Lifecycle trigger

Definition

A lifecycle trigger is a rule that links a dated event in the life of a client or a policy to a communication action: an approaching renewal, the client's birthday, the anniversary of the policy, a period without interaction, the end of a waiting period, a closed claim. The idea comes from marketing automation and suits broking well, because most useful contacts can be predicted from dates the brokerage already holds. A trigger has three parts: the event, the lead time (for example thirty days before renewal) and the action (prepare or send a message, create a task). Done well, it replaces the renewals spreadsheet and makes sure no client is forgotten; done badly, it produces automated messages that miss the context, such as a renewal reminder sent to a client who cancelled last week.

What you need to know

For a brokerage, the useful triggers are few and recurring: the renewal or premium reminder (the most valuable, since it prevents lapses and, in Southern Africa, commission clawback), the policy anniversary (the natural moment for a cover review), the client's birthday (a relationship message, not a sales one) and re-engagement after a period of silence. On WhatsApp, each trigger must rely on a Meta-approved template, because the message is sent outside a 24-hour customer service window, and must reach only clients with an opt-in. In the UK, a birthday message is relationship contact, but a birthday message carrying an offer is direct marketing under PECR; in South Africa the same line is drawn by POPIA section 69.

In ORIS, triggers are configured in Settings, under the Automation tab, in the Lifecycle triggers section, with four types: renewal_reminder, birthday, lapsed_engagement and policy_anniversary, each with a days_before lead time. The lifecycle-check function runs through active triggers and creates a draft campaign named "Auto: …", together with a "Lifecycle trigger fired" notification. The team reviews the draft, checks the template and the audience, then launches it: the trigger prepares the work and does not send messages behind the team's back. Template variables (first name, broker name, renewal date, policy type, premium) are filled at send time.

See our use cases on premium reminders and the follow-ups and renewals hub.

Concrete example

A Lusaka brokerage enables the renewal_reminder trigger in ORIS with a twenty-day lead time. Each time it fires, a draft campaign "Auto: Renewal reminder" appears with the matching notification; the office manager checks the audience, picks the reminder template carrying the amount and the mobile money number, and launches the send that morning.