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By Latha Kumaresan · DirectorReviewed 23 September 2026
In short
What are pipeline stages in a CRM?
Pipeline stages are the ordered steps a deal moves through from first qualification to won or lost. In Treepie Flow each stage has entry criteria you write — conditions a deal must meet before it can move in — plus a probability used by the forecast. That makes a stage a statement about the buyer, such as “budget confirmed”, rather than a label a rep drags a card into.
- Defined per
- Pipeline, with names, order and probabilities you set
- Entry criteria
- Required fields and conditions checked before a move
- Feeds
- Weighted forecast, stage reports, automations
- History
- Every stage change kept with who, when and what was true
Why this exists
Why stage names stop meaning anything
Because most pipelines name stages and stop there. "Negotiation" means a signed order to one rep and a returned phone call to another, so the forecast built on those stages is arithmetic over opinions.
What it does
How stages are defined
A pipeline is an ordered set of stages a deal moves through, each with entry criteria you write, so a stage is a statement about the deal rather than a label on a card.
Each stage carries entry criteria — fields that must hold values, a named budget holder, a scheduled next step. A deal cannot enter until they are satisfied, and the criteria are visible on the deal rather than buried in an admin screen.
In practice
Tightening a stage that had drifted
Bexley Group's new-business pipeline had 60% of value sitting in Negotiation. Adding two criteria — a named budget holder and a booked review date — moved a third of it back to Proposal on the first pass, which is what the forecast had been missing.
Specifics
ReadsThe deal record
WritesStage, entry date, stage history
PermissionsRole and pipeline level
What it does not do
It will not stop a determined rep filling in a field to advance a deal. Criteria make the claim explicit and auditable; they do not make it true.
How it connects
See the Flow journeys →What else reads the stage
Weighted forecasting reads the stage for its probability, stage automation fires on entry, and pipeline reports measure conversion between them. Loop opens delivery phases when a deal reaches Won.
Setting it up
Flow · Moving your pipeline in takes four days.Day 1Decide the stagesBefore any import. Stage names are the one thing here that is genuinely painful to change in month three.
Day 2Import into a sandboxDeals, contacts and three years of closed history, mapped and checked before anybody logs in.
Day 3Wire the routingForms, inbox and owner rules, so a new lead lands on a person rather than in a queue nobody reads.
Day 4Let the team inSales first, then whoever reads the forecast. The old CRM stays readable for a month.
Who it is for
Stages that mean the same thing to everyone.
Account executivesKnow exactly what a deal needs before it can move on, with nothing left to interpretation.“What’s missing before Kanaka can go to Proposal?”
Sales managersTrust that a deal in Negotiation really is in negotiation.“How many deals skipped Discovery this quarter?”
RevOpsChange stages without losing history or breaking reports.“Where do deals stall longest?”
FinanceRead a forecast whose stage probabilities are grounded in the criteria behind them.“What does 60% actually mean here?”
Running a pipeline, three ways.
| Spreadsheet columns | Drag-and-drop boards | Treepie Flow | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What a stage means | Whatever the rep thinks | Where the card was dropped | Entry criteria you wrote |
| Moving a deal | Edit a cell | Drag, no checks | Checked against the criteria first |
| Probabilities | One guess per sheet | Global defaults | Per pipeline, per stage |
| Stage history | Overwritten | Partial | Every move, with what was true at the time |
| Changing stages later | Breaks formulas | Breaks reports | History remapped, reports intact |
How many pipelines can we run?
As many as you have distinct sales motions. Each carries its own stages, criteria and probabilities.
Can we change stages without losing history?
Yes. Stage history is kept per deal, so reports over past quarters still resolve the stages those deals actually moved through.
Do all teams have to use the same stages?
No. That is what multiple pipelines are for — renewals and new business rarely share a shape.
How many stages should a pipeline have?
Usually five to seven. Enough to tell buyers apart, few enough that every stage has criteria someone will enforce.
What are entry criteria?
Conditions a deal must meet to enter a stage — a named budget holder, a booked demo, a sent quote. Flow checks them when the deal is moved.
Can a manager override entry criteria?
Yes, if you allow it. The override and its reason are recorded on the deal.
Can we rename or reorder stages later?
Yes. Deals keep their history and reports remap to the new stages.
How are stage probabilities set?
Per pipeline and per stage, ideally from your own win rates. Flow shows the historical win rate from each stage to help.
Do lost deals need a stage?
Won and lost are closing states rather than stages, and both require a reason from a list you define.
Can stages trigger actions?
Yes. Stage automation can create tasks, draft quotes or open a Loop project when a deal enters or leaves a stage.
How do we see where deals stall?
Stage reports show time in stage and conversion between stages, with every figure openable to the deals behind it.
More in Pipeline & deals
Full feature list →Pipeline & dealsDeal recordsThe deal is the record of one opportunity: value, currency, owner, stage, close date, the company and contacts attached to it, and the full history of how each of those changed.Pipeline & dealsWeighted forecastingPipeline & dealsDeal splitsPipeline & dealsWin/loss reasonsPipeline & dealsDeal scoringPipeline & dealsMultiple pipelines
Easier to see Pipelines & stages running on your own records than to read about it.
Fourteen days, every module, no card. Or half an hour with someone who will run it on your own records and tell you where it does not help.