proposal submissions, and up to the final deal closure—to managing the scheduling and outcomes of meetings.

Moreover, the platform automates the update of Component Statuses in real-time, thus reducing manual input and the potential for error. 

This automation ensures that team members can immediately ascertain their current state of affairs, from knowing which invoices need attention, to understanding the status of sales leads, to having a view on the outcomes of important meetings. 

Such instant access to information empowers colleagues at all levels, from the newest sales associates to the highest executives, to make informed decisions and prioritize their efforts effectively.

Alvanda‘s platform is not just a tool but a transformative mechanism for businesses, enabling them to navigate their day-to-day activities with greater clarity and control. 

By offering a comprehensive view of where things stand and facilitating easy updates to flows, it enhances organizational efficiency and supports the achievement of business objectives. 

This document aims to provide a detailed exploration of how flows work within Alvanda, underscoring their significance in daily operations and their contribution to the overall productivity of a business.

How to Set Up Flows Step-by-Step in Alvanda

For a video walkthrough of what Flows are and how they work watch the below tutorial. 

For a written step-by-step walkthrough continue reading below.

  1. Log in to Alvanda from the top menu on the website (if you don’t have an account, you can schedule a free demo at any time).
Alvanda home screen
  1. Click on the Flows button on the left hand side panel.
Alvanda Flows Screen
  1. In the Component Type section you can select various types of Components, such as Invoices, Prospect, Contract, Candidates, and so on. 

Each component has its own Flow. 

Alvanda Flows screen Component type
  1. For example, the Flow for Invoices has Statuses  Issued, Received, Paid, Overdue, or Sent. 
Alvanda flows screen status
  1. If you want to change any Component’s Flow can go to the Alvanda Builder (1), on the left hand side panel. 

There you click on the Components tab (2) and on the Blueprint of whichever Component you wish to change the Flow of.

Alvanda Builder dashboard
  1. A new window will open where you can drag and drop the Statuses of the Component to reorder them, or make any other changes you wish. 
Alvanda invoice builder screen
  1. If you make any changes to a Component’s Flow(in this example, we changed the Flow by making “Sent” be shown right after “Issued”), then once you go back to Flows, you will see the new Flow you chose. 
Alvanda Flows screen
  1. If you want to see the Flow for any other Component of your business (in this example we’ll look into the Flow for Prospects), you simply select it in the Component Type field, as shown below.
Alvanda flows screen
  1. Notice how the columns changed to showcase the Flow for the other Component Type we chose (Prospect).
Alvanda flows screen
  1. If you want to change the Flow for this Component Type, you can do so by following the same Step 5 above.
Alvanda Builder screen
  1. As a final mention on Flows, if you want to see the status of literally anything in your business, you only need to write down its name in the Specific Component field, and Alvanda will immediately find all the information you need.  
Alvanda flows screen
  1. If you’d like help with anything at all, or have any points of feedback for us, feel free to use the Help/Feedback button at the bottom right corner of the page. We look forward to hearing from you!

I hope this step-by-step was useful and you’ll be enjoying the benefits of Flows in no time. 

Robert Indries 

Founder