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Creating Opportunities

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Nik Schultz
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SharpSpring enables you to create an opportunity using contacts already in the Contact Manager. This article will explain how to create opportunities in SharpSpring.


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Understanding Opportunities

Opportunities are created and added to the Pipeline to monitor progress across deal stages in the sales process. You can track the estimated revenue, estimated close date, and the contacts included in a specific opportunity.

In SharpSpring, opportunities are represented as cards in the Pipeline and can be easily moved to a different deal stage as the opportunity moves across the sales process timeline.


Creating Contact Manager Opportunities

To create an opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Contacts > Contact Manager.
  2. Locate the desired contact.
  3. Next to the contact's name, click
    cog.png  Options > New Opportunity.
  4. Click Create a New Opportunity.
  5. In the Opportunity Name field, enter a name for the opportunity.
  6. In the Opportunity section, enter the following information:

       •   The account name

       •   The monetary value the opportunity
            is worth

       •   The expected closing date
  7. In the Pipeline section, select the following:

       •   The pipeline the opportunity will be
            set to

       •   The stage the opportunity will be
            attached to

       •   The opportunity's status
  8. In the Attributions section, select the owner.
  9. In the Probability to Close section, select the probability to close the opportunity.
  10. In the Contacts section, click the checkboxes next to contacts to associate them with the opportunity.
  11. Optionally, add the following:

       •   Statuses
       •   Tasks 
       •       Products
       •       Custom fields
  12. Click Save Opportunity.
  

Click to enlarge.
Note: Contacts can be attributed to multiple opportunities, but each opportunity will need to be created separately.
Note: You can have multiple contacts in one opportunity. However, you must have a primary contact associated with an opportunity.
Note: The expected value in blue populates by calculating the total value of the deal multiplied by the percentage to close. The probability to close will automatically populate based on the pipeline stage the opportunity is in, but can be manually changed.


Creating Pipeline Opportunities

To create an opportunity through a pipeline, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the pipeline toolbar, click + Create.
  3. In the text field, enter the name of the contact that will be associated with the opportunity.
  4. Click Create a New Opportunity.
  5. Enter opportunity information as necessary.
  6. Click Save Opportunity.
  

Click to enlarge.


Accessing Opportunities Attributed to Contacts

To access opportunities that a contact is associated with, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Contacts > Contact Manager.
  2. Locate the desired contact.
  3. Click the contact's name.
  4. Click the Memberships tab.
  5. Click the  opphandshake.png  Opps section.
  6. Click the desired opportunity.
  


Click to enlarge.


Adding Existing Contacts to Existing Opportunities

To add contacts to an existing opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In a pipeline, click an existing opportunity.
  3. Click the Contacts tab.
  4. Enter the desired contact's name into the Add a Contact text box.
  5. Select the desired contact.
  6. Click Save.
  

Click to enlarge.


Adding New Contacts to Existing Opportunities

To add new contacts to an existing opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. Click on an existing opportunity.
  3. Click the Contacts tab.
  4. Click Create New Contact.
  5. Enter the following contact information:

       •   First Name
       •   Last Name
       •   Email Address    		    •   Phone Number
       •   Mobile Number
       •   Company Name
  6. Click Add Contact.
  7. If necessary, click Create New Contact.
  8. Click Save.
  

Click to enlarge.


Setting Primary Contacts

To set a primary contact for an opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Contacts > Contact Manager.
  2. Create or edit an opportunity.
  3. Click the Contacts tab.
  4. To the right of the desired contact, click
    cog.png  Options > Make Primary Contact.
  5. Click Save.
  

Click to enlarge.

Setting a contact in an opportunity as the primary contact will also associate the contact’s campaign with the opportunity. The dot next the campaign will be green to reflect this.


The Communication Tab

To utilize communication features for an opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Contacts > Contact Manager.
  2. Create or edit an opportunity.
  3. Click the Communication tab.
  4. Click a timeline entry to see what actions were taken.
  5. Click  more.png  More Options to do any of the following:

       •   Send a Smart Mail to the contact(s)
       •   Send targeted mail to the contact(s)
       •   Call a contact
       •   Set an opportunity task notification
  

Click to enlarge.

If Mail Sync is enabled, you will also see emails sent between the opportunity owner and the contacts.


Writing Opportunity Notes

To set notes on an opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Contacts > Contact Manager.
  2. Create or edit an opportunity.
  3. Click the Notes tab.
  4. In the text box, enter a note.
  5. Click Add Comment.
  6. Optionally, click  edit.png  Edit to edit a note.
  7. Optionally, click  close.png  Delete to delete a note.
  

Click to enlarge.

Any notes added will automatically show the date and time saved. These notes are also used in the Activity Report.


Understanding Archived Opportunities

Opportunities cannot be deleted. Opportunities can, however, be archived. In SharpSpring, an archived opportunity is an opportunity that is removed from all open opportunities without marking it as won or lost. This is useful for deals that were not appropriately qualified or created in error, as there results will not count negatively against sales reports.

Once archived, these opportunities can no longer be found in pipelines. They will not affect opportunity reporting unless explicitly included when generating reports.



Archiving Opportunities

To archive an opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. Select the desired pipeline.
  3. Click the name of the opportunity to be archived.
  4. Click the Overview tab.
  5. In the Sales Pipeline section, click the Opportunity Status drop-down menu.
  6. Select Archive.
  7. Click Save.
  


Click to enlarge.

 

Viewing Archived Opportunities

The Reports section of SharpSpring provides a report on all opportunities won or lost across all pipelines over a given timeframe. The Won/Lost report provides information on archived opportunities. To view archived opportunities, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Reports > Won/Lost.
  2. Click  cog.png  View > Archived Opps.
  


Click to enlarge.

The Won/Lost report will provide the following information on archived opportunities:

  • The total number of archived opportunities
  • The total opportunity monetary value
  • The average opportunity monetary value
  • The average time it took to close opportunities

 

Reopening Opportunities

You can reopen archived opportunities as needed. To reopen an archived opportunity, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Reports > Won/Lost.
  2. Click  cog.png  View > Archived Opps.
  3. To the right of the opportunity to be reopened,
    click  cog.png  Options > Reopen.
  


Click to enlarge.
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