Working with Opportunity Assignment Rules

Last Revised:      Written by Veloxity CRM    Time Estimate: About 5 minutes to read.  Version 2.0

Contents

What is Opportunity Assignment?

Definition

Opportunity Assignment Rules enable you to create rules to automatically assign sales divisions to new opportunity records. 

How can I use Opportunity Assignment?

When a new opportunity record is created in the system, Opportunity Assignment Rules automatically assign the new record to specific sales divisions based on the rules you've created in the system.

Where can I find Opportunity Assignment?

Opportunity Assignment is found on CRM Setup.

From the Main Menu, click My Profile > App Setup > CRM Setup > Opportunity Assignment

Navigating Opportunity Assignment

You are looking at a screenshot of Navigating Opportunity Assignment Rules:

Figure 1. Navigating Opportunity Assignment Rules. 


How can I use Opportunity Assignment Rules? 

What are some common examples of Opportunity Assignment Rules?

As you begin working with Opportunity Assignment Rules, you must decide what kinds of rules to create. How will your Opportunities be assigned? Companies often create one kind of rule for each type of opportunity assignment.

Some common Opportunity Assignment Rules include the following:

  • Opportunity Assignment Rules Based on Territory: Opportunities are assigned to sales reps based on location. Location is configured using data on a record linked to the Opportunity Record related to data such as Postal Code, State, Province, or City. 
  • Round Robin Based Opportunity Assignment Rules: Opportunities are evenly assigned to teams or individuals on a rotating basis. Veloxity creates these assignments using the Opportunity Assignment Date. 
  • Opportunity Assignment Based on Opportunity Type: Opportunities are assigned to reps based on the opportunity type. For example, an automotive sales company may have new vehicles, used vehicles, and commercial vehicles divisions. The Opportunity would be assigned to the the sales specialists within a particular vertical.  This is configured using data on the Opportunity Record such as the level of service package, product of interest, or company size.
  • Tiered Opportunity Assignment Rules: Opportunities are assigned to reps based on the potential size of the opportunity. The most potentially profitable opportunities are handled by the most experienced sales reps. This is configured using data on the Opportunity Record such as company size or the level of the product/service of interest.

There are two types of rules that can be created. 

  • The first type uses terms that compare the Opportunity's field values to the field values of all Sales Division records. (The Opportunity fields can also be compared to static values.) The rule will look for Sales Divisions that satisfy all of the rule terms and, if it finds any, will assign the Opportunity to those Sales Divisions. 
  • The second type requires the user to pick specific Sales Divisions to use as parents. The rule terms will compare field values of the Opportunity to static values. If the terms are satisfied, then the Opportunity will be assigned to the selected Sales Division(s). 
  • This second type of rule can also be created without any rule terms. These rules are always considered satisfied, so the assignment always occurs if the rule is evaluated. This can be useful as a "default" rule, to ensure that all Opportunities get assigned to some Sales Division. (Give this kind of rule a large "order" value, to ensure it runs only after all other rules have failed.)

How do Opportunity Assignment Rules work?

  • When a new Opportunity is created, Opportunity Assignment Rules run, in order, until a rule finds matching criteria and assigns the Opportunity to a Sales Division.
  • Rules with a lower order value will run before rules with a higher order value. For example, Rule 1 will run before Rule 2.  Rule 2 will run before Rule 3, and so on.
  • If no rules find matching criteria, then the Opportunity is not assigned. (We recommend creating a "Catch All Rule" as the last rule in your system to be sure all Opportunities are assigned.)
  • Only rules marked "active" will run. 
  • Active rules are validated when saved.
  • If the rules are not valid, the rules can't be saved until they are fixed or marked inactive. 

Tips for using Opportunity Assignment Rules

  • After configuring your Opportunity Assignment Rules, create a test Opportunity for each of the new Opportunity Assignment Rules you've created. Run the Opportunity through the system to make sure the Opportunity is correctly assigned. If the Opportunity is not correctly assigned, return to this section and adjust your rules. When you are finished, remember to delete the test Opportunity.
  • Create a "Catch All" Last Rule in your system. If the Opportunity doesn't meet the criteria for any of the configured rules, the Opportunity will still be assigned and not fall through the cracks.

