Pipeline stage
A named step in a process, such as a sales cycle or dealflow, that shows where each record stands and what happens next.
What it is
A pipeline stage marks progress through a process. A VC dealflow pipeline might run from Sourced to First Meeting, Diligence, IC, and Invested or Passed. A sales pipeline might run from Qualified to Demo, Proposal, and Closed.
In Attio, stages usually live on a list as a status attribute. The same company can sit in a dealflow list and a portfolio list at once, with a different stage in each.
What makes a good stage
- Clear entry criteria. Everyone agrees what has to be true for a record to move in.
- An owner. Someone is responsible for moving it forward or closing it out.
- A next action. Each stage implies what happens next.
- Few enough to use. If people skip stages, there are too many.
Common mistakes
- Stages that describe activity (“Emailed”) rather than progress.
- No closed or passed stage, so dead deals sit in the pipeline forever.
- Different teams using the same stage name to mean different things.
- Storing the reason for a pass in a note instead of a field you can report on.
Why it matters
Stages are what pipeline reports count. If the stages are vague, conversion rates and time-in-stage numbers are vague too.
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