Workflow Trigger: Stale Opportunities

The Stale Opportunities Workflow Trigger is a powerful tool that allows you to automate workflows for contacts who have been in the “open” opportunity status for a specified number of days. This feature enables you to streamline follow-up actions, update opportunity statuses, and enhance your sales processes based on your specific requirements.

Contacts with the "open" opportunity status for longer than the defined duration will be automatically added to the workflow, helping you maintain engagement and manage stale opportunities effectively.

Prerequisites

Before setting up a workflow with the Stale Opportunities Workflow Trigger, ensure that you have Opportunities and Pipelines configured in your account. If you need assistance, refer to the following articles:

• Opportunities Overview
• How to Create and Edit Pipelines

How to Access

Step 1: Start a new workflow or edit an existing one

• Navigate to Automation on the left > Workflows on the top and create a new workflow or edit an existing one

Step 2: Creating and Editing the Trigger

• Click “Add New Workflow Trigger”

• Select Stale Opportunities in the Opportunities section of the Workflow Triggers Menu or use the search feature. Once selected, the Trigger setup menu will appear

• (Optional) You can change the workflow builder display name of this trigger using the textbox below Workflow Trigger Name. Note that this will only affect the display name within the workflow builder and has no other impact on the content or functionality of this Workflow Trigger.
• Press + Add filters to expand the Filters section of the Trigger setup menu. There are multiple options available to customize this trigger. Note that the Duration in Days filter is REQUIRED for this trigger to function.

• The lost reason filter, when incorporated into the Stale Opportunities Workflow Trigger, enables users to identify specific reasons for lost opportunities when contacts remain in the "open" status for a set number of days. This allows for targeted follow-up actions, problem-solving precision, and focused resource allocation, enhancing the effectiveness of sales strategies and improving overall performance.
  
• (Required) Duration in Days allows you to select the number of days that a contact can be assigned the “open” opportunity status before being determined to be “stale” and thus added to this workflow. 
• This trigger is non-retroactive. This means that if upon creating this workflow, you have a contact who has been assigned the open status for longer than your set duration in days, then the trigger will not necessarily fire for them.
  • Ex: If you select 30 days, and upon publishing this workflow you have a contact who has had the “open” status for 33 days, then the trigger will not fire.
  • Ex: If you select 30 days, and upon publishing this workflow you have a contact who has had the “open” status for 28 days, then in two days the trigger will fire.
• This trigger will fire in multiples of the set duration in days.
  • Ex: If you select 30 days, then this trigger will fire for a contact who has been in the “open” status for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, etc.
  • Note: Because of this, it is recommended to add an action to this workflow that will change the contact’s opportunity status from “open” to “abandoned” so that they won’t be run through this workflow multiple times.
• In pipeline will limit this workflow to only apply to stale contacts that are within one of your selected pipelines. If you add this filter parameter, you will then have the option to create a separate filter parameter called Pipeline stage.
• The pipeline stage will limit this workflow to only apply to stale contacts that are within a specified stage of the above-specified pipeline.
• Has Tag and Doesn’t Have Tag will both limit which contacts can be added to this workflow based on their tags
  • Has Tag will only allow contacts who have a selected tag to be added to this workflow
  • Doesn’t Have Tag will allow all contacts to be added to this workflow EXCEPT for ones that have the selected tag
  • Note: You can add both of these filter parameters to one trigger, but they operate either redundantly or cancel each other out, so it is recommended to use only one.

Please Note: You can also filter by Custom Fields which will allow you to only allow contacts to be added to this workflow who meet selected custom value criteria which you can set up elsewhere in your account.

• Press Save Trigger in the bottom right corner of the Trigger setup menu

Step 3: Set up applicable Workflow Action(s). We have multiple articles available to explain the setup of each of the Workflow Actions. Feel free to review our articles on these for more information on setting these up.

Pro Tip: You can use any Workflow Actions to be triggered by the Stale Opportunities trigger or you can leave this workflow without any actions.

Step 4: Press Save in the top right corner of your browser to save the workflow

• If your Workflow is ready to be enabled, make sure the toggle switch under Save is set to Publish
• Be sure to test your Workflow to ensure it is set up correctly using the Test Workflow button next to the Publish toggle switch. 
  • For an in-depth overview of Workflow Testing see our article, “Using the Testing Features in Workflows”

Now your workflow is set up and ready to go with the Stale Opportunities Workflow Trigger.

Example: Notify team members when an opportunity gets stale

Trigger Setup:

Workflow Trigger: Stale Opportunities

Workflow Trigger Name: Stale Opportunities Follow-Up

Filters:

Duration in days: 2

In pipeline: Test Pipeline

Pipeline stage: aaa

Action for Stale Opportunity:

Email Action Name: Reminder Email to Sales Rep

From Name: Your Company

From Email: [email protected]

Subject: "Reminder: Stale Opportunity Needs Attention"

FAQs: Stale Opportunities Workflow Trigger

1. What is the Stale Opportunities Workflow Trigger?

The Stale Opportunities Workflow Trigger is used to automate follow-up actions or status changes for contacts that have remained in the "open" opportunity status for a set number of days.

2. What is required to use this trigger?

You must have Opportunities and Pipelines already set up in your account. For help, refer to the articles "Opportunities Overview" and "How to Create and Edit Pipelines."

3. How does the Duration in Days filter work?

The Duration in Days filter specifies how long a contact must stay in the "open" status before being considered "stale." This is a required field for the trigger to function.

4. Is this trigger retroactive?

No, the trigger is non-retroactive.

• Example: If a contact has had the "open" status for 33 days and your workflow is set to trigger at 30 days, the trigger will not fire for them.
• However, if the contact has had the "open" status for 28 days, the trigger will fire after two more days.

5. Does the trigger repeat?

Yes, the trigger fires in multiples of the specified duration.

• Example: If the duration is set to 30 days, the trigger will fire at 30, 60, 90 days, etc., unless the opportunity status changes.

6. How can I prevent the trigger from firing multiple times for the same contact?

It is recommended to include a workflow action that changes the contact’s opportunity status from “open” to “abandoned” or another status. This prevents the contact from repeatedly going through the workflow.

7. Can I limit this trigger to specific pipelines or stages?

Yes, you can:

• Use the In Pipeline filter to limit the workflow to certain pipelines.
• Use the Pipeline Stage filter to limit it further to specific stages within the selected pipeline.

8. Can I filter by tags?

Yes, you can use the following filters:

• Has Tag: Only contacts with the selected tag will be added to the workflow.
• Doesn’t Have Tag: Contacts with the selected tag will be excluded from the workflow.

9. Can I filter by custom fields?

Yes, you can use custom fields to filter contacts based on specific criteria that you’ve set up elsewhere in your account.