# Getting Started with Automations Understand automations, automation templates, steps, and safe publishing for your sports or wellness business Canonical URL: https://www.naayya.com/help-center/getting-started-with-journeys Category: journeys Last updated: 2026-09-19T15:04:15Z # Getting Started with Automations Automations help you guide people toward a business outcome over time. They work for gyms, studios, swim schools, sports clubs, pools, coaches, wellness facilities, and multi-location businesses. Once you have a draft, use [Editing an Automation](/help-center/using-journey-builder) to change steps and review the saved version before publishing. You might use an automation to: - Move a new lead toward an intro pass - Help an intro customer become a member - Welcome a new member and encourage a first visit - Bring back someone who has stopped attending - Rescue an expiring class pack or drop-in purchase - Ask staff to follow up after a no-show or late cancellation ## The words Naayya uses Naayya uses a small, consistent vocabulary so the same ideas work across different business models. **Automation**: The complete path toward one outcome, including how someone enters, what happens next, and when they leave. This is the name you see in **Admin > Automations**. **Automation template**: A reusable starting point in the automation library. Templates are grouped by the outcome you want, not by whether your business calls itself a gym, studio, club, or facility. **Step**: One action on the automation map. The available steps include a message, a wait, a staff follow-up, and a staff decision. **Message**: A customer communication inside an automation. The message options and channel shown in the builder are the options available for that automation. **Staff follow-up**: A work item for your team, such as checking in with an engaged class-pack customer. The automation can continue while the team follows up. **Staff decision**: A blocking review step. The automation pauses until someone on your team approves, handles personally, or stops it. Use an automation when a message depends on a person's trigger and customer outcome. For a one-time or broadcast message to selected recipients, see [Getting Started with Email Marketing](/help-center/getting-started-with-email-marketing). ## Start from an automation template Go to **Admin > Automations** and choose **New automation**. The **Start an automation** library opens with templates grouped by the outcome you want, such as welcoming a new member or re-engaging someone who has lapsed. Choose a template and select **Use this template** to create your own draft. An automation template gives you a starting trigger, map, and customer outcome to review. After you add it, review the installed automation's map and settings before you publish. Your automations list contains the automations your business has installed. The template library is separate, so a template preview is never confused with a live automation. The library currently includes starting points for: - First visits, including no-show recovery and post-visit check-ins - Intro passes, from purchase through expiry and re-engagement - Class packs and drop-ins, including credit balance and booking follow-up - New-member rhythm and active-member non-usage - Lapsed-customer return - Late cancellation review - Visit, birthday, and customer-anniversary milestones Choose the closest customer outcome. You can then manage the installed automation's timing, messages, and staff follow-ups for your business. ## Staff gates and email consent Staff steps and customer messages can work together in one automation. A **Staff follow-up** lets the automation continue while your team works; a **Staff decision** pauses the automation until someone approves, handles personally, or stops it. This makes it possible to review a person before sending the next customer message. Review the message and enrollment details shown for the saved automation before publishing. The review can identify steps that need attention, so do not assume that every person will receive every message. ## Build the automation map Open a draft automation and use the map as the source of understanding: 1. Review **Starts when**. The template controls who can enter and how re-entry works. 2. Select a step to open its inspector. 3. Use **Add step** between two steps to choose a reusable pattern from the **Step library**. 4. Select a message to edit its subject, content, and variables in the message editor. 5. Use the move, duplicate, and remove controls to adjust the path. The map is intentionally guided rather than an empty whiteboard. This keeps automations readable and prevents a visual change from creating a runtime behavior that the system cannot safely execute. ## Save, review, and publish Automation editing happens in a draft copy. Saving your draft does not change the live automation. Before publishing: 1. Wait for the draft and any message edits to show as saved. 2. Choose **Launch** for a new automation, or **Publish changes** for an existing one. 3. Naayya runs a safety review against the exact saved draft: a no-send simulation that renders the messages and checks every step. Nothing is sent during the review. 4. Publish only after the safety review passes. People already in a live automation keep the version they entered with. People entering after publication use the new version. ## Build a reusable library Keep the automation templates you install organized around outcomes that repeat across your business: - **Acquire**: lead to intro pass - **Convert**: intro pass to member - **Activate**: first visit, new modality, or class-pack activation - **Retain**: new-member onboarding, attendance support, renewal reminders - **Recover**: lapsed return, no-show recovery, late-cancellation service recovery Use a clear name that describes the outcome rather than the internal campaign, for example **Bring back inactive members** instead of **March win-back 1**. When the outcome is the same and only the timing or message needs to vary, start from the same template again. ## What is planned Some controls may be marked **Planned** until they are available. Use the steps and settings shown in your automation, and review the saved draft before publishing. ## Words Naayya reserves for other ideas Naayya uses **Automation** for this customer-lifecycle feature. To keep the product clear: - **Journey** names the path a person takes inside the system; it is not the name of the feature in the admin navigation. - **Workflow** is reserved for a future operational process, such as creating staff tasks or updating business data. - **Sequence** means a strictly linear outreach cadence, such as a sales follow-up series. - **Campaign** means a one-time or broadcast communication. - **Canvas** is the editor surface where you arrange an automation; it is not the automation itself. Need help choosing an automation template? Contact support@naayya.com with the outcome you want to improve and the offering involved (for example, memberships, appointments, classes, courses, facilities, or events).