Glossary
Sales pipeline
The set of open sales opportunities, organised by stage from first contact to closed, used to track progress and forecast revenue.
Typical stages
Most B2B pipelines follow a version of: prospecting, qualification, proposal, negotiation, and then closed — won or lost. Each stage usually carries a win probability (say 10% at prospecting, 50% at proposal, 75% at negotiation), which is what turns a list of deals into a weighted forecast.
Why pipelines go stale
A pipeline is only as current as its last update. When updating means a form on a phone, updates slip to the end of the week, deals sit in the wrong stage, and the forecast describes last week. See why the CRM fails in the car.
Keeping it honest
- Update the stage at the moment it changes, not in a weekly batch.
- Record why deals are lost — the pattern is worth more than any single deal.
- Review movement, not just totals: what moved forward this week, and what hasn't moved in a month.
Where emily fits
emily's CRM includes a pipeline board by stage, with a total per column, and reps can move a deal by saying so on WhatsApp. See voice CRM and the weekly sales report template.
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