Automation Glossary

Sending two slightly different versions of an email (or page, or ad) to separate audience segments to determine which version performs better.

When a shopper adds items to an online shopping cart but leaves without completing the purchase.

Money your business owes to suppliers, vendors, and contractors for goods or services you've received but not yet paid for.

Money that customers owe your business for goods or services already delivered but not yet paid for.

The task that an automation performs after a trigger fires. Examples include sending an email, creating a record, or updating a spreadsheet.

A set of rules that allows different software applications to communicate with each other and share data.

An automated process that routes requests — such as expense reports, contracts, or content — to the right person for review and approval before proceeding.

An automatic email reply sent immediately when someone takes an action, such as joining your list or submitting a contact form.

The process of matching your business's internal financial records with your bank statement to ensure they agree and catch any discrepancies.

An automated software program that performs repetitive tasks, often simulating human interactions such as answering questions or filling out forms.

The percentage of emails that could not be delivered to the recipient's inbox, either because the address doesn't exist (hard bounce) or due to a temporary issue (soft bounce).

A one-time email sent to your entire list or a segment of it at a specific point in time, such as a promotional announcement or newsletter.

The movement of money into and out of your business over a specific period — the difference between what comes in and what goes out.

A complete list of every financial account in your business, organized to categorize all income, expenses, assets, and liabilities.

The percentage of customers who stop doing business with you over a given period, often expressed as monthly or annual churn.

The percentage of email recipients who click on a link within your email, measuring how compelling your content and call-to-action are.

A rule within an automation that checks whether certain criteria are met before allowing the workflow to continue or branch.

Dividing your contacts or customers into groups based on shared characteristics so you can send more relevant, targeted communications.

The percentage of people who take a desired action — such as making a purchase, signing up, or filling out a form — out of the total who had the opportunity.

Software that manages a company's interactions with current and potential customers, centralizing contact data, communication history, and deal pipelines.

Using your CRM's built-in automation features to handle routine sales and marketing tasks like follow-ups, deal updates, and contact assignment.

Recommending complementary or related products to an existing customer based on what they have already purchased.

The total revenue a business can expect from a single customer over the entire duration of their relationship.

A visual display of key business metrics and data, updated in real time or on a schedule, giving stakeholders a quick overview of business performance.

The process of connecting data fields from one system to the corresponding fields in another system during an integration.

The speed at which deals move through your sales pipeline from initial contact to closed sale.

A series of pre-written emails sent automatically to contacts over a period of time based on their behavior or a trigger event.

The ability of your emails to actually reach recipients' inboxes rather than being filtered into spam or blocked by mail servers.

A series of emails sent automatically to contacts in a specific order and at specific time intervals, triggered by an event or action.

The way an automation detects, manages, and responds when something goes wrong during a workflow run.

An automated process that routes unresolved issues or high-priority situations to a higher-level person or team when certain conditions are met.

An automation that starts immediately in response to a specific event, such as a new sign-up, a payment received, or a status change.

Recording and categorizing all business expenditures to maintain accurate financial records and control spending.

Specifying which data field in one app corresponds to which data field in another app when setting up an integration.

A condition that stops an automation from continuing unless specific criteria are met, letting you control exactly when actions run.

The automated generation of key financial statements and dashboards — such as profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow reports — from your accounting data.

A series of pre-scheduled messages sent automatically to a contact after a specific event, such as a demo, a quote, or an initial inquiry.

Using software to automatically process, route, and track orders through your fulfillment process without manual intervention.

A trigger that fires in real time via a webhook the moment an event occurs, with no delay between the event and the automation starting.

A connection between two or more software applications that allows them to share data and work together automatically.

Automatically keeping product stock levels consistent across all your sales channels and systems in real time.

Using software to automatically generate, send, track, and follow up on invoices without manual creation or emailing.

A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a business is achieving its key objectives.

The process of building relationships with prospects over time through relevant content and communications until they are ready to buy.

A system for ranking prospects based on their likelihood to become customers, using behavior, demographics, and engagement signals.

