Opportunity pipeline

An opportunity is the sales unit of work. It has a record number, subject, owner, account counterparty, expected close date and expected value. The owner keeps a next step and probability where useful. Status distinguishes New, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Won and Lost. The qualification and proposal workflows move status and write evidence of those actions. Closing records the outcome and an operation receipt.

Opportunity status separates New, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Won and Lost work. The Sales Owner updates the next step and expected close date. The active qualification, proposal and closing workflows add supporting activities or receipts, allowing the Sales Manager to inspect why a record changed stage.

• Ownership. The named owner keeps the next action current and is responsible for resolving stale work.
• Context. Related records keep the customer, opportunity and organization together so the team can inspect the case before acting.
• Evidence. A date, outcome, decision or receipt helps a colleague understand what actually happened.

Agree who may own and reassign an opportunity, when a New record qualifies, and what evidence counts as a sent proposal. Define how close dates are revised and when Negotiation is used. Managers should review won and lost outcomes against the account before using stage totals for planning.

Pilot a New opportunity with a real owner, expected value and close date. Qualify it, submit a proposal and close it with an outcome. The Sales Manager should compare each resulting status with its activity or receipt and confirm that a Lost case carries a useful loss reason.

A buyer expresses interest in a subscription. The Sales Owner opens a New opportunity with the account and contact, adds a product-interest line and sets a realistic close date. Qualification records an activity. Proposal submission records an email activity. The manager can compare that opportunity with other proposals before asking for the next step. On loss, the owner writes a loss reason so the team can learn from the outcome.

Before handoff, inspect the owner, next step, close date and stage together. Another Sales Owner should be able to explain what the buyer is considering and which action is due. A receipt marked Failed or Needs Review calls for investigation before treating that operation as complete.

• My opportunities — See owned opportunities with status, expected close date and next step.
• Opportunity board — Compare open stages by owner, account and expected value.

See opportunity progress, customer follow-up and the data model for the linked records.