The Search Contact in BigChange action

The Search Contact in BigChange action allows your workflow to automatically search BigChange to determine if a contact already exists. 

It compares the search terms you define in your workflow, with the Contact name, Email address and Phone number stored in your BigChange contacts.

It helps prevent duplicates and to automate the creation of jobs for existing contacts.

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Configuration 

To set up the Search Contact in BigChange node:

• Add the node to your workflow, ensuring it is connected to a starting action or another action node. 
• Click on the node to open the Properties panel.
• Click into the Search Term field and select the workflow data you want to check against your BigChange contacts by adding variables from the dropdown list. 

Common Search Terms

Search Terms are defined as variables from your workflow. 

This data will then be compared to the following data points in your BigChange contacts list:

• Contact name
• Email address
• Phone number

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Outcomes 

Once the node runs, there are four possible outcomes:

• Found one – A single matching contact was found in BigChange. You can now pass this contact into the next steps of your workflow.
• Found many – Multiple matches were found. You may want to add logic to handle this, such as filtering further or flagging for manual review.

• Not found – No matching contact was found. You might choose to create a new contact or route the workflow differently from here.

• Failed - The node failed to run.

These outcomes can be used to create conditional branches in your workflow, ensuring the right action is taken every time.

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Default Variables

The default variables provided by this node depends on the outcome of the node.

• Found One

If one contact was found in BigChange, the following  default variables are available to be used later in your workflow:

ID - The ID in BigChange of the contact that was found

Group ID - The ID of the Group which the contact belongs to in BigChange

Name - The name of the contact in BigChange

Phone - The phone number assigned to the contact in BigChange

Email - The email address assigned to the contact in BigChange

Street - The street name assigned to the contact in BigChange

Town - The town assigned of the contact found in BigChange

Postcode - The postcode assigned of the contact found in BigChange

Country - The country assigned of the contact found in BigChange

• Found many 

If multiple contacts are found when searching in BigChange there is only one variable which is available for use further down the workflow:

Contacts - The IDs of the found contacts in BigChange.

• Not found

When no contacts are found in BigChange, no variables are output to be used further down the workflow. 

• Failed

As with any failed node, the variable that is output is:

Reason for failure - The reason the node failed.

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Find a Contact in BigChange vs. Search for a Contact in BigChange 

Here’s a brief explanation of when to use the Find a Contact in BigChange action as opposed to the Search for a Contact in BigChange action.

• If your workflow uses structured data, i.e. contact references and contact IDs which are defined in BigChange, the Find a Contact in BigChange node will be the right node for your workflow. It will allow you to locate the right contact before creating a new contact, assigning jobs or taking any other actions for that contact. 
• If your workflow does not include contact references and contact IDs, and relies on more unstructured data such as Contact name, Email and Phone, the Search for a Contact in BigChange node will be more suitable to look for existing contacts before creating new ones.