Move deals through the pipeline and configure stages
Use the board, list and pivot, move deals between stages, and set up stages with entry criteria and allowed moves.
Before you begin
Know which pipeline and stages your company uses. Each stage has a starting probability. A stage can require fields to be filled before a deal enters it, and can limit where a deal may go next.
Move a deal
- Open CRM > Opportunities. The Board has one lane per active stage. Each card shows the reference, subject, value, owner initials, priority and buttons for Next stage, W (won), L (lost) and New quotation.
- Drag a card to another lane, or press Next stage. You can also change Stage on the deal form.
- To start a new opportunity in a stage, press + on that lane. The form opens with the stage chosen. An opportunity needs an expected close date.
Use List for the same records in columns, and Pivot to total by stage, status, owner, team, source, market, organization, expected close or creation date. Pivot measures are expected value, number of deals and average probability.
What happens next
- The stage changes and the probability becomes the new stage's starting probability.
- A stage-history row is written. The previous stay is closed with its length in days.
- A card you cannot change, or a move the rules refuse, snaps back and shows the reason.
Stage rules that can refuse a move
| Rule | Message |
|---|---|
| The stage needs fields that are empty | 'Proposal needs: Budget, Customer need.' |
| The current stage limits where a deal may go | 'From New a deal may move only to Qualified.' |
| A lead tries to enter a qualification stage | 'Qualify the lead before entering this stage.' |
| The stage is in another pipeline | 'That stage belongs to another pipeline.' |
| Next stage on the last stage | 'This is the last stage.' |
Fix the cause (fill the field, qualify the lead) and move again.
Configure stages
- Open CRM > Configuration > Pipeline stages as an administrator.
- Press New stage.
- Enter Name and, optionally, Arabic name.
- Set Sequence (0 to 10,000), Probability % (0 to 100) and Expected days in stage (0 means no limit; used for aging reports).
- Switch Qualification required on if a lead may not enter this stage.
- Tick the Entry criteria: customer need, budget, decision maker, expected close, expected value, customer, competitor, next step, contact, e-mail or phone.
- Tick May move to to limit the next stages. If nothing is ticked, any stage of the pipeline is allowed.
- Press Save.
Pipelines
A company can have several pipelines (CRM > Configuration > Pipelines, crm.configure). Exactly one is the default. Saving another as default clears the flag on the first. Deals created without a pipeline use the default one.
Good to know
- Changing the entry criteria or allowed moves of an existing stage raises the pipeline's criteria version. Each stage-history row records the version of the rules it passed.
- Changing a stage's probability later does not change past history rows.
- A stage with open deals cannot be archived: 'Move open records to another stage before archiving this stage.' It also cannot move to another pipeline: 'Deals are in this stage; it cannot move to another pipeline.'
- The stage history tab shows every stay: entered, left, days, the probability then, and the stage default then.
- Dragging a card uses the same save as the form, including the version check. If someone else changed the deal, reload.