Sending SMS and email from a workflow

Workflows can text and email your contacts automatically. The Send SMS and Send Email steps let you write the message once, drop in a saved template, and personalize it for every contact who reaches that step.

Add a Send SMS step

Open your automation in Workflows, add a Send SMS step, and click it to open its settings.

1. Start from a template (optional)

   Use the SMS template picker at the top of the step to apply a saved message. The template's text drops straight into the body, ready to edit. Manage your saved messages in Templates.

2. Write the SMS body

   Fill in the SMS Body field. This is the only required field — a Send SMS step won't publish without it. Keep texts short and conversational, for example: Hi {{contact.firstName}}, just checking in.

3. Personalize with merge tokens

   Insert tokens so each contact gets their own version. Available fields include {{contact.firstName}}, {{contact.lastName}}, {{contact.phone}}, {{contact.email}}, {{org.name}}, and the AI agent name {{org.aiPersonaName}}. SAMI swaps each token for that contact's real value when the message sends.

Add a Send Email step

The Send Email step needs three things before it can publish: a connected account, a subject, and a body.

1. Choose who it sends from

   Pick an inbox in the Send From dropdown. If it's empty, connect an email account first — the step shows "Connect an email account before this workflow can send emails." A default account is marked in the list.

2. Apply an email template (optional)

   Use the email template picker to load a saved subject and body, then tweak the copy. Saved email templates also live in Templates.

3. Set the subject and body

   Both Subject and Body are required. The body is a rich text editor, so you can format the message. Add {{contact.firstName}} and {{contact.lastName}} for personalization, and use the optional CC and BCC fields for extra recipients.

How personalization works

Merge tokens are placeholders wrapped in double curly braces. At send time, SAMI looks up the enrolled contact and replaces each token with their data, so Hi {{contact.firstName}} becomes Hi Jordan. If a field is empty for a contact, the token resolves to a blank — so write copy that still reads well without it. You can also pull data from the workflow's trigger and earlier steps to reference what set the automation off. For a deeper look at mapping data into any field, see the related guide below.

Related articles

• Workflow steps: every action you can add
• Personalize steps with data mapping tokens
• Adding delays and sending only during business hours