Jobs - Trig

Jobs are the intervention layer of Trig. They orchestrate outreach to customers who meet specific criteria, with the goal of driving them toward a desired behaviour.

What are jobs?

Unlike stages (which observe) and behaviours (which track milestones), jobs actively intervene—sending messages, notifying teams, and measuring whether the intervention worked.

Key principle: Jobs are goal-oriented and time-bounded. You define who to target, what you want them to do, how you’ll encourage them, and how long you’ll wait.

Think of jobs as targeted nudges. You’ve identified customers who should do something but haven’t. The job reaches out, encourages the action, and measures results.

Why jobs matter

Closing the gap between insight and action

Stages and behaviours tell you what’s happening. Jobs let you do something about it. The insight that “47 customers haven’t completed onboarding objective 3” becomes actionable when you can immediately target those 47 with a relevant message.

Timely, contextual intervention

The closer an intervention arrives to the moment of need, the more effective it is:

Timing	Effectiveness
Within minutes	Exceptional—customer is still in context
Within hours	Very good—customer remembers the session
Within 24 hours	Good—still relatively fresh
48+ hours	Declining—customer has moved on

Measurable impact

Every job tracks:

How many entered
How many completed (achieved the goal)
How many exited (didn’t achieve the goal)
How long it took
What actions were taken

This creates clear attribution for intervention effectiveness.

How jobs work

The job lifecycle

Audience Match → Entry → Intervention → Outcome
                          ↓
                    ┌─────┴─────┐
                    ↓           ↓
               Completion     Exit
              (goal achieved) (goal not achieved)

Audience Match: Customer meets targeting criteria
Entry: Customer enters, entry actions fire
Intervention: Messages sent, follow-ups occur
Outcome: Goal achieved (completion) or time expires (exit)

Completion vs exit

Completion: The customer achieved the goal. This is the positive outcome. Exit: The customer did not achieve the goal within the time allowed. This is the negative outcome (but valuable data). Both create permanent metadata:

last_completed_[job]  — Timestamp if completed
last_exited_[job]     — Timestamp if exited without completing
last_entered_[job]    — When they entered

Time-bounded by design

Jobs should have an auto-exit duration. Without one, customers who never achieve the goal remain indefinitely—breaking your ability to analyse and iterate.

Duration guidelines:

Simple actions (click a link): 3 to 7 days
Moderate actions (complete setup step): 7 to 14 days
Complex actions (invite team, integrate system): 14 to 30 days

Configuring jobs

Anatomy of a job

Component	Description	Example
Goal	What you want customers to do	`invoices_created >= 1`
Audience	Who should receive this	New users, signed up 1 to 7 days ago
Duration	How long before auto-exit	14 days
Entry Actions	What happens when they enter	Send initial email
Intervention	Follow-up messages/actions	Follow-up email after 3 days
Completion Actions	What happens on success	Notify team, update CRM
Exit Actions	What happens on failure	Flag for follow-up job

Defining the goal

The goal is the completion criteria—what must be true for success. Attribute-based:

invoices_created >= 1
team_members >= 2
integration_connected = true

Event-based:

first_project_created occurred
payment_submitted occurred

Behaviour-based:

last_completed_[behaviour] has any value

Keep goals focused on a single, clear action. Multiple actions = separate jobs.

Defining the audience

Basic criteria:

Audience:
- sign_up_date > 1 day ago
- sign_up_date < 7 days ago
- invoices_created = 0

Using cohorts:

Audience: Members of cohort "New Self-Serve Users"

Using history:

Audience:
- last_completed_Onboarding_Stage has any value
- last_completed_First_Invoice_Job has no value

Important considerations:

Relative vs absolute dates: Relative dates mean audience constantly refreshes
Exclusions: Use last_entered_[job] has any value to exclude customers who’ve already been through

Job actions

See Actions for detailed action configuration.

Entry actions

Fire when a customer enters:

Send email: Plain text message to the customer
Notify team: Slack message to a channel
Update attribute: Set value on customer record
Fire webhook: Call external endpoint

Follow-up actions

After entry, schedule follow-up:

Wait 3 days → Send follow-up email
Wait 7 days → Send second follow-up

Most jobs use 1 to 2 follow-ups. More often indicates the job is too broad.

Completion actions

When goal is achieved:

Celebratory message
Notify team
Update CRM
Route to next job

Exit actions

When customer exits without completing:

Notification to team
Update attribute to mark failure
Route to alternate job

Email best practices

Plain text over branded

Trig strongly recommends plain text emails. They look personal, get 10x higher engagement, and feel human even when automated.

Plain text advantages:

Looks like it came from a real person
Higher open rates
Higher response rates
Avoids spam filters

Contextual and specific

Good:

Hi Sarah,

I noticed you've logged into FreshBooks but haven't sent your
first invoice yet. Here are three steps to get started—takes
about 5 minutes:

1. Click Invoices in the left menu
2. Click "Create New Invoice"
3. Fill in your client details and hit Send

If you run into any issues, just reply to this email.

