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Guide · Pipeline

Sales pipeline stages.

The five pipeline stages most B2B teams should use, the written exit criterion for each, starting probabilities, and how to learn your own from won/lost history.

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01Five stages

A stage is a promise, not a feeling.

StageExit criterionStarting probability
ProspectContact identified from a signal; first touch sent10%
DiscoveryProblem, budget owner and timeline confirmed in writing25%
ProposalWritten proposal sent; decision process and date known50%
NegotiationCommercial terms under discussion; legal/procurement engaged75%
ClosedWon: invoice issued. Lost: reason recorded100%
Pipeline · Founder-led sales
LiveWeighted $100,400
Prospect$18,400
Max HealthcareICU module · 12 beds
$18,400health 82
Discovery$23,100
Northwind LtdRenewal + 2 seats
$14,200health 64
Bhatia LogisticsFleet tracking pilot
$8,900health 71
Proposal$47,600
Orbit StudioAgency retainer
$5,600health 38
Fintech RailEnterprise plan
$42,000health 76
Negotiation$11,300
Coastal HotelsGroup booking desk
$11,300health 55
Health scoreEngagement, fit and momentum — recalculated after every email, reply and call.Stage totalsWeighted forecast updates the moment a card moves.Click anything to explore
Download the pipeline templateTake the course →
Forecast

Learn probabilities from your own history.

Forecast · Q3 · weighted by deal health
Accuracy 94%
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSep$312k
Weighted pipelineCommit · reps
$312kweighted this quarter
94%forecast accuracy · last 4 quarters
Weighted vs commitThe weighted line uses stage probabilities learned from your own won/lost history — not a fixed 20/40/60 table.
See it work

See it done inside the product.

Every card below is a real workflow — not a slide. Click through them, then click inside the screens.

Reply centre · Reply Triage Agent
5 replies · 0 missed
SV
Sandeep Voghra · Max HealthcareYes — send the ICU module pricing and let's set up 20 minutes next week.
Interested
AK
Anita Kapoor · NorthwindNot this quarter, check back in October after our budget resets.
Not now
RM
Rahul Mehta · Bhatia LogisticsI'm not the right person — try our ops head, Priya (cc'd).
Referral
OO
auto-reply · Coastal HotelsI am out of the office until 14 September with limited email access.
Out of office
JD
J. Dawson · Orbit StudioPlease remove me from this list.
Unsubscribe
Reply Triage Agent
“Yes — send the ICU module pricing and let's set up 20 minutes next week.”
Classified as Interested in 0.4 s.
What happened next: Sequence stopped · deal drafted by Vera · reply routed to you
Click anything to explore
Vera · assistant
No AI key needed
Add Sandeep Voghra, VP at Max Healthcare, sv@maxhealth.com. New deal for the ICU module, $18,400, proposal stage. Note: wants pricing by Friday.
Vera — Drafted 3 records from one sentence. Nothing is saved until you approve.
ContactSandeep Voghra · VP · sv@maxhealth.com
AccountMax Healthcare · Healthcare · Delhi NCR
DealICU module · $18,400 · Proposal
TaskSend pricing · due Friday
Approve allEditDiscard
Draft → approveVera never writes to your database on her own. 73 of her 106 commands run with no AI key at all.
Pipeline · Founder-led sales
LiveWeighted $100,400
Prospect$18,400
Max HealthcareICU module · 12 beds
$18,400health 82
Discovery$23,100
Northwind LtdRenewal + 2 seats
$14,200health 64
Bhatia LogisticsFleet tracking pilot
$8,900health 71
Proposal$47,600
Orbit StudioAgency retainer
$5,600health 38
Fintech RailEnterprise plan
$42,000health 76
Negotiation$11,300
Coastal HotelsGroup booking desk
$11,300health 55
Health scoreEngagement, fit and momentum — recalculated after every email, reply and call.Stage totalsWeighted forecast updates the moment a card moves.Click anything to explore
Revenue attribution · last 90 days · paid invoices only
Locks on paid
Founder-led outbound
$96,400
Partner referral
$52,000
Webinar follow-up
$29,900
Inbound — pricing page
$21,200
Re-engagement
$11,600
Email sentReplyDealInvoice paid
Same databaseSequence, reply, deal and invoice are rows in one table — attribution is a query, not a reconciliation.Click anything to explore
Inbox Shield · pre-flight · sales@yourdomain.com
Ready to send
18/18checks cleared
✓SPF aligned
✓DKIM 2048-bit
✓DMARC p=quarantine
✓MX resolves
✓rDNS matches
✓Not on 12 blocklists
✓Domain age > 30 d
✓Warm-up day 21/28
✓Daily cap 40/mailbox
✓Custom tracking domain
✓Unsubscribe header
✓Spam words: 0
✓Links: 1, same domain
✓HTML/text ratio OK
✓Bounce rate 0.6%
✓Complaint rate 0.02%
✓Reply address monitored
✓Send window 09–17 local
Inbox ShieldNothing leaves a mailbox until every check passes. A failed check blocks the send, not the report.
Published by QuotariderLast updated 6 September 2026Reviewed quarterly

Questions teams ask

How many stages?

Five, six at most. More stages feel precise and forecast worse.

Where do probabilities come from?

Your won/lost history per stage, refreshed quarterly; the 20/40/60/80 table is a guess.

How often is this updated?

Quarterly, and whenever a vendor changes pricing or a law changes. Last review: September 2026.

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