Configure Working Days and Business Hours
Configure working days and business hours to define when Guided Selling users are available for sequence work. Guided Selling uses this schedule when a sequence action is configured to deliver within business hours or when an action uses Working Days or Business Hours timing. Drip Sequences also reference the working days of a participant owner before dequeuing the participant.
Any Guided Selling sequence action may be configured to deliver within business hours. In those cases, the action may only become due within the action owner’s business hours as defined by Start of Day, End of Day, and Time Zone on their User record in Salesforce.
Working days define which days count as valid workdays. Business hours define the valid hours within those days.
Why working days and business hours matter
Setting working days and business hours helps ensure:
- Automatic emails and SMS messages are only delivered during the action owner’s working day when Deliver within business hours is enabled.
- Outreach feels timely and appropriate for recipients.
- Manual actions only become due at a time when a rep is available to perform them when Deliver within business hours is enabled.
- Working Days timing skips days that are not configured as working days.
- Business Hours timing advances only through valid business-hours windows.
- Guided Selling respects the cadence and timing configured for each sequence action.
How Guided Selling determines working days
Guided Selling resolves working-day configuration in the following order:
- User-level working days
- Profile-level working days
- Org-level working days
A more specific configuration overrides the broader fallback. If no user-level working-day configuration applies, Guided Selling checks the user’s profile. If no profile-level configuration applies, Guided Selling uses the org-level working days.
A non-working day has no business-hours window for Business Timing calculations.
Configure org-level working days
Org-level working days provide the fallback schedule for users who do not have a user- or profile-level working-day configuration.
- In Salesforce, go to Setup.
- Open Custom Settings.
- Open GS Public Settings.
- Review Sequence Action Working Day — Monday through Sequence Action Working Day — Sunday.
- Enable the days that should count as working days for your organization.
- Save your changes.
Configure user business hours
Business hours are configured per user in Salesforce and define the beginning and end of that user’s working day.
- In Salesforce, open the user’s settings.
- Go to Personal Information.
- Locate My Work Information.
- Set Start of Day and End of Day.
- Confirm that the user’s Time Zone is correct.
- Save the changes.
Guided Selling uses the business hours of the participant action owner when evaluating business-hours timing and delivery restrictions.
How working days and business hours interact
Working days and business hours work together but answer different questions:
| Configuration | Determines |
|---|---|
| Working Days | Which days count as valid workdays. |
| Start of Day | When the user’s business-hours window begins. |
| End of Day | When the user’s business-hours window ends. |
| Time Zone | How the user’s start and end times are interpreted. |
For example, if Saturday and Sunday are not working days and a user’s business hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, a Business Hours delay does not advance overnight or during the weekend. It resumes during the next valid business-hours window.
How Working Days affect Drip Sequences
Working Day configuration also applies to Drip Sequences.
When Guided Selling evaluates when participants should transition from a Queued to Active status in a Drip Sequence, non-working days are excluded based on the applicable Working Day configuration.
Guided Selling resolves Working Days using the same hierarchy used for Business Timing:
- User-level Working Days
- Profile-level Working Days
- Org-level Working Days
This means changes to Working Day configuration can affect both:
- Sequence Action timing for sequences that use Working Days or Business Hours scheduling.
- Drip Sequence timing and participant progression.
How Business Timing uses this schedule
Sequence Admins choose how each sequence action uses working days and business hours in the Sequence Builder.
Business Timing options include:
- Working Days, same time of day — skips non-working days while preserving the relevant time of day.
- Working Days, start of day — skips non-working days and makes the action due at the action owner’s configured start of day.
- Business Hours — advances an hour-based delay only through valid business hours.
- Deliver within business hours — moves an action that would otherwise become due outside business hours into an applicable business-hours window.
For details about selecting these options on sequence actions, see Configure Business Timing.
Tips and best practices
- Set business hours that reflect when the user is actually available to perform sequence work.
- Verify Time Zone along with Start of Day and End of Day if actions become due at unexpected times.
- Review org-level working days after upgrading to Guided Selling v13.
- Use user- or profile-level working days when a team follows a different workweek from the organization-wide default.
- Remember that Guided Selling evaluates the schedule of the action owner, not the participant.
Troubleshooting
An action becomes due on the wrong day
- Confirm that the expected day is configured as a working day.
- Check whether a user-level or profile-level working-day configuration is overriding the org-level configuration.
- Confirm the timing option selected on the sequence action.
An action becomes due at the wrong time
- Confirm the action owner’s Start of Day and End of Day.
- Confirm the action owner’s Time Zone.
- Verify that the expected user owns the participant action.
- Review whether Deliver within business hours is enabled on the sequence action.
An automatic email or SMS is delivered outside the expected window
- Confirm that Deliver within business hours is enabled for the sequence action.
- Confirm the action owner’s business hours and time zone.
- Confirm the applicable working-day configuration.
FAQ
Do business hours affect manual actions?
They can. When Deliver within business hours is available and enabled for a manual action, Guided Selling can move the action into an applicable business-hours window so that it becomes due while the action owner is available to perform it.
Do business hours affect automatic email and SMS actions?
Yes. When Deliver within business hours is enabled, automatic email and SMS actions are restricted to an applicable business-hours window.
Which user’s schedule does Guided Selling use?
Guided Selling uses the schedule of the participant action owner.
What is the difference between Working Days and Business Hours?
Working Days determine which days are valid workdays. Business hours determine the valid start and end times within those days.