If you're managing a sales team or trying to keep your pipeline healthy, you already know: deals slip, reps go quiet, and good intentions fall through the cracks. Automated sales alerts can feel like a silver bullet, but unless they're well set up, you'll drown in noise or miss the real signals. This guide is for anyone who wants to use Clari Co-Pilot’s automation features to actually help sales—not just add another notification to ignore.
Let’s get your alerts working for you, not against you.
1. Know What You Actually Need to Know
Before you touch a single setting, step back. What’s the real problem you’re trying to solve with alerts?
Don’t just turn on everything Clari Co-Pilot offers. More isn’t better—unless you like being ignored. Too many companies set up alerts for every little data blip, and then salespeople tune them out (or worse, build an “alerts” email rule and never see them at all).
Start with these basics:
- Deal risks: When a key deal stalls or has no activity for X days.
- Stage changes: If a big deal moves backward, or jumps forward suspiciously fast.
- Next steps missing: Deals without next actions logged.
- Rep activity: Reps not logging calls or updating deals for a set period.
- Big changes: Unusual forecast swings or high-value deals suddenly shrunk.
Skip the noise: Avoid alerts for tiny stage changes, “deal created” notifications, or non-actionable data. If the alert doesn’t prompt action, don’t set it up.
Pro tip: Ask your team what would actually help them—not what you think is helpful. You’ll learn a lot.
2. Map Out Your Alert Triggers (Before You Click Anything)
It’s tempting to poke around settings and “see what’s possible.” Resist. Map out your must-have alerts on paper or a whiteboard first.
Checklist before setup:
- List the scenarios that matter (e.g., “Deal over $50k hasn’t moved in 7 days”).
- Define the trigger (what has to happen?).
- Decide who should get the alert (rep, manager, whole team?).
- Note when and how they should get it (email, Slack, in-app?).
- Spell out what action you expect after the alert.
You’ll spot overlap, redundancies, and missing pieces before you spend an hour clicking around in Clari Co-Pilot.
3. Set Up Your Alerts in Clari Co-Pilot
Alright, time to get your hands dirty. Log into Clari Co-Pilot. Here’s a step-by-step for setting up useful, actionable alerts.
a. Navigate to Alert Settings
- Go to your admin or settings panel (depends on your Co-Pilot setup).
- Look for “Automated Alerts,” “Notifications,” or similar. If you’re lost, hit the help icon—Clari hides some features behind permissions.
b. Choose Your Alert Type
- Pick from pre-made templates (good starting point) or build custom alerts.
- Start with the most painful scenario, not the easiest one to set up.
c. Define Your Trigger Criteria
Be specific. Vague triggers = useless alerts.
- Wrong: “Notify on deal inactivity.”
- Right: “Alert if no email/call logged on deals over $25k in Commit stage for 5+ days.”
Set thresholds that make sense for your sales cycles. If your team’s deals take 90 days to close, a “3-day inactivity” alert is just noise.
d. Pick Your Audience and Channel
- Who needs to see it? Only alert the person who can fix the problem. Don’t CC the world.
- Where should it go? Email is easy, but Slack or in-app notifications often get faster action. Test what your team actually checks.
e. Write Clear, Actionable Messages
Don’t just say “Deal at risk.” Spell out why and what to do next.
Example:
“Your deal with ACME Corp ($60k, Commit) has had no activity in 7 days. Update next steps or check in with the client.”
If you can, add links back to the deal or activity log for one-click action.
f. Test with a Pilot Group
- Don’t roll out alerts to the whole org at once. Pick a few reps or managers.
- Gather feedback: Are the alerts timely? Actionable? Too many? Too few?
- Tweak thresholds and language based on real-world use.
Pro tip: If people are ignoring alerts after a week, you’ve set up too many or the wrong kind.
4. Avoid Common Alert Mistakes
It’s easy to make alerts worse than useless. Here’s what to watch out for:
- Alert overload: More than 2-3 alerts per day and people start ignoring all of them.
- Vague wording: “Deal needs attention” means nothing. Be specific.
- No clear action: Always include what to do next.
- One-size-fits-all: Different teams or roles need different alerts. Customize.
- Ignoring feedback: If reps keep saying “these alerts aren’t helpful,” believe them. Iterate.
5. Keep It Simple—Then Iterate
Don’t aim for alert perfection on day one. Start small:
- Set up one or two high-value alerts.
- See what works (and what doesn’t).
- Adjust criteria, timing, and audience.
- Add new alerts only when you’re sure they’ll help.
Most teams only need a handful of focused alerts. If you’re spending more time tuning alerts than selling, you’ve missed the point.
6. Use Data to Tune Alerts Over Time
Clari Co-Pilot gives you usage data—who’s opening alerts, acting on them, or ignoring them. Check this monthly.
- Kill alerts that nobody acts on.
- Tighten triggers if you’re getting too many.
- Loosen them if you’re not catching real issues.
Ask your team what’s working in 1:1s and sales meetings. The best sales alerts are ones that change behavior, not just fill inboxes.
7. What to Ignore (and Why)
You’ll see lots of “advanced” alert options—AI-driven suggestions, sentiment analysis, or scoring that promises to predict deal risk. Some of this is legit, but a lot of it is smoke and mirrors.
If you’re just starting out:
- Ignore AI alerts until you’ve nailed the basics. Humans are better at spotting real risk than most algorithms—at least until you’ve got clean, consistent data.
- Don’t alert on every CRM field change. Most of these don’t matter.
- Skip “deal won” or “deal lost” alerts. You should already know, and it’s just noise.
Focus on what helps your team move deals forward or spot preventable problems.
8. Pro Tips for Better Adoption
- Celebrate wins. If an alert saves a deal or helps a rep, call it out. It’ll build trust in the system.
- Link alerts to coaching. Use them in pipeline reviews—“I saw this alert, what’s the plan?”
- Review and prune quarterly. Old alerts pile up and lose relevance.
- Documentation matters. Write a quick doc or Slack post on what each alert does and what to do when you get one.
Keep It Useful, Not Annoying
Automated sales alerts are only as good as the action they drive. If your team trusts them—and acts on them—you’ll see fewer slipped deals and less time chasing updates. If not, you’ve just added another layer of noise.
Start simple, stay skeptical, and keep tuning. Your future self (and your sales team) will thank you.