Question

Limit the amount of tasks in workaround of the "delay" limitations

  • 18 January 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 115 views

Userlevel 1
Badge +1

Hi

This is what I’m offering to my customers: they can buy an online course on my website and gets (on a start date he chooses) 21 motivational/supportive/informative text messages for the upcoming month.

So, example:
Buy the course on 23 januari.
Start date of the text messages: 28 februari. (The start date so much ahead in the future makes sense in combination with other stuff that I sell)

Thus:
1) via zapier I subscribe the customer to the specific course in thinkific. (± 9 steps/tasks)
2) via zapier I send the 21 messages, each day 1 message. (± 24 steps/tasks)

What I encountered during development: 
https://zapier.com/help/create/customize/add-delays-to-zaps
=> The most easy way would be to add a delay of 24hrs. But there’s a limitation to it. The delay cannot be > 31 days. (and there’s a maximum amount of stuff you can put into the delay).

If found a workaround:
 

=> Quite a smart trick; just make a new calendar entry and then trigger it (with a different zap) when it starts. 
Did this; works perfect. 

To summarize: 
1) subscribe to thinkific: ± 9 steps/tasks
2) make calendar entries: ± 24 steps/tasks
3) trigger the calendar entry (and sent the text message): ± 3 steps/tasks

The thing I did not take into count, there is a maximum of tasks included in my monthly zapier plan. 
I discovered this quite quickly after I started selling my course:

I sold ± 50 courses in the first week. 
1 sell => 9 tasks + 24 tasks + 63 tasks (21 times 3 tasks for sending the actual text message)
So, each course I sell, uses around ± 96 tasks.
50 sells: ± 5000 tasks needed. Where my starter pack (I don’t really need much more functionality from zapier) only includes 750. Haha.


Anyone who has a clue how I can reduce the amount of tasks by achieving the same functionality/result?

Thanks in advance!
Best regards,
Stijn


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3 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @Hexmans 

Are you able to post screenshots with each of your Zaps steps?

Even small reductions in the Zap steps to save a few Tasks may not materially make a difference in terms of needing to upgrade your Zapier plan to get enough Tasks.

Userlevel 1
Badge +1

 

Ofcourse. Here I go:

  • After a sale in woocommerce:

 

  • Make calendar entries
Similar actions with different text between step 7 and 23

 

  • send text message

 

If you need some extra info: please let me know!

Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Stijn

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@Hexmans 

NOTE: Multiple Formatter steps can be combined into 1 Code step, but requires knowledge of Javascript or Python: https://zapier.com/app/editor/92733904/nodes/92733905/fields

 

Looks like your Zap for creating the Calendar entries is what’s costing the most Tasks.

Perhaps there’s another app that can create a series of scheduled meetings on your behalf.

Not sure what app this would be or if it even exists, but might be worth doing some GSearches.

 

Again, if you’re doing large volume, then the point is a bit moot regardless.