Thanks,
Lee

Bad:

Welcome to FreshBooks! We're so excited to have you on board.
FreshBooks is the #1 invoicing solution for small businesses...

The good example is contextual, specific, actionable, and personal.

Short and actionable

Lead with the action you want them to take
Provide 1 to 3 clear steps
Include relevant links
Offer help if needed
Sign off personally

Chaining jobs

One of Trig’s powerful capabilities is chaining jobs based on outcomes.

Success path

Job 2 Audience:
- last_completed_Job_1 has any value
- [next action criteria]

Failure path

Job 1B Audience:
- last_exited_Job_1 has any value
- last_completed_Job_1 has no value

Progressive context

Customer: Acme Corp

Job History:
├── Completed: Welcome Job (Day 2)
├── Completed: First Invoice Job (Day 4)
├── Exited: Gateway Connection Job (Day 12)
└── Currently in: Gateway Connection Retry Job

This history enables highly targeted messaging.

Targeting: organisations vs people

Organisation-level jobs

Target the account:

Intervention goes to contacts associated with the organisation
Useful for account-based actions
Multiple people may receive messages

Individual-level jobs

Target specific people:

Intervention goes to that individual
Useful for user-specific actions
More granular targeting

Choose based on what action you’re driving. “Invite team members” targets individuals. “Renew contract” targets organisations.

Measuring effectiveness

Key metrics

Metric	Formula
Completion rate	Completed / (Completed + Exited)
Time to completion	How long did successful customers take?
Exit rate	What percentage failed to complete?
Baseline comparison	Are recipients completing at higher rates?

Iteration

Use job data to improve:

Low completion rate → Adjust messaging, timing, or goal
Long time to completion → Intervention may be too early
High exit at specific point → Focus messaging there
Certain segments complete more → Target them specifically

Common job patterns

Onboarding nudge

Goal: first_project_created >= 1
Audience:
- sign_up_date > 1 day ago
- sign_up_date < 7 days ago
- first_project_created = 0
Duration: 10 days
Entry: Plain text email with steps
Follow-up: Day 3, Day 7
Exit: Route to "Onboarding Stalled" job

Feature adoption

Goal: feature_X_used >= 1
Audience:
- plan = Premium
- feature_X_used = 0
- days_since_signup >= 30
Duration: 14 days
Entry: Email highlighting feature value
Completion: Silent success
Exit: Flag for CSM follow-up

Churn prevention

Goal: engagement_restored = true
Audience:
- renewal_date within 90 days
- last_login > 30 days ago
Duration: 30 days
Entry: Personal outreach from CSM
Exit: Escalate to sales

Common questions

How long should jobs run?

Keep jobs short and focused. 7 to 14 days for most use cases. If no response in 14 days, try a different approach in a new job.

Can a customer be in multiple jobs?

Yes, but be careful about message volume. Use exclusion criteria to prevent overlap.

What happens if I pause a job?

No new customers enter. Existing customers can still complete or exit normally.

How do I prevent re-sending to previous recipients?

Use last_entered_[job] has any value in exclusion criteria.

Should I use Trig's email or external systems?

Either works. Trig sends directly for speed and simplicity. For complex requirements, trigger external systems via webhooks.

Summary

Jobs are Trig’s intervention engine:

Goal-oriented — Every job has clear completion criteria
Time-bounded — Set auto-exit to keep jobs focused
Plain text, personal — Messages should feel human
Timely — Intervene as close to the trigger as possible
Measurable — Track completion rate and iterate
Chainable — Use outcomes to route customers through progressive journeys

Well-designed jobs create a virtuous cycle: insight informs targeting, jobs drive action, outcomes create more insight.

​What are jobs?

​Why jobs matter

​Closing the gap between insight and action

​Timely, contextual intervention

​Measurable impact

​How jobs work

​The job lifecycle

​Completion vs exit

​Time-bounded by design

​Configuring jobs

​Anatomy of a job

​Defining the goal

​Defining the audience

​Job actions

​Entry actions

​Follow-up actions

​Completion actions

​Exit actions

​Email best practices

​Plain text over branded

​Contextual and specific

​Short and actionable

​Chaining jobs

​Success path

​Failure path

​Progressive context

​Targeting: organisations vs people

​Organisation-level jobs

​Individual-level jobs

​Measuring effectiveness

​Key metrics

​Iteration

​Common job patterns

​Onboarding nudge

​Feature adoption

​Churn prevention

​Common questions

​Summary

What are jobs?

Why jobs matter

Closing the gap between insight and action

Timely, contextual intervention

Measurable impact

How jobs work

The job lifecycle

Completion vs exit

Time-bounded by design

Configuring jobs

Anatomy of a job

Defining the goal

Defining the audience

Job actions

Entry actions

Follow-up actions

Completion actions

Exit actions

Email best practices

Plain text over branded

Contextual and specific

Short and actionable

Chaining jobs

Success path

Failure path

Progressive context

Targeting: organisations vs people

Organisation-level jobs

Individual-level jobs

Measuring effectiveness

Key metrics

Iteration

Common job patterns

Onboarding nudge

Feature adoption

Churn prevention

Common questions

Summary