When shall I create an opportunity ?
An opportunity is characterized by 5 elements:
- A title
- An amount
- A closing date
- A stage (translated into a probability)
- Someone to talk to
If you have information about those 5 elements, you should create an opportunity, if the system has not done it for you yet.
Shall you create an opportunity for every person you are talking to, or for every single incoming request?
No. An opportunity makes sense only if you feel there is really some potential business related to it. Vague enquiries, fake profiles, unclear plan with tons of options etc: no need to create an opportunity for those, until your kleiner finger gefühl tells you there should be one.
No. An opportunity makes sense only if you feel there is really some potential business related to it. Vague enquiries, fake profiles, unclear plan with tons of options etc: no need to create an opportunity for those, until your kleiner finger gefühl tells you there should be one.
Let's have a closer look at each of those 5 elements.
A title
Anything that makes sense for the customer and for yourself. Make it personal and contextual. Some email templates (or processes related to the customer journey) might share it with the customer as a reference for their request.
Examples: 'Trip to the USA', 'Linguistic courses in Australia'...
An amount
This is where you indicate the kind of budget the customer is ready to dedicate to the project. You may finetune later. If the customer does not specify, just leave it blank. If you think you know how deep the customer pockets are, enter the value here.
A closing date
That is the date on which you expect your customer to make a final decision and commit. Obviously, it is a best guess until the order is signed. Very important to keep it realisitc, since some customer journey and marketing automation processes will rely on this to trigger (or to avoid) communication with this customer. It will also be taken into account when looking at sales projections (what will you be closing in the next 7 days, next 30 days or next 3 months?). You change the closing date as often as required, to reflect the maturation of the decision process for your customer.
A stage
Indicates the stage of maturation of the decision-making process for your customer. Each stage is mapped with a probibility that is applied on the opportunity amount, resulting in a projection of expected revenue.
Someone to talk to
This will be the primary contact related to your opportunity. More contacts may be added as 'contact roles', when there are more people around the discussion table.
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