How-to — task-oriented recipe.
Overview
Seamlessly convert qualified sourcing leads into tracked opportunities using Opportunity Triggers. This workflow eliminates manual opportunity creation, ensures consistent linking between source companies and deal tracking, and maintains forecast accuracy through automation. What you’ll accomplish: Set up automatic opportunity creation when deals reach qualification milestones, with pre-filled information and proper linking for seamless pipeline tracking. Who it’s for: Deal flow managers, investment analysts, sourcing teams transitioning to active deal tracking, and admins managing pipeline architecture. When to use this: When separating sourcing/prospecting from active deal management, implementing stage-gate processes, or improving forecast accuracy through systematic opportunity tracking.Prerequisites
- List Owner or List Admin permissions on source list
- Source list: Sourcing or pipeline list with Status field
- Target list: Opportunity list for deal tracking (must be type “Opportunity”)
- Target list shared with team members who will create opportunities
- Understanding of which status value indicates qualification
Workflow Steps
Step 1: Design Your Pipeline Architecture
Define your lists and flow: Common architecture:- Source list: “Sourcing Pipeline” (Companies list)
- Trigger status: “Qualified”
- Target list: “Active Deals” (Opportunity list) Alternative architectures:
- “Early Stage Deals” list → “Qualified” status → Creates opps in “Series A Pipeline”
- “Portfolio Companies” list → “Follow-on Interest” status → Creates opps in “Follow-on Deals” Verify target list setup:
- Target list exists and is type “Opportunity”
- Target list is shared with your team
Step 2: Configure the Opportunity Trigger
- Open your source list (e.g., “Sourcing Pipeline”)
- Click List Options → Triggers
- Click Opportunity Triggers tab
- Click Create New Trigger (or select status to configure)
Step 3: Test the Trigger Flow
Create test scenario:- Select a test company in your source list
- Change status to your trigger value (e.g., “Qualified”)
- Opportunity creation modal should appear Verify pre-filled information:
- ✅ Company name populated?
- ✅ Owners carried over?
- ✅ Link to source company present?
- ✅ Amount pre-filled (if was in source entry)? Complete additional fields:
- Add opportunity-specific info (Investment Amount, Expected Close Date)
- Click Create Opportunity
Step 4: Document the Workflow for Your Team
Create team guidance: What to communicate:- Founder/team call completed
- Thesis fit confirmed
- Initial metrics validated (ARR, growth, market)
- Interest mutual (not just us interested in them) When you mark as Qualified:
- Opportunity automatically created in Active Deals list
- Pre-filled: Company name, your name as owner, company link
- You’ll need to add: Investment Amount, Expected Close Date
- Opportunity will appear in our forecast reporting”
Step 5: Handle Edge Cases
Scenario: Company already has an opportunity- Opportunity Trigger still fires (allows multiple opportunities per company)
- Useful for: Different funding rounds, follow-on investments
- Name opportunities distinctly: “Acme Corp - Series A” vs “Acme Corp - Series B” Scenario: User cancels opportunity modal
- Opportunity is NOT created
- Status change is also cancelled
- Source entry remains in previous status
- User can retry later when information is available Scenario: Target list permissions issue
- User sees error if target list not shared with them
- Admin must share target list with user
- Or reconfigure trigger to different target list
Step 6: Monitor and Optimize
After 1 month:- Review created opportunities for data quality
- Check how many qualified deals actually created opportunities (should be ~100%)
- Survey team:
- Is qualification timing right?
- Are pre-filled fields useful?
- What additional fields would help?
- Analyze opportunity conversion from sourcing Optimization opportunities:
- Configure additional Opportunity Triggers at different stages
Expected Outcome
- Every qualified company automatically generates tracked opportunity
- Opportunities pre-filled with source company, owners, and available amount data
- Automatic bidirectional linking (source company ↔︎ opportunity)
- Forecast pipeline populated systematically (no manual opportunity creation)
- Clear conversion tracking from sourcing to active deals
- Reduced time spent on administrative opportunity setup
- Team can focus on deal execution rather than data entry
Tips & Best Practices
Trigger Timing:- Trigger at right moment: Not too early (incomplete info) or too late (already tracking separately)
- Common trigger statuses: “Qualified”, “Term Sheet”, “Committed”, “Follow-on Interest”
- Avoid triggering on: “Sourcing”, “Initial Contact” (too early) List Architecture:
- Separate sourcing from deals: Source in Companies list, track in Opportunity list
- One target per status: Each qualification status can only create in one opportunity list
- Multiple statuses okay: “Seed Qualified” and “Series A Qualified” can trigger to different opportunity lists Pre-fill Strategy:
- Populate Amount in source if you want it to pre-fill opportunities
- Keep Owners updated in source so they carry to opportunities Combining Triggers:
- Status + Opportunity Triggers on same status = consolidated modal in New Lists
- Order matters: Status Trigger fires first, then Opportunity Trigger
- Plan fields carefully: Don’t overwhelm with too many required fields across both triggers Team Adoption:
- Make qualification criteria clear so team knows when to use trigger status
- Show forecast impact: Demonstrate how opportunities feed reporting
- Reduce manual work: Emphasize time saved vs. manual opportunity creation
Example Use Case
SummitCap, a growth equity firm, wanted better sourcing → deal conversion tracking: Their Setup:- Source list: “Sourcing Universe” (5,000+ companies)
- Target list: “Active Pipeline” (Opportunity list)
- Qualification status: “Qualified Lead”
- Required Fields on source: Owner, Sector, Lead Source Configuration (Week 1):
- Verified “Active Pipeline” opportunity list shared with full investment team
- Configured Opportunity Trigger:
- Source list: Sourcing Universe
- Status: “Qualified Lead”
- Target: Active Pipeline
- Tested with 2 test companies
- Documented workflow in team wiki User Experience: Senior Associate Maya is sourcing AI companies:
- Finds promising company “DataFlow AI” through LinkedIn outbound
- Adds to “Sourcing Universe” list
- Required Fields modal: Adds herself as Owner, selects “AI/ML” sector, “LinkedIn Outbound” source
- After 2 founder calls, decides to qualify
- Changes status from “Initial Contact” to “Qualified Lead”
- Two modals appear in sequence:
- Status Trigger (configured later): Requires “Qualification Notes” → she adds “Strong founder, 300% YoY growth, Series A raising $15M”
- Opportunity Trigger: Pre-fills DataFlow AI name, Maya as owner, company link → she adds “$15M” Investment Amount and “Q2 2026” Expected Close
- Opportunity created in “Active Pipeline” list automatically
- Links visible both directions (company profile shows opportunity, opportunity shows source company)