Pipeline Is Everything
Companies with a defined sales pipeline are 28% more likely to hit revenue goals (Harvard Business Review). Yet most SMBs wing it.
Step 1: Define Your Stages
Common B2B pipeline stages:
- Lead — identified as potential customer
- Qualified — confirmed budget, authority, need, timeline
- Meeting Booked — discovery call scheduled
- Proposal Sent — formal proposal delivered
- Negotiation — terms being discussed
- Closed Won — deal signed ✅
- Closed Lost — opportunity lost ❌
Step 2: Set Stage Criteria
Each stage needs clear entry and exit criteria:
- What action moves a deal to the next stage?
- What information is required at each stage?
- What's the expected time in each stage?
Step 3: Automate Pipeline Actions
For each stage transition, automate:
- Lead → Qualified → AI scores lead, assigns to rep
- Qualified → Meeting → calendar link sent automatically
- Meeting → Proposal → proposal template auto-populated from CRM data
- Proposal → Negotiation → follow-up sequence begins
- Any stage stale 7+ days → alert sent to manager
Step 4: Track Pipeline Metrics
| Metric | What It Tells You |
|--------|------------------|
| Pipeline velocity | How fast deals move through stages |
| Win rate | Percentage of qualified leads that close |
| Average deal size | Revenue per won deal |
| Stage conversion | Drop-off rate between stages |
| Pipeline coverage | Total pipeline vs quota ratio (3:1 is healthy) |
Step 5: Review and Optimize Weekly
Weekly pipeline reviews should focus on:
- Deals stuck in one stage too long
- Deals with no next activity scheduled
- Stage conversion rate trends
- Forecast accuracy vs actual results
Build Your Pipeline in Automo
Automo's CRM includes customizable pipeline management:
- Drag-and-drop pipeline views
- AI-powered deal scoring and forecasting
- Automated stage transitions and notifications
- Connected to marketing for lead source attribution
- $19/user/month
