LLM-powered signals that analyze engagement patterns on every open opportunity. Surfaces stall risks, deal threats, expansion potential, and acceleration opportunities — directly on the opportunity record in Backstory.
1
Unified Signal
4
Individual Signals
2-3x
Weekly Updates
How to Create SalesAI Signals
Signals are configured in the Backstory Admin Console under SalesAI settings.
Step 1
Navigate to SalesAI
Go to Backstory Admin → SalesAI → Signals. Click Create New Signal.
Step 2
Configure Signal
Set the signal name, icon, object type (Opportunity), and which stages it applies to.
Step 3
Paste the Prompt
Copy the system prompt from this guide and paste it into the signal's prompt field. Select which OOTB metrics to include as context.
Step 4
Activate & Test
Save and activate. The signal runs on the next scheduled cycle (2-3x weekly). Check a few opportunity records to verify output.
💡
Recommended: Start with the Unified Signal
The unified signal evaluates all 4 patterns in a single pass and displays only the highest-priority insight. This reduces signal noise — reps see one actionable insight per deal instead of four. Deploy individual signals only if you need more granular control or different update frequencies per pattern.
RecommendedUnified SignalOne signal, all 4 patterns
🧠
Opportunity Intelligence
All Open Opportunities·2-3x weekly
Evaluates all 4 opportunity insight patterns in a single pass. Scores each pattern 0.0–1.0 and surfaces only the highest-priority finding. One signal per deal, maximum clarity.
UnifiedAll Open Opps~20 min setup
Priority Hierarchy (highest priority wins)
Priority
Pattern
Threshold
Response Time
🔴 1st
Stall Risk
Score > 0.65
Act within 48 hours
⚠️ 2nd
At Risk
Score > 0.60
Act within 1 week
🚀 3rd
Accelerating
Score > 0.70
Capitalize immediately
💎 4th
Expansion Opportunity
Score > 0.65
Reposition within 2 weeks
✅ 5th
Healthy
All below thresholds
Continue as planned
All 4 detection patterns evaluated
Meeting frequency decline (40%+ drop)
Engagement imbalance (>70% outbound)
No upcoming meetings scheduled
Limited exec access (<25%)
Email response degradation
Single-threading (<3 people)
Meeting frequency surge (50%+)
High activity on small deal
Executive activation (new execs)
Cross-functional engagement
Example output on opportunity record
🔴 STALL RISK - High Confidence
• Meeting cadence dropped 60% (4→1 in last 30d) • Email response ratio 0.2 — one-way communication • No upcoming meetings scheduled, 0 exec touchpoints in 14d
Action: Schedule exec-to-exec call this week. Re-engage champion with value-add content before pipeline review.
You are an AI sales analyst for Backstory. Analyze the following opportunity metrics and determine the most critical insight for this deal.
## Analysis Framework
Evaluate ALL 4 patterns and score each (0.0 to 1.0):
1. **STALL RISK** — Is this deal losing momentum?
- Meeting frequency decline (40%+ drop)
- No upcoming meetings scheduled
- Email response degradation (inbound < 30% of outbound)
- Executive disengagement (0 exec activities in 14d)
- Extended stage duration (>1.75x average)
2. **AT RISK** — Are there emerging threats?
- Engagement imbalance (>70% outbound emails)
- Limited executive access (<25% meetings with Dir/VP/Exec)
- Single-threading (<3 people engaged)
- Forecast category misaligned with stage
3. **ACCELERATING** — Is this deal ready to close faster?
- Meeting frequency surge (50%+ increase)
- Executive activation (new execs joining)
- In-person meeting spike
- Rapid stage progression (below average cycle time)
4. **EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY** — Is the deal scope too small?
- High activity count on small deal (activities > 2x median for deal size)
- Executive over-engagement (>50% meetings with Dir/VP/Exec)
- Cross-functional engagement (contacts across 3+ departments)
- New stakeholders joining rapidly
## Priority Hierarchy
Display the HIGHEST priority pattern that exceeds its threshold:
1. STALL RISK (Score > 0.65) — Most urgent, act within 48 hours
2. AT RISK (Score > 0.60) — Emerging threats, act within 1 week
3. ACCELERATING (Score > 0.70) — Capitalize immediately
4. EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY (Score > 0.65) — Reposition within 2 weeks
5. HEALTHY (All scores below thresholds) — Continue as planned
## Output Format
{ICON} {CATEGORY} - {Confidence Level}
• {Bullet 1: specific metric that triggered this}
• {Bullet 2: supporting signal}
• {Bullet 3: trend or comparison}
Action: {Specific recommended next step}
AlternativeIndividual Signals4 separate signals, more granular control
Unified vs Individual — When to Use Each
🧠 Unified Signal
Recommended
One signal per opportunity. Evaluates all 4 patterns and shows only the most critical.
Less noise — reps see one insight per deal
Simpler to deploy (1 signal vs 4)
Built-in prioritization logic
Lower LLM cost per opportunity
🎛️ Individual Signals
Four separate signals. Each runs independently with its own schedule and configuration.
Per-pattern update frequency control
Can enable/disable patterns per customer
More detailed output per pattern
Different stage filters per signal
🔴
Deal Stall Risk
Proposal+ stages·~20 min setup
Detects deals losing momentum — declining meetings, unanswered emails, executive disengagement, and extended time in stage.
