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Invite Vendor Users via a Workflow

Discover how to add and invite external users to collaborate on workflows via the Vendor Portal.

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Estimated Read Time: 4 Minutes

☑️  Requires: Vendor Portal

Sections in this article:

The Vendor Portal can be used to collect key documentation from vendor contacts during onboarding. For new vendors, the most efficient method is to invite them within the same workflow used for onboarding reviews (see Invite Vendor Users for additional methods)  . This allows vendor users to be added and invited automatically as the form progresses, so they're ready to collaborate when their input is required.

Note: The steps below show how to configure vendor user invitations in a workflow. They can be built into an existing workflow, as long as the steps are followed in the order listed.

Part 1 - Configure the Form

Once you have created a workflow and added the required phases, you must set up the workflow form. To associate a vendor record and add a vendor user to a workflow card, you'll need to add the predefined Vendor Data section to your workflow form:

To do this: 

  1. Open the workflow and click on the start phase to edit it.
  2. From Form, click ADD SECTION.
  3. Enter a name for the section. This will be shown and formatted as a heading on the form.
  4. Select Vendor from the Predefined dropdown list. Leave the other dropdowns blank.
  5. Once finished, click Save.

Note: For the rest of the configuration to work, the Vendor Contact field must be populated before the workflow card reaches the phases outlined in Part 2 and 3 of this guide.

To enforce this, it's recommended to configure the field as mandatory in the initial request form, or during any stage before Part 2.

Part 2 - Create/Update the Vendor Record

Once the vendor and vendor user exist on the form, the next step is to convert them into records in the Vault using workflow actions. To do this, click on the relevant phase to edit it, then from Actions select the relevant option:

  • If this is a new vendor request, select ⚙️AutoAction | Create Vendor or Create Vendor to do this manually.
  • If the vendor record already exists and the vendor user is populated in the form afterwards, select ⚙️AutoAction | Update Vendor or Update Vendor to do this manually. This ensures the new vendor user is linked as an owner on the existing record in the repository.

Part 3 - Configure the Invitation Phase

Once you have a vendor record with a vendor owner, you can configure an action to invite them to the portal:

  1. Click to edit the relevant phase.
  2. From Form Access, select the Vendor Portal and Vendor | Owner radio buttons.vendor portal radio buttons
  3. From Actions, select the Invite/Notify Card Owner to the Portal checkbox, then select whether the vendor user should be invited as a collaborator or administrator.

    invote card owner
  4. As this is the phase your vendor user will access, navigate to Form and ensure that the Editable radio button is selected for any sections that require their input.
    editable radio button

Additional Steps

Amend the Default Invitation Email

When the invitation email is sent, vendor users will receive an email a default message.It's recommended to change this to give your vendor users context as to what the invitation means. See Customise the Vendor Portal Invitation for step-by-step instructions.

Test the Workflow

Once you've configured the workflow, it's recommended to add a test vendor record and vendor user using an email address you have access to. This allows you to validate:

  • that the workflow has been configured correctly
  • that the vendor experience functions as expected

See Testing the Vendor Portal for more guidance on adding users for testing purposes.

FAQs

Can I resend the invitation if the vendor user doesn't receive it or misses it?

You can monitor the vendor user's status by navigating to the relevant vendor record in the Vault, and clicking the Vendor Users tab. If the vendor user's status is Pending, it means the invitation was sent, but has not been accepted. Expand the 3 dots and select Edit. Then select the Resend the invitation email checkbox and click Save.

Vendor Users tab
Why is my vendor invitation sending when the vendor contact field is filled in?

Actions in Gatekeeper, including the vendor invitation action in Part 3, read contact and owner data from the vendor's repository record, not directly from the workflow form. If you skip Part 2, the vendor contact entered on the form won't exist in the repository yet, so the invitation will fail. The Create or Update Vendor action in Part 2 is what writes the form data into the record in the Vault, making it available for subsequent actions to use.