Glossary · CRM and sales
What are sales pipeline stages?
In short
Sales pipeline stages are the steps a deal moves through from first contact to won or lost, such as Qualified, Proposal and Negotiation. Each stage is a column on the pipeline board, so everyone can see where every deal stands.
Reviewed 9 November 2026. How it works in Axonave: Leads & deals pipeline.
Setting stages that mean something
A stage is only useful if everyone agrees when a deal enters it. “Proposal sent” is clear; “interested” isn’t. Write down what has to be true for a deal to move on, and keep as few stages as your team can tell apart.
Give each stage a probability, the chance a deal at that point is won, and the pipeline becomes a forecast. A weighted forecast multiplies each deal’s value by its stage’s probability: a deal worth 10,000 at a 60% stage counts as 6,000. The probabilities are your own estimates; check them against what you actually close.
Record why deals are lost as well as won. After a quarter, the lost reasons tell you more about the pipeline than the won ones.
- An entry rule for every stage
- A probability per stage, for a weighted forecast
- A reason on every won and lost deal
How it works in Axonave
A kanban pipeline with your stages, probabilities and forecast.
Axonave’s deals pipeline is a kanban board: drag a deal to its next stage. You can run several pipelines, set your own stages with a probability on each, and see the weighted forecast. Won and lost reasons are kept on every deal, and meetings booked in the chat appear on the deal’s timeline.
- Several pipelines, custom stages, a probability per stage
- Won and lost reasons on every deal
- Reports → Sales: AI-qualified, booked, held and won
The deals board in our demo workspace: B2B fit-out deals in their stages, each column with its probability and total, and the weighted forecast above. Amounts in ringgit.
Sales pipeline stages: common questions
How many pipeline stages should we have?
As few as your team can tell apart with a clear rule for each. If two stages always move together, merge them.
What is a weighted forecast?
The sum of every open deal’s value multiplied by its stage’s probability. It’s an estimate, and only as good as the probabilities you set, so compare it with what you close.
Can we have more than one pipeline in Axonave?
Yes. Run several pipelines, for example one for new customers and one for repeat orders, each with its own stages and probabilities.
See it working with your own customers.
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