Can Channeltivity create an Opportunity vs. a Lead in Salesforce?

By default, when a Deal is synced to Salesforce, Channeltivity creates a Lead in Salesforce. However, Channeltivity also offers an optional setting that allows the system to create an Opportunity instead of a Lead under specific conditions.

Default Behavior

Channeltivity creates a Lead in Salesforce by default because Opportunities must be associated with both an Account and a Contact, and every company has its own unique guidelines for establishing those associations. Since the rules vary across companies, we felt it was best to create Leads instead of Opportunities to allow Users to select the relevant Account/Contact when converting the Lead to an Opportunity. 

Optional Setting: Create an Opportunity When a Contact Match Exists

If enabled, the “Try to match Salesforce Contact before pushing Deal into Salesforce” setting changes this behavior.

When this setting is turned on:

• Before pushing the Deal to Salesforce, Channeltivity attempts to match the End User Contact on the Deal to an existing Salesforce Contact based on email.
  
  

• If exactly one matching Contact is found, Channeltivity creates an Opportunity instead of a Lead and associates it with:

  • The matched Contact

  • The related Account

• If no Contact match is found (or multiple matches exist), Channeltivity creates a Lead as usual.
  
  

This ensures Opportunities are only created when Channeltivity can confidently associate them with the correct Contact and Account.

When to Use This Setting

This setting is ideal if:

• Your Salesforce Contacts are well-maintained and uniquely identified by email

• You want to reduce manual Lead conversion

• You prefer more automated Opportunity creation during Deal Registration

If your organization requires manual review or has complex Account/Contact rules, the default Lead-based flow may still be the best fit.

Important Considerations: 

• The Email field on the Deal's End User Contact should be made required in Channeltivity, as it’s used to identify a matching Salesforce Contact. If exactly one match is found, an Opportunity is created instead of a Lead. If no match is found, a Lead is created
  
  To make the Email field required, go to Settings > User & Organization Fields > User Field Requirement & Visibility. Scroll down the page to the "Customer/Prospect Fields" section to set the Email field to Required. 

• The Close Date field on the Salesforce Opportunity object is required by Salesforce. Therefore, the Close Date field on the Deal in Channeltivity must be populated for Channeltivity to create an Opportunity record in Salesforce.
  
  To avoid sync errors for records with no Close Date value, we recommend making the Close Date field in Channeltivity required by going to Settings > Deal Registration > Deal Registration Module Settings. 

• Salesforce Opportunities created by Channeltivity are subject to the same validation rules and field requirements as Opportunities created directly in Salesforce. If you have validation rules with special or manual requirements, you may want to update those rules to exclude records created by Channeltivity to ensure successful Opportunity creation. 

How to Enable It

In Channeltivity, go to Settings > Salesforce Integration > Deal Registration, and toggle the “Try to match Salesforce Contact before pushing Deal into Salesforce” setting to the ON position. 

You’ll then be prompted to review and confirm any additional field mappings needed for the Deal to Opportunity creation > Save.