Welcome to Module 6 with the Innovation Lab Coaching - Michael & Thibaut talking.
Ready to unlock the spell that makes you the first to apply for the right projects, without lifting a finger?
With a bit of Zapier, some smart filters, and an AI decision tree, you’ll learn how to:
✨ Auto-apply on opportunities that truly fit your agency.
✨ Set hard rules (budget, country, languages, company size).
✨ Add AI judgment as your final gatekeeper.
✨ Never lose a golden project again.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Once enabled, this Zap will auto-consume your Sortlist credits. There’s no “auto-refund.” Use wisely, test before going live, and don’t spam — remember, we’re building long-term trust with buyers.
🎯 The Rules for Our Auto-Apply
Let's take an example, we’d like to get all the opportunities matching my public profile that are in France, where the required languages are French or English, for companies with more than 40 employees and a project budget greater than €10k. Or, if no budget is provided, only for companies with more than 100 employees.
Finally, I want to ensure that my decision is backed by an AI/LLM final decision — if the AI confirms all these criteria are met, I will auto-apply to the opportunity.
Therefore, we only auto-apply if the opportunity matches one of these branches:
Branch A - Smaller company with Good Projects
Country = France (ISO: FR)
Languages include French OR English
Company employees > 40
Budget > €10k
Branch B - Big Companies (>100 employees)
Country = France (ISO: FR)
Languages include French OR English
Company employees > 100
Budget is empty / not provided
👉 In both cases, the opportunity must pass the AI/LLM final decision (“TRUE = Apply”).
⚡ Step-by-Step Workflow
Step 1 — Trigger: New Opportunity Received
App: Sortlist
Trigger: New Opportunity Received
Example:
A new project pops in → “Redesign our corporate website for a retail chain” with a budget of €25k.
Step 2 — Filter: Country
App: Zapier Filter
Condition: country = FR
✅ Project from Paris passes.
❌ Project from Berlin gets skipped.
Step 3 — Filter: Languages
Condition: languages_required contains French OR English
✅ “Project requires French” → passes.
✅ “Project requires English” → passes.
❌ “Project requires German only” → skipped.
Step 4 — Paths for Branch A vs Branch B
Use Paths by Zapier here:
🔹 Path A (Budget known >€10k & >40 employees)
company.employees_min> 40budget_min> 10000
🔹 Path B (Budget empty, >100 employees)
company.employees_min> 100budget_minis empty/null (Zapier filter “Does not exist” or “Is blank”)
If neither branch passes → stop the Zap.
Step 6 — AI Decision Tree 🧠
Now, bring in AI to check qualitative fit.
App: OpenAI → Conversation
Prompt to paste in Zapier:
You are my auto-apply decision engine.
The opportunity has already passed my structured rules (country, language, employees, budget).
Now your only job is to verify if this project clearly matches my agency expertise as stated in my public profile:
https://www.sortlist.com/en/agency/{{Provider_slug}}.
Hidden checklist (do not output):
Does the project description explicitly mention at least one of the services my agency offers?
Is the project category aligned with categories on my profile?
If sector is provided, does it fall within the industries I have worked in?
Is the description sufficiently detailed to confirm the match?
If vague or missing, treat as NOT a match.
Decision rule:
If all conditions above are satisfied → TRUE.
Otherwise → FALSE.
Answer ONLY with TRUE or FALSE.
Opportunity details:Title: {{project.title}}
Expertise : {{project.expertise}}
Description: {{project.description}}
Sector: {{sector}}
Example:
Project: “Build e-commerce website with payment gateway” → AI says TRUE.
Project: “Film a corporate documentary” → AI says FALSE (not your expertise).
Step 7 — Filter on AI Output
Let's not forget to filter your AI results to ensure that only the candidates passing the AI decision will be applied to.
Condition: AI output = TRUE.
Only the projects that both pass your hard rules and are endorsed by the AI decision tree continue.
This is a boolean output, as you have clearly stipulated that the AI assistant will only answer with TRUE or FALSE in your prompt. 😉.
Step 8 — Auto-Apply 🎉
App: Sortlist
Action: Apply on Opportunity
Opportunity ID →
{{opportunity.id}}Application template → Your default pitch
And boom 💥 you’re in front of the client while your competitors are still sipping coffee.
Step 9 — Log the Magic (Optional)
Add a Google Sheets or Slack Channel step to log decisions made:
Opportunity ID | Company | Budget | Employees | Languages | AI Decision | Applied |
12345 | Retail chain SA | €25k | 200 | FR | TRUE | ✅ |
67890 | Small Startup | €5k | 10 | EN | FALSE | ❌ |
This gives you visibility and helps fine-tune your AI prompt.
Congrats! You have now become a true Automation Guru. 🎉
Your workflow should look like this now:
🚀 Final Coaching Tips
Start Narrow: Don’t go global on day one. Test with 1–2 expertise you know you’ll win.
Add Slack Alerts: Drop a Slack message every time AI approves → “Wizardry in action: Auto-applied to RetailChain SA (€25k).”
Iterate Your AI: If it’s too loose, add “Be strict, only TRUE if 100% match.”
Celebrate Micro-Wins: The first time your Zap applies while you sleep? That’s the moment you know you’re playing on another level.
🌟 Why This is Magic
You just built a decision engine:
Rules = shield (filters protect you from low-quality).
AI = sword (cuts through the fuzziness of project text).
Auto-apply = lightning strike ✨ (fastest response wins the buyer’s attention).
Congratulations 🧙 — you are officially the Magic Wizzar of inbound business on Sortlist.