How it works
A pipeline is made of stages, and every open deal sits in exactly one. Good stages share three traits:
- They describe the customer’s progress, not just your activity. “Quote accepted” says more than “Followed up”.
- They have exit criteria. A deal moves to “Quote sent” when a written quote has gone out, not when someone intends to send one.
- They are few. Most small teams manage with five to seven, including Won and Lost.
Some teams attach a rough probability to each stage for forecasting. That is optional, and only useful once you have enough history to estimate it honestly.
Example
A boutique event-rental company defines these stages and exit criteria:
| Stage | Moves on when |
|---|---|
| New inquiry | Event date and guest count are known |
| Items selected | Customer confirms an item list |
| Quote sent | Written quote is delivered |
| Deposit pending | Customer accepts the quote |
| Booked | Deposit is received |
| Won / Lost | Event is complete, or customer declines |
A customer messages on WhatsApp about chairs and tables for a 120-person backyard wedding. Once she confirms the date and list, the rep sends the quote and the deal moves to “Quote sent”. Two days without a reply triggers a follow-up reminder for the rep.
Deal stage vs. conversation status
A conversation status (open, waiting, closed) describes the thread: does someone need to reply? A deal stage describes the opportunity: how close is it to a sale? A deal can sit in “Quote sent” while its conversation is closed, because the ball is in the customer’s court.
Why it matters for messaging teams
Stages turn a chat into something the team can manage. When stage changes happen alongside the conversation, the pipeline reflects reality instead of last week’s memory, and stage changes can drive reminders.
Common mistakes
- Stages nobody can define the same way.
- Skipping a Lost stage, or not recording why deals were lost.
- Moving deals backward to show activity.
- Creating a separate pipeline for every variation of a service.
inChat’s deals and pipeline are in development as part of launch scope; stage-triggered workflow automation is in development.