Enrollment
Automation mechanicsAlso called: enrolment, entering a flow, workflow entry
Enrollment is a single contact's active run through one automation. Each enrollment holds its own position in the flow, its own timers and its own state, which is why two contacts in the same sequence can be at completely different steps.
The distinction between an automation and an enrollment explains most confusing behaviour in marketing automation. Editing a live automation does not rewind anybody. Contacts mid-flow keep their position, so a new step inserted at the top reaches only people who enter after the edit.
It also explains duplicates. A contact with two active enrollments in the same sequence receives everything twice, and the cause is almost never the sending step — it is a trigger that fired twice with re-entry set to allow it.
Because an enrollment carries state, it can be cancelled. Stopping a flow means ending the run, not deleting the automation, and a well-built sequence has at least one deliberate way for a run to end early.
How it works in FrazzleCRM
- ✓Runs are recorded per contact per automation, with statuses of active, completed, exited or failed — and those statuses are themselves usable as branch conditions elsewhere.
- ✓Contacts enter through a trigger, an inbound webhook, an Add to Flow step in another automation, or a manual run.
- ✓A Remove from Flow step cancels a contact's active runs in a named automation, or in the current one.
- ✓Editing steps keeps existing step ids so contacts already mid-run are not disrupted; moving a live automation back to draft suspends its in-flight runs.
Where teams get this wrong
Adding a step to a sequence and then wondering why yesterday's leads never got it is not a bug. They enrolled before the step existed and are already past that point in the flow.
Common questions
Can a contact be enrolled in the same automation twice?
It depends on the re-entry setting — allowed repeatedly, once ever, or only after they have exited. Repeated enrollment is capped to protect against trigger loops.
What happens to enrolled contacts if I pause an automation?
Paused runs hold in place and re-check rather than dying, so pausing is a safe way to stop sending without losing everyone's position.
See it on a real map
Free templates where this shows up as an actual node. Clone one and the diagram runs as the automation.
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Related terms
Trigger
A trigger is the event that starts an automation for a contact — a tag being added, a form submitted, a link clicked, a date arriving — deciding both who enters the flow and when.
Re-entry
Re-entry is the rule deciding whether a contact who has already been through an automation can enter it again — repeatedly, once ever, or only after their previous run has finished.
Stop tag
A stop tag is a tag that cancels a contact's active runs in an automation as soon as it is applied — the emergency brake that stops a sequence for someone who has unsubscribed, complained, bought, or otherwise stopped being the right audience.
Goal
A goal is a step that represents the outcome an automation is trying to produce. Contacts anywhere upstream jump straight to it the moment the goal's event happens, skipping whatever remained in between.
Or browse all 24 terms — grouped by what part of the funnel they belong to.
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