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What Is the Find Contact Workflow Action?

The Find Contact action is a powerful tool in your CRM's workflow builder that lets you search for and pull an existing contact into your automation based on specific criteria. This is especially useful when a workflow is triggered by an event that does not automatically attach a contact record. For instance, an inbound webhook might send data like an email address without linking to a specific contact. This action uses that information to find the correct contact, allowing subsequent workflow steps to act upon it.

Key Benefits

Using the Find Contact action offers several advantages for streamlining your automations:

Efficiency: Automates the process of locating a contact, saving time and reducing manual lookup errors.
Flexible Search: You can search using standard contact fields (like email or phone) or your own custom fields.
Contactless Trigger Support: Designed to work seamlessly with triggers that start without an associated contact, such as an inbound webhook.
Advanced Matching: Includes the ability to match on external references, like a payment gateway customer ID stored in a custom field.
Improved Targeting: Ensures communications and actions are accurately directed at the right person.
Built-in Branching: The action automatically creates two paths in your workflow: one for when a contact is found, and another for when no match is found, allowing for different follow-up actions.

Supported Match Fields

You can configure the action to search using various types of fields. For the best results, use fields that contain unique, reliably formatted data.

Standard Fields: Common identifiers like Email, Phone Number, First Name, and Last Name.
Custom Fields: Any custom field you have created, such as "Customer ID" or "Membership Level."
External References: You can match on data from integrated apps by first mapping that data (e.g., a Stripe Customer ID) to a custom field on the contact record.

Matching Logic and Branching Behavior

Understanding how the search works is key to building effective automations.

Matching Logic

If you specify values for multiple fields (e.g., both an email and a phone number), the action requires a contact to match all of the provided values. This "AND" logic helps ensure a precise match.

Branching Paths

The action creates two distinct paths in your workflow:

Contact Found: This branch is followed when a single contact matches your criteria. You can add actions here to update the contact, send an email, etc.
Contact Not Found: This branch is followed when no contact matches the search. You might use this path to create a new contact record.

If your criteria could potentially match multiple contacts, you should add more specific fields to narrow the search. You can also consult your CRM's contact deduplication settings for managing duplicate records.

Configuring the Find Contact Action

Follow these steps to add and set up the action in a workflow.

Access the Workflow Builder

Navigate to the Automation section of your CRM and open the workflow you wish to edit, or create a new one.

Add the Action

Click the "+" button to add a new step and select "Find Contact" from the list of available actions.

Name the Action

Give the action a clear, descriptive name, such as "Find Contact by Customer ID."

Select Match Fields

Choose the fields you want to search by. You can select from standard fields or scroll down to choose from your custom fields. The values for these fields will typically be populated from your workflow trigger, like data from a webhook.

Include Additional Emails or Phone Numbers (Optional)

By default, the action only searches the contact's primary email and phone fields. If you have stored additional emails or phone numbers on your contacts, you can enable an option to include those in the search. After selecting the Email or Phone field, check the box that appears to expand the search to these additional values.

Plan Your Branches

Build out the actions you want to occur under both the "Contact Found" and "Contact Not Found" branches. For example, under "Contact Found," you might update a field, while under "Contact Not Found," you might create a new contact.

Test and Publish

Use test data to validate that the action finds the correct contact or follows the correct path when no contact is found. Once you are satisfied, save and publish the workflow.

Common Use Cases

New Lead from an External Form: When a form submission sends an email address via a webhook, use the Find Contact action to search by email. If found, you can tag the contact or update their record. If not found, you can create a new contact and begin an onboarding sequence.
Processing a Subscription Update: If a payment system sends a webhook with a unique customer ID, use a custom field to store this ID and then use the Find Contact action to match on it. If the contact is found, you can update their subscription plan. If not, you can create the contact and record their customer ID for future reference.
Linking a Calendar Booking: When a scheduling app sends a booking confirmation with an email address, use the Find Contact action to find the contact. If found, you can attach the appointment to their record. If not found, you can create a new contact profile from the booking details.