Dividing your email list into smaller groups based on shared attributes so you can send more targeted, relevant messages.

An automation step that repeats an action for each item in a list, such as sending a message for every new row in a spreadsheet.

Platforms that simplify software development by providing visual tools and pre-built components, requiring only minimal custom coding.

Make's term for an individual step within a scenario — either retrieving data, transforming it, or sending it to another app.

A Zapier automation with one trigger and two or more actions that all execute sequentially when the trigger fires.

An open-source workflow automation tool that lets you self-host your automations for complete data control and lower costs at scale.

Software tools that let you build automations, apps, and workflows using visual interfaces instead of writing programming code.

Automatically sending alerts to team members or customers when specific events occur, via email, SMS, Slack, or other channels.

Automating the process of transitioning a departing employee or ending customer relationship, including access revocation and final communications.

Automating the steps required to welcome and set up a new customer, employee, or user so they can get value quickly and consistently.

The percentage of email recipients who open your email, used as a measure of how well your subject line and sender name are performing.

The complete process of receiving, processing, picking, packing, and shipping a customer's order.

Using software to automatically calculate employee wages, withhold taxes, and process payments on a regular schedule.

A defined step in your sales process that represents where a deal currently stands, such as 'Proposal Sent' or 'Negotiation.'

A trigger that checks for new data at regular intervals (every 1-15 minutes) rather than responding instantly when an event occurs.

A series of automated emails sent to customers after they make a purchase, covering confirmation, shipping updates, onboarding, and follow-up offers.

A data file containing your product information — titles, descriptions, prices, images, and stock status — used to distribute listings across marketplaces and advertising channels.

Automatically compiling and distributing reports on a schedule, pulling live data so stakeholders always have current information.

An automation setting that automatically re-attempts a failed step after a short delay, rather than giving up immediately.

Automating the process of handling customer product returns, including return authorization, label generation, restocking, and refund processing.

An automated email sent to customers after a purchase asking them to leave a product or business review on platforms like Google, Yelp, or your store.

A measure of the financial return gained relative to the cost of an investment, expressed as a percentage.

Technology that uses software robots to mimic human actions in a computer interface, automating tasks that normally require a person to click, type, and navigate.

A structured sequence of outreach touchpoints — emails, calls, LinkedIn messages — delivered over a set period to convert a prospect.

The stages a prospect moves through from first becoming aware of your business to completing a purchase.

Make's term for an automation workflow — the equivalent of a Zap in Zapier — consisting of connected modules that process data.

An automation that runs at a specific time or on a recurring schedule, rather than being triggered by an event.

A unique identifier assigned to each distinct product variant in your inventory, used to track stock levels and sales.

A documented, step-by-step process that defines exactly how a recurring business task should be performed consistently every time.

A rating assigned to an email based on characteristics that spam filters use to determine whether to deliver it to the inbox or the spam folder.

The process of setting up software to handle a specific, repetitive task so a human doesn't have to do it manually each time.

A log in Zapier that records every time an automation ran, what data was processed, and whether it succeeded or failed.

Using software to automatically calculate, collect, and remit sales taxes and other business taxes based on your transactions.

An automated email triggered by a specific action a user takes, such as a purchase confirmation, password reset, or shipping notification.

An event that starts an automated workflow. Examples: new form submission, invoice marked paid, customer added to a list.

The percentage of email recipients who opt out of your list after receiving a particular email.

Encouraging an existing customer to purchase a higher-tier product, additional quantity, or premium add-on to what they've already bought.

Automated workflows that present upgrade offers or premium product recommendations to customers at key moments in the buying journey.

A way for one app to send real-time data to another app the moment an event happens, without needing to poll for updates.

Using software to automatically execute a series of tasks without human intervention, based on predefined rules or triggers.

A Zapier automation consisting of a trigger and one or more actions. When the trigger fires, the actions execute automatically.

A pre-built Zapier automation that you can activate with a few clicks, with the workflow and app connections already configured.