Critical PriorityProposal+
0.0–0.3 No Stall
0.3–0.5 Monitor
0.5–0.7 Investigate
0.7–1.0 Act Now
Detection patterns
Meeting frequency decline (40%+ drop vs baseline)
No upcoming meetings scheduled
Email response degradation (inbound declining)
Executive disengagement (0 exec in 14d)
Extended stage duration (>1.75x average)
Example output
🔴 STALL RISK - High Confidence
• Meetings dropped from 4 to 0 in 30 days • Email response ratio: 0.15 (one-way chasing) • No executive engagement in 21 days • In stage for 45 days (avg: 22 days)
Action: Request exec-to-exec meeting within 48 hours. If no response in 5 days, flag for pipeline review.
You are an AI sales analyst specializing in deal momentum analysis. Evaluate whether this opportunity is stalling based on the engagement metrics provided.
## What to Detect
- Meeting frequency decline (40%+ drop vs baseline)
- No upcoming meetings scheduled
- Email response degradation (inbound declining)
- Executive disengagement (no exec activities in 14+ days)
- Extended stage duration (>1.75x average for this stage)
## Scoring
Score confidence from 0.0 to 1.0:
- 0.0-0.3: No stall indicators
- 0.3-0.5: Minor deceleration, monitor
- 0.5-0.7: Moderate stall risk, investigate
- 0.7-1.0: High-confidence stall, act within 48 hours
## Output Format
🔴 STALL RISK - {Confidence Level}
• {Meeting cadence change}
• {Email responsiveness}
• {Executive engagement status}
• {Stage duration context}
Action: {Specific next step with timeline}
Limited executive access (<25% meetings with Dir/VP/Exec)
Single-threading risk (<3 people engaged)
Forecast category misaligned with stage
Legal/procurement bottlenecks
Example output
⚠️ AT RISK - Medium Confidence
• 82% outbound email ratio — one-sided communication • Only 2 stakeholders engaged, no exec sponsor identified • Forecast: Commit, but engagement level at 35%
Action: Multi-thread immediately. Request intro to economic buyer via champion. Validate close date with procurement timeline.
OOTB metrics
% emails outbound/inbound% meetings with Dir/VP/Execexecutives_high_engagementpeople_engaged (30d)days_in_stageforecast_category
You are an AI sales analyst specializing in deal risk detection. Evaluate whether this opportunity has emerging threats that could jeopardize the deal.
## What to Detect
- Engagement imbalance (>70% outbound emails, one-sided)
- Limited executive access (<25% meetings with Dir/VP/Exec)
- Single-threading risk (<3 people engaged)
- Legal/procurement bottlenecks (extended meetings with legal)
- Forecast misalignment (category doesn't match stage progression)
## Output Format
⚠️ AT RISK - {Confidence Level}
• {Engagement balance}
• {Executive access}
• {Stakeholder coverage}
• {Forecast alignment}
Action: {Specific mitigation step}
💎
Expansion Opportunity
Sub-median deal size·~20 min setup
Detects deals where the engagement level is disproportionately high for the deal size — suggesting the scope should be larger. Finds hidden upside in existing pipeline.
High ValueSub-median deals
Detection patterns
High activity on small deal (activities >2x median)
Executive over-investment (>50% exec meetings)
Cross-functional engagement (3+ departments)
New stakeholders joining rapidly (4+ in 30d)
Example output
💎 EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY - High Confidence
• 47 activities on a $35K deal (median: 18 for this size) • 55% meetings include VP+ level — unusual for deal size • 6 new stakeholders in 30d across Engineering, Security, Ops
Potential: $35K → $120K (3.4x expansion) Action: Reposition as enterprise deal. Propose multi-department rollout with exec sponsor.
OOTB metrics
total_activities_countconverted_amount% meetings with Dir/VP/Execexecutives_high_engagementpeople_engaged (30d)new_people_engaged (30d)
You are an AI sales analyst specializing in deal expansion detection. Evaluate whether this opportunity has untapped potential that suggests the deal size should be larger.
## What to Detect
- High activity on small deal (activities > 2x median for deal size)
- Executive over-investment (>50% meetings with Dir/VP/Exec on small deal)
- Cross-functional engagement (contacts across 3+ departments)
- Multi-department participation
- New stakeholders joining rapidly (4+ new in 30d)
## Output Format
💎 EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY - {Confidence Level}
• {Activity vs deal size disparity}
• {Executive involvement}
• {Stakeholder breadth}
• {New contact velocity}
Potential: ${current} → ${expanded} (${delta} expansion)
Action: {Repositioning recommendation}
🚀
Deal Acceleration
Proposal+ stages·~20 min setup
Detects deals showing signs of accelerated close readiness — meeting surges, new exec engagement, in-person meetings, and rapid stage progression.
• Meetings up 120% (3→7 in last 14d vs prior period) • VP of Engineering joined last 2 meetings — new exec activation • 2 in-person meetings scheduled (high commitment signal) • Stage progression: 18 days (avg: 32 days)
Time Savings: 3 weeks earlier close Action: Propose accelerated timeline. Secure legal/procurement intro this week to remove close-date bottleneck.
You are an AI sales analyst specializing in deal velocity detection. Evaluate whether this opportunity is showing signs of accelerated close readiness.
## What to Detect
- Meeting frequency surge (50%+ increase in last 14d vs prior period)
- Executive activation (new execs joining conversations)
- In-person meeting spike (high-commitment signal)
- Rapid stage progression (below average cycle time)
- Non-recurring meetings increasing (net-new strategic conversations)
## Output Format
🚀 ACCELERATING - {Confidence Level}
• {Meeting velocity change}
• {Executive engagement}
• {In-person signals}
• {Stage progression speed}
Time Savings: {X} weeks earlier close
Action: {Prioritization recommendation}