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Hello! I have an idea for an automation and I'm not sure how to go about it. I have an automation (in zapier) currently where when the referral source is left blank when an employee schedules a client in our scheduling software, the client name and email is added to an Airtable base so that we have a running list of who to reach out to and ask for the info. I wonder if it's possible to send an email to the employee asking for the referral source. I was thinking it'd be great to just send an airtable form but I don't know if I can send a form that would update an existing record? 

The referral field is not always applicable so making it required isn't an option. The existing automation filters whether the referral source is needed. The process in my head goes like this:

-New record is added to Airtable base that includes name and email. The record also has a single choice field that is left blank with the possible options.

-An email is sent with an airtable form asking the employee to get the information from the customer. The form would only update the referral source (single select) field for the existing record. When the appropriate choice is selected by the employee, the record is updated with the referral source field.

Does this option exist? I can work in Zapier or Make for the automation if needed, but maybe Airtable has this option already.

 

Thanks!

It would be easier to find if you provide screenshots.

Hiya! Does the employee have access to your Airtable base? If not you'll have to use a third-party form to update existing records.

If they do have access, I recommend not using a form. Instead, direct the employee to the record details in an interface. You can format this to look like a form. I made a detailed explanation on how to do this here:

https://community.airtable.com/t5/show-tell/update-record-through-form-sorta/td-p/179052

Next up is to create an Automation to send the "record detail" link to the employee.

A few questions things to note. The automation configuration will change depending on these.

  • Are there more than one employee? / More than one email address option
  • If yes, we will need to create a system in which Airtable dynamically knows which employee to email
  • If not, then we can send the email to a static email address

Trigger: When Record is created. Select the table where your Zapier automation is creating new records.

Advanced Logic: Conditional Step

  1. Where "referral source" is empty
    Action: Send Email.
    Within the message box, you can insert any of the client's details since the client is the triggering record.
    This means you are able to insert the "record detail" link too
    You'll need to send the email to the correct employee. You can do this easily if you assign employees to the client during your Zapier automation.
  2. Where "referral source" is not empty
    No action

Let me know if this is what you're looking for

re: I was thinking it'd be great to just send an airtable form but I don't know if I can send a form that would update an existing record?

Yeap, Airtable has a guide on how to do this here: https://support.airtable.com/docs/use-case-update-records-via-a-form.  Downside is you'll need a new table and would need to use an automation for it

If you want a real fast out of the box solution, try Fillout.com (https://www.fillout.com/), free up to 1000 submissions a month and setup is like 5 minutes or something compared to the 10-15 minutes for the Airtable only version - https://www.fillout.com/help/airtable-update-form

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