How can I Create a New Opportunity Assignment Rule?

Navigate to Opportunity Assignment Rule Configuration

  1. Click Add New Rule.
  2. Select New Rule Type. 

What is the difference between the two rule types?

There are two types of rules that can be created. 

  • The first type will use terms that compare the Opportunity's field values to the field values of all Sales Division records. (The Opportunity fields can also be compared to static values). The rule will look for Sales Divisions that satisfy all of the rule terms and, if it finds any, will assign the Opportunity to those Sales Divisions. 
  • The second type has the user pick specific Sales Divisions to use as parents. The rule terms will compare field values of the Opportunity to static values. If the terms are satisfied, then the Opportunity will be assigned to the Sales Division(s) that were chosen earlier. This second type of rule can also be created without any rule terms. These rules will always be considered satisfied, so the assignment will always occur if the rule is evaluated. This can be useful as a "default" rule, to ensure that all Opportunities get assigned to some Sales Division. (Give this kind of rule a large "order" value, to ensure it runs only after all other rules have failed).

You are looking at a screenshot of Selecting a Rule Type to Create a New Opportunity Assignment Rule:

Figure 2. Selecting a Rule Type to Create a New Opportunity Assignment Rule.


How can I create a new opportunity assignment rule?

  1. Enter the Rule Name and Description.
  2. Select Sales Division (this only applies if you selected the second rule type "Choose a Specific Parent")
  3. Select the Sales Division Selector Operation from the pick list. The Sales Division Selector Operation determines how individuals or teams will be assigned Opportunities.
    • Round Robin: A basic round robin approach for Opportunity Assignment to Sales Divisions. Round Robin works across all Sales Divisions provided by the rule definition. 
    • If no sales divisions are provided by the rule, then Round Robin will work with all Sales Divisions in the system and select the Sales Division with the oldest, most recently assigned Opportunity. 
    • No Selector Operation: Do not use any selector operation. If a single Sales Division matches, use that as the parent. If more than one Sales Division matches, use all of them as the parent. 
  4. Create the Rule Term. (See below for more information on creating the Rule Term.)
  5. Click Save. 

For example, let's pretend you have selected the rule type "Choose a Specific Parent." You want to create a rule that will route all opportunities over $250,000 to Tonya Cooper. 

  • Select Tonya Cooper for Target Sales Division. 
  • Select No Selector Operation for Sales Division Selector Operation. 
  • Create the Rule Term. (See below for details.)

You are looking at a screenshot of Creating a New Opportunity Assignment Rule:

Figure 3. Creating a New Opportunity Assignment Rule. 

How can I create the Rule Term?

Use the following steps to create the rule term:

  1. Select the Opportunity Field from the pick list.
  2. Select the Operator (only operators that work with your selected Opportunity Field will be shown):
    1. =   (an exact match)
    2. ≠   (show results that don't have the value you enter)
    3. is contained in (show results that are contained within a specific value)
    4. contains  (use for fields that include your search string, but sometimes include additional information)
    5. > (greater than)
    6. ≥ (greater than or equal to)
    7. < (less than)
    8. ≤ (less than or equal to)
  3. Select Sales Division Field or Value. (Sales Division Field will only be an option when using the first rule type where the Sales Division is not fixed.)
  4. Enter the Sales Division Field or Value.

To route all Opportunities over $250,000 to Ms. Cooper, we will create a Tiered Opportunity Assignment Rule Term.

In a Tiered Assignment Rule, Opportunities are assigned to sales divisions based on the potential size of the opportunity. The most potentially profitable opportunities are handled by the most experienced sales divisions.

The following rule term will route all Opportunities with a Forecast greater than or equal to $250,000 to the selected Target Sales Division (Tonya Cooper):

Figure 4. Creating the Rule Term.