Previously, we shared a framework for deciding between Appcues and hard-coded experiences—a way to gut-check where something should live based on flexibility, ownership, and how long it’s sticking around.
That framework came straight out of a real project where we were trying to automate part of our upgrade process—something that had always been handled manually.
The twist? By the end of the conversation, it wasn’t Appcues or hard-coded.
It was both.
Here’s how we built a hybrid flow using a hard-coded entry point and Appcues to handle the rest.
A lightweight upgrade flow built on top of what already existed—with each tool handling what it’s best at.
Let’s start at the beginning. Our upgrade prompts were already surfaced via a hard-coded Tooltip. That made sense—backend-driven, consistent, and designed to last.
But the Tooltip linked to a form to contact support. That’s where the automation opportunity came in.
We updated the Tooltip copy to include a new option: “Upgrade now.”
Clicking “Upgrade now” opens an Appcues Slideout that explains what the upgrade includes and gives the user a way to confirm it right then and there.
This gives us flexibility to experiment with messaging, layout, and the overall flow—without touching code.
Once someone confirms the upgrade, Appcues Workflows sends a confirmation email to close the loop. (Note: We didn’t build Workflows to replace your transactional email tool—but for this use case it just made sense).
Now the user gets a receipt. The account team gets visibility. And it’s all handled automatically.
P.S. With Zapier, the upgrade event also kicks off a Salesforce update to help us wrap up the remaining manual steps.
This is a good example of using each tool for what it does best. The product owns the consistent trigger. Appcues adds flexibility, experimentation, and automation around it.
We’re not automating the entire process just yet—but this is real progress.
And now that it’s live, we can keep improving it over time. One upgrade moment down. More to come.
