Eliminating manual data entry is central to our goal of developing the leading CRM for private capital, and our new Automation Builder brings users closer to achieving this vision.

Historically, Affinity has excelled in automating tasks deal flow management software such as creating profiles for people and companies and enriching them with both Affinity data and third-party information. The CRM also tracks engagement histories automatically and utilizes relationship intelligence to assess relationship strength accurately. These are "set and forget" automations that provide consistency across all firms utilizing Affinity for deal management. However, many firms have unique workflows that can still be automated. This is where personalized, custom automations come into play.

With the new Automation Builder, users can create if/then statements. For instance, if the content of a specific field meets a defined condition, the contents of another field can automatically update based on the established rules. You can even integrate automations from Affinity to Slack, enhancing communication and workflow management.

These automation capabilities empower Operations and Platform Managers to maintain pipeline accuracy for reporting and analysis. For investors, they can significantly reduce the time spent on manual data entry, allowing teams to make quicker decisions and focus on higher-value activities, such as meeting with founders or sourcing new companies for the deal pipeline.

Let’s explore five top use cases that demonstrate how the Automation Builder can streamline predictable deal information, reduce repetitive tasks, and accelerate progress toward later deal stages and improved outcomes.

Getting Started with the Automation Builder

To start using the Automation Builder, navigate to your Affinity homepage and go to Settings Automations New Automation.

1. Name Your Automation: Give your automation a descriptive name, and optionally, add a brief description for clarity on your Automations dashboard.
2. Select Your Trigger Type: Choose whether your "if" trigger is based on a list-specific or a global field. Keep in mind that selecting a global field means changes could affect other lists. Currently, enriched fields are not available, so you may need to create fields manually for some use cases.
3. Choose the List: If you’ve opted for a list-specific field, select the applicable list for your automation.
4. Set Trigger Criteria: Define the criteria for your trigger by selecting your "if" field and the corresponding conditional operator. A comprehensive list of options is available on our support site.
5. Configure the Action: Under the "then" section, select "Update field." Specify whether this field is list-specific or global, choose the field, set the new value, and save your automation.

Once created, your Automations dashboard will display details about the automation, including who created it and the last time it was triggered. You can pause, resume, edit, or delete automations using the options available.

5 Top Automation Builder Use Cases

1. Automatically Assign Deals to the Right Team: This automation updates the custom Team field to "Tech Team" when the "Owners" field contains any members of the Tech Team.
2. Automatically Prioritize Deals: If the "Deal Amount" exceeds $1,000,000, this automation sets the custom Priority field to 1, streamlining prioritization efforts.
3. Automatically Map Deals to the Right Sectors: For accurate reporting, if the "Subsector" is classified as Medical Devices or Pharmaceuticals, the automation updates the Sector field to Healthcare, accommodating multiple values.
4. Automatically Enhance Origination Tracking: This automation fills the "Origination Group" with "Network" when the "Origination Type" field is filled with VC or LP, ensuring that all necessary details are captured.
5. Notify the Firm of New Deals via Slack: A Slack message is sent to the #deals-won channel whenever a new deal is won. Users can customize the message using dynamic field information for clarity.

While editing Slack automations is not currently available, it will be included in future updates. For more information on setting up automations between Affinity and Slack, refer to our support article.

Conclusion

The Automation Builder significantly reduces the time spent on manual data entry and minimizes the risk of errors through simple, customizable rules that auto-fill fields in real time based on other field content. This feature is available to firms using the Advanced or Enterprise tiers of the CRM. Start exploring how you can set up your own rules today, or reach out to your Customer Success Manager for further assistance.

With these enhancements, firms can optimize their deal pipeline software, leading to more efficient deal flow management and ultimately better outcomes.