---
title: Detect Stale Opportunities
description: Automatically notify managers when opportunities haven't been updated.
---

Keep your pipeline healthy by alerting managers when opportunities go stale. This workflow checks for opportunities that haven't been updated in a specified number of days.

## The Problem

Opportunities sitting without updates lead to:
- Deals going cold
- Unreliable forecasts
- Lost revenue

## The Solution

Create a scheduled workflow that finds stale opportunities and emails their managers.

## Step-by-Step Setup

### Step 1: Create the Workflow

1. Go to **Settings → Workflows**
2. Click **+ New Workflow**
3. Name it "Stale Opportunity Alert"

### Step 2: Configure the Trigger

1. Select **On a Schedule**
2. Set to run daily (e.g., every day at 8 AM)

### Step 3: Search for Stale Opportunities

1. Add **Search Records** action
2. Configure:

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| **Object** | Opportunities |
| **Filter** | Updated At is before (today - 7 days) |
| **Filter** | Stage is not "Closed Won" AND not "Closed Lost" |
| **Limit** | 100 |

### Step 4: Check If Any Found

1. Add **Filter** action
2. Condition: `{{searchRecords.length}}` is greater than 0
3. If no stale opportunities, the workflow stops here

### Step 5: Format the Alert (Code Action)

Add a **Code** action to format the email:

```javascript
export const main = async (params) => {
  const opportunities = params.opportunities;

  // Group opportunities by owner
  const byOwner = {};
  opportunities.forEach(opp => {
    const ownerEmail = opp.owner?.email || 'unassigned';
    if (!byOwner[ownerEmail]) {
      byOwner[ownerEmail] = [];
    }
    byOwner[ownerEmail].push({
      name: opp.name,
      amount: opp.amount,
      lastUpdated: opp.updatedAt,
      stage: opp.stage
    });
  });

  // Format summary for manager
  let summary = "Stale Opportunities Report\n\n";
  Object.entries(byOwner).forEach(([owner, opps]) => {
    summary += `${owner}: ${opps.length} stale opportunities\n`;
    opps.forEach(opp => {
      summary += `  - ${opp.name} (${opp.stage})\n`;
    });
    summary += "\n";
  });

  return {
    summary,
    totalCount: opportunities.length
  };
};
```

### Step 6: Send Alert Email

Add **Send Email** action:

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| **To** | sales-manager@yourcompany.com |
| **Subject** | `🚨 {{code.totalCount}} Stale Opportunities Need Attention` |
| **Body** | `{{code.summary}}` |

### Step 7: Test and Activate

1. Click **Test** to run the workflow
2. Check that the email contains the right data
3. Activate when ready

## Customization Options

### Change Staleness Threshold

Modify the Search Records filter to change from 7 days to your preferred period:
- 3 days for high-velocity sales
- 14 days for enterprise deals
- 30 days for long sales cycles

### Alert Individual Reps

Instead of one manager email, use **Iterator** to send personalized emails to each rep about their own stale deals.

### Add Escalation

Create multiple workflows with increasing severity:
1. Day 7: Email to rep
2. Day 14: Email to rep + manager
3. Day 21: Create task for manager to intervene

### Include in Slack

Use **HTTP Request** to post to a Slack webhook instead of or in addition to email.

## Related

- [Workflow Actions](/user-guide/workflows/capabilities/workflow-actions)
- [Send Emails from Workflows](/user-guide/workflows/capabilities/send-emails-from-workflows)