Design stages around decisions
Each stage should represent a decision the buyer has made, not an activity your team performed. 'Called' is an activity; 'Discovery booked' is a decision. Decision-based stages make your forecast meaningful and keep reps honest.
Keep the pipeline short
Five to seven stages is enough for most businesses. More than that and stage data becomes noise because deals get parked in the wrong place.
Metrics worth a weekly look
Review these five together — individually they mislead.
- Speed to lead: median time between lead created and first outbound touch.
- Appointment show rate: booked versus attended.
- Stage conversion: percentage advancing from each stage to the next.
- Pipeline value by stage, weighted by historic close rate.
- Cost per closed deal by source, using the attribution report.