Pipelines and Opportunities

Design a sales pipeline

Draft, review, and build a clean sales pipeline.

Beginner30 minWeek 1

Related training lesson: Week 1: Pipelines and Opportunity Stages

Purpose

This SOP helps you design a clean sales pipeline before building it inside the CRM. A pipeline is the visual path an opportunity follows from first interest to a final outcome. It should reflect how the business actually sells, follows up, books, proposes, wins, loses, or delays opportunities. The goal is not to create a complicated pipeline. The goal is to create a pipeline that the team can understand, update, report on, and automate against later. A good pipeline makes the rest of the CRM easier. A messy pipeline creates bad reports, confused workflows, and opportunities that sit in the wrong stage for weeks.

When to Use This SOP

Use this SOP when:

Building a new CRM account
Creating a pipeline for the first time
Rebuilding a messy pipeline
Preparing for workflow automation
Sales stages are unclear
The team cannot explain what each stage means
Opportunities are sitting in vague stages like “In Progress” or “Follow Up”
Reports do not show where deals are actually stuck

Before You Start

Do not start by creating stages inside the CRM.
Start outside the CRM first. Use a document, spreadsheet, whiteboard, Figma board, or simple notebook. The pipeline should make sense on paper before it is built.

You should have:

A clear sales or intake process
A basic understanding of how a lead becomes a customer
A list of current follow-up steps
A list of possible final outcomes
Agreement from the people who will use the pipeline
A decision about which stages matter for reporting

Step-by-Step Procedure

1
Define the pipeline purpose
Write one sentence that explains what the pipeline is for.
Examples:
- This pipeline tracks new sales opportunities from lead to close.
- This pipeline tracks consultation requests from form submission to booked appointment.
- This pipeline tracks proposals from sent to signed.
- This pipeline tracks referral leads from introduction to outcome.
If one pipeline is trying to handle too many unrelated processes, consider whether separate pipelines are needed.
2
List the real-world journey
Write the real-world journey before naming stages.
Ask:
- Where does the opportunity start?
- What happens after the lead enters?
- Does the team call, text, email, or book?
- Is there a consultation or appointment?
- Is there a proposal or quote?
- Is there a payment, signed agreement, or approval step?
- What counts as won?
- What counts as lost?
- What happens when the lead is not ready yet?
Do not skip this step. Pipeline stages should reflect the business process, not guesses.
3
Draft the core stages
Create a simple draft of the main stages.
A common starter pipeline may include:
- New Lead
- Contact Attempted
- Appointment Booked
- Appointment Completed
- Proposal Sent
- Won
- Lost / Not a Fit
- Follow-Up Later
Adjust these to match the business. Do not use stages just because they sound common.
4
Define entry conditions for each stage
Each stage should have a clear entry condition.
Examples:
- New Lead: A contact submitted a lead form or was manually added as a new opportunity.
- Contact Attempted: The team made the first call, text, or email attempt.
- Appointment Booked: The contact booked a meeting.
- Appointment Completed: The meeting happened.
- Proposal Sent: A quote, agreement, or proposal was sent.
- Won: The deal became a client, customer, or approved opportunity.
- Lost / Not a Fit: The opportunity is not moving forward.
- Follow-Up Later: The person is valid but not ready now.
If you cannot define what moves an opportunity into a stage, the stage is not ready.
5
Define exit conditions for each stage
Each stage also needs an exit condition.
Ask:
- What must happen before the opportunity leaves this stage?
- Who is responsible for moving it?
- Is movement manual or automated?
- What stage comes next?
- What happens if the contact does not respond?
- What happens if the contact books?
- What happens if the contact is not qualified?
Exit conditions are what make a pipeline usable. Without them, opportunities get stuck.
6
Separate reporting stages from holding stages
Some stages are useful for reporting. Others are operational holding stages.
Reporting stages show the health of the business. Examples:
- New Lead
- Appointment Booked
- Proposal Sent
- Won
- Lost
Operational holding stages help the team manage work. Examples:
- Needs Review
- Waiting on Client
- Follow-Up Later
Both can be useful, but they should not be mixed casually. Too many holding stages can make reporting hard to read.
7
Remove vague stages
Remove stages that do not have a clear meaning.
Avoid stages like:
- Hot
- Maybe
- Important
- Working On It
- Call Soon
- Need to Check
- Active
- Pending
- Random Leads
These stages usually mean different things to different people.
Use clear stage names that describe the actual status of the opportunity.
8
Decide whether automation will move stages
Some stage changes may happen manually. Others may happen through workflows.
Examples:
Manual movement:
- A sales rep moves an opportunity after a call.
- A team member marks an opportunity Lost / Not a Fit.
- A manager moves an opportunity to Follow-Up Later.
Workflow movement:
- A calendar booking moves the opportunity to Appointment Booked.
- A completed appointment moves the opportunity to Appointment Completed.
- A signed document moves the opportunity to Won or Onboarding.
Do not automate stage movement until the stage rules are clear.
9
Build the pipeline in the CRM
After the pipeline is planned, build it inside the CRM.
Use the planned stage names exactly.
Avoid adding extra stages while building unless the plan is updated and documented.
After building, review the pipeline visually and confirm the order makes sense.
10
Test the pipeline with sample opportunities
Create one or two test opportunities.
Move them through the pipeline manually and ask:
- Does each stage make sense?
- Is there any unclear stage?
- Is any stage missing?
- Are there duplicate stages?
- Could a new team member understand this?
- Does the pipeline support the workflows that will be built later?
Fix the pipeline before connecting workflows.

Checks Before You Finish

✓Before this SOP is complete, confirm:
✓The pipeline has a clear purpose
✓Each stage has a clear name
✓Each stage has an entry condition
✓Each stage has an exit condition
✓Vague stages have been removed
✓Reporting stages and holding stages are intentional
✓Won, Lost, and Follow-Up Later logic is defined
✓Manual vs automated movement is understood
✓The pipeline is built in the CRM
✓A test opportunity was moved through the pipeline
✓The pipeline can be explained to another person

Common Mistakes

Watch for these

Avoid these mistakes:

Building the pipeline before mapping the process
Creating too many stages
Using vague stage names
Duplicating the same stage with different words
Mixing reporting stages and operational holding stages without a reason
Letting every team member interpret stages differently
Automating stage movement before the stage rules are clear
Forgetting to define Lost / Not a Fit
Forgetting to define Follow-Up Later
Building workflows on top of a pipeline no one trusts