Every Opportunity needs attribution data to enable accurate reporting on what drives your revenue. The system establishes this connection through two key fields on Opportunities and a related field on Engagements:
Attribution Engagement (Opportunity Field)
Attribution Engagement is a lookup field that connects an Opportunity to an Activation Engagement record that determines:
Source attribution information (where the Opportunity originated)
Sales qualification process data (Stages 1-3), including exact Stage Dates and Owner information
The Contact associated with this attribution
This field is critical as it directly controls which attribution data and qualification process information appears on the Opportunity.
Attribution Contact (Opportunity Field)
Attribution Contact is a lookup field that identifies which Contact's Activation is used for an Opportunity’s attribution. The system automatically keeps this field up to date, reflecting the Contact that the Attribution Engagement belongs to.
Primary Opportunity (Engagement Field)
While Opportunities have fields looking up to Engagements, Engagements also have a field looking up to Opportunities. Primary Opportunity is a lookup field on Activation Engagements, which does the following:
Identifies the first Opportunity the Contact was added to after their Activation was created
Controls when the Activation's sales journey is completed (based on Opportunity closure)
Determines which Opportunity's Stages 4-6 information appears on the Activation
Enables cohort reporting that shows all Activations and the Opportunities they generate
🛠️ Technical Detail: When ‘Primary Opportunity’ can change
To ensure data integrity, the Primary Opportunity cannot be manually edited. It typically remains fixed once set.
However, it will change if:
The Engagement is not the Attribution Engagement for its current Primary Opportunity, AND
The Contact is added to a new Opportunity where this Engagement becomes the Attribution Engagement
In this case, Primary Opportunity will update to the new Opportunity.
The Attribution Selection Process
Initial Attribution Window (12-Hour Period)
For the first 12 hours after an Opportunity is created:
As Contact Roles are added to the Opportunity, the system evaluates each Contact's Activation Engagements
It selects the earliest open Activation among all Contact Roles
This means attribution may shift several times as new Contact Roles are added during this period
After this 12-hour window closes, the attribution "locks" unless manually changed. This balanced approach:
Ensures the best attribution is found regardless of the order Contacts are added
Prevents ongoing attribution changes that could cause reporting inconsistencies
Manual Attribution Adjustments
If admins disagree with the system's attribution selection:
Admins can manually edit the Attribution Engagement field
You must select an Activation Engagement (Influencing Engagements aren't eligible)
The system will automatically update Attribution Contact to match
You cannot directly edit the Attribution Contact field
Note: The system is designed to select internally consistent attribution. Manually overriding this can result in data anomalies, such as missing Sales Progression fields (in the event a Closed Activation is selected).
Special Attribution Cases
Fallback Attribution
If an Opportunity has no Contact Roles or no eligible Activation Engagements, the system will automatically create an Activation to ensure every Opportunity gets attribution via the same mechanism through the Attribution Activation relationship.
When an Opportunity has no Contact Roles or no eligible Activation Engagements:
The system creates a "fallback" Activation Engagement without a Contact
This ensures every Opportunity has attribution data for reporting
Where the fallback attribution comes from:
If the Opportunity has a value in Lead Source, it's used for Medium and Engagement Type
If Lead Source is blank, Medium and Type default to "Opportunity Created without eligible Contact Role or Lead Source"
Source defaults to "[Owner Role] - [Opportunity Owner Name]" (e.g., "AE - John Smith")
Attribution Engagement points to this fallback record
Attribution Contact remains blank
If an eligible Contact Role is added within the first 12 hours, the fallback is replaced
The system removes Fallback Activations if they are no longer used on an Opportunity.
Dormant Contact Reactivation
When a dormant Contact (one whose Current Activation has a value in Sales Journey Completion Date) is added to an open Opportunity:
The system automatically creates a new Activation Engagement for the Contact
This enables tracking the new sales journey that begins when they join the Opportunity
If added within the Opportunity’s 12-hour attribution window, this new Activation may become the Opportunity's Attribution Engagement
If the dormant Contact is added to a Closed Opportunity, they’ll only be reactivated if the Opportunity was Won within the previous 7 days
Troubleshooting
Tip: If you notice incorrect attribution on Opportunities, check when the Contact Roles were added. If it's been more than 12 hours since the Opportunity was created, you'll need to manually update the Attribution Engagement field to correct it.
Why This Matters
This attribution framework ensures:
Every Opportunity has recent and relevant source attribution and qualification process data for reporting
The order in which contacts are added to a recently created Opportunity isn’t critical
Opportunity attribution doesn’t continue to change after the initial creation period