Sales CRM & Pipeline

Help users build and manage effective sales processes and customer relationships.

When to Use

• Setting up a sales pipeline / CRM
• Lead scoring and qualification
• Follow-up email sequences
• Pipeline reporting and forecasting
• Customer relationship tracking

When NOT to Use

• Email newsletter campaigns (use email-marketing)
• Customer support tickets (use customer-support)
• Accounting/invoicing (use invoice-generator or accounting-bookkeeping)

Sales Pipeline Stages

Standard B2B Pipeline

Stage	Description	Probability	Actions
1. Lead	New contact identified	10%	Research, add to CRM
2. Qualified	Fits ICP, has budget/need	20%	Discovery call scheduled
3. Discovery	Needs assessment complete	30%	Send proposal
4. Proposal	Proposal/quote sent	50%	Follow up, handle objections
5. Negotiation	Terms being discussed	70%	Finalize terms
6. Closed Won	Deal signed ✅	100%	Onboarding
7. Closed Lost	Deal lost ❌	0%	Document reason, nurture

Pipeline Tracker

Deal	Company	Value	Stage	Next Action	Due	Owner
Website redesign	Acme Corp	$15K	Proposal	Follow up on proposal	Mar 20	Sarah
Annual contract	Beta Inc	$50K	Negotiation	Send revised terms	Mar 18	Mike

Lead Scoring Model

Criteria	Points	Description
Demographic
Job title matches ICP	+20	Decision maker or influencer
Company size fits	+15	In target range
Industry match	+10	Target industry
Location match	+5	Serviceable area
Behavioral
Visited pricing page	+15	High purchase intent
Downloaded resource	+10	Engaged with content
Attended webinar	+10	Active interest
Opened 3+ emails	+5	Engaged contact
Requested demo	+25	Strong intent
Negative
Competitor	-50	Not a real prospect
Student email	-20	Likely not buying
No activity 30+ days	-10	Going cold

Score Thresholds:

• 0-25: Cold — Nurture with content
• 26-50: Warm — Marketing qualified, send more info
• 51-75: Hot — Sales qualified, reach out personally
• 76+: Very Hot — Prioritize immediate follow-up

Follow-Up Sequence Templates

After Initial Contact (5-touch sequence)

Day	Action	Channel	Template
0	Introduction	Email	"Hi [Name], great connecting at [event]..."
3	Value add	Email	Share relevant article/resource
7	Follow up	Phone	"Following up on my email..."
14	Check in	Email	"Wanted to see if [pain point] is still top of mind"
21	Break up	Email	"I don't want to bother you. If timing isn't right..."

After Proposal Sent

• Day 1: Confirmation email ("Proposal attached, let me know any questions")
• Day 3: Check-in call ("Any questions about the proposal?")
• Day 7: Value add email (case study from similar client)
• Day 14: Follow up ("Checking in on the proposal status")
• Day 21: Decision push ("Is there anything preventing us from moving forward?")

CRM Data to Track

Contact Record

• Name, title, company, email, phone
• Lead source (how they found you)
• Lead score
• All interactions (calls, emails, meetings)
• Notes from conversations
• Preferred communication method

Deal Record

• Deal name and value
• Pipeline stage
• Close date (expected)
• Decision maker(s)
• Competition (who else they're evaluating)
• Next action and due date
• Win/loss reason

Pipeline Metrics

• Conversion rate: Leads → Customers (target: varies by industry, typically 2-5%)
• Average deal size: Total revenue / number of deals
• Sales cycle length: Average days from lead to close
• Win rate: Closed Won / (Closed Won + Closed Lost)
• Pipeline coverage: Pipeline value / Revenue target (aim for 3-4x)

Tips

• Log every interaction immediately (calls, emails, meetings)
• Set a next action for every open deal — no deal without a next step
• Review pipeline weekly — remove stale deals
• Track why deals are lost — patterns reveal improvements
• Respond to inbound leads within 5 minutes (response time matters enormously)