Setting Up Sales Stages

Last Revised:      Written by Veloxity CRM    Time Estimate: About 6 minutes to read. Version 2.0

Setting Up Sales Stages (00:06:14)

Contents

What is Sales Stages Setup?

Definition

Sales Stages Setup configures the Sales Stage names and probabilities in your system.

  • Sales Stages track your opportunities as they move through your sales pipeline.
  • Sales Stage Probability is the probability an Opportunity will close, and bring in the Forecasted Amount, at each Sales Stage.

How can I use Sales Stages Setup?

Sales Stages Setup consists of the following four steps:

  • Specifying your Sales Stage names.
  • Creating optional TODOs at each Sales Stage. TODOs define what should be done at each step of the sales process before moving on to the next stage.
  • Configuring an estimated probability of closing an Opportunity at each Sales Stage.
  • Fixing Sales Stages in your system.

Tip: Articulating your sales process, and creating the stages your business goes through to close a sale can optimize performance. Keeping your sales team moving through the same process, and sharing a language that clearly defines where each prospect is in the sales pipeline, can help sales managers create better forecasts and give sales reps a clearer picture of what needs to be done to close a sale. 

Sales Stages differ in each business based upon the sales approach, the product / service sold, the decision-making process of prospects, and other factors. Define your sales stages according to the sales process you want your representatives to follow.

Where can I find Sales Stages Setup?

Sales Stage Setup is located in CRM Setup.

From the Main Menu, click My Profile > App Setup > CRM Setup > Sales Stages

Navigating Sales Stages Setup

You are looking at a screenshot of the Major Functions in Sales Stage Setup:

Figure 1. Major Functions in Sales Stage Setup.


How can I use Sales Stages Setup? 

Setup Sales Stages to match your business process. 

What are the default Sales Stages in Veloxity CRM?

Sales Stages (Veloxity default settings.)

Stage Activities: Description of activities to be completed at each Sales Stage.
Stage One: Qualify The sales rep researches the prospect to discover whether they are qualified to proceed to the next stage in the sales process. 
Stage Two: Needs Assessment The sales rep works to understand the prospect's needs.
Stage Three: Perform Demo The sales rep works to schedule, prepare, and perform a demonstration. 
Stage Four: Proposal The sales rep sends a quote to the prospect. 
Stage Five: Negotiation The price is negotiated. The sales rep and the prospect work through the legal agreements of the sale.
Stage Six: Closed The sales process ends. The opportunity is either won or lost.

How can I use Fix Sales Stages?

Fixing Sales Stages allows you to fix invalid Stage Names and reapply Probabilities to Opportunities across your entire Veloxity system.

  1. Navigate to the Sales Stages Setup Toolbar.
  2. Click Fix Sales Stages.
  3. Select one of the following two options:
    1. Fix Invalid Sales Stage Names.
    2. Reapply Probabilities to Opportunities.
  4. Click Save. 

You are looking at a screenshot demonstrating the options for Fixing Sales Stages:

Figure 2. Fixing Sales Stages.

How Can I Add Sales Stages?

  1. Click Add New Sales Stage to add a new sales stage.
  2. Click inside the box marked New Stage and enter Sales Stage name. 
  3. Enter probability. (See Sales Stage Probability below for more information.)
  4. Click Save. 
  5. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

How Can I Edit Sales Stages?

  1. Click inside the Sales Stage box you want to edit. 
  2. Edit your Sales Stage Information.
  3. Click Save. 
  4. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

How can I Remove Sales Stages?

  1. Click the row number of the Sales Stage you want to remove. This highlights the Sales Stage(s) to be removed.
  2. Click Remove Selected Sales Stages.
  3. Click Save.
  4. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

How can I Reorder Sales Stages?

  1. Click the row number of the Sales Stage you want to move. This highlights the Sales Stage to be moved.
  2. Drag and drop the stage to the correct position. 
  3. Click Save. 
  4. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

What are TODOs?

TODOs, or Guided Sales, are steps you can add to a Sales Stage to further customize and guide the workflow. TODOs match your sales process and further define what needs to be completed at each Sales Stage before advancing to the next Sales Stage.

How Can I Add TODOs?

  1. Click the row number of the Sales Stage where you want to add a TODO. This highlights the Sales Stage. 
  2. Click Add TODOs.
  3. Click inside the box marked New TODO and enter your new TODO information.
  4. Click Save. 
  5. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

How Can I Edit TODOs?

  1. Click inside the TODO box you wish to edit.
  2. Edit your TODO information.
  3. Click Save. 
  4. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

How Can I Remove TODOs?

  1. Click the row number of the TODO to be removed. 

  2. Click Remove.

  3. Click Save. 
  4. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

How can I Reorder TODOs?

  1. Click the row number of the TODO you want to move. This highlights the TODO to be moved.
  2. Drag and drop the TODO to the correct position. 
  3. Click Save. 
  4. Click Fix Sales Stages. 

What are Sales Stage Probabilities?

Definition

Sales Stage Probability is the probability an Opportunity will close, and bring in the Forecasted Amount, at each Sales Stage.

  • As an Opportunity progresses through the Sales Stages, the probability of the Opportunity closing and the potential amount of the sale, is calculated into a Forecast using Sales Stage Probabilities.
  • For forecasting purposes, the probability percentage is multiplied by the forecast amount and then added to the forecast leading to more accurate forecasting. For example, low probability Opportunities will have their forecasted amount adjusted downward to account for their lower likelihood of closing. See Forecasting Configurations for more information.

Tip: Setting accurate Sales Stage Probabilities is important. The accuracy of the Forecast depends on how closely the numbers used in the Forecast align with the numbers in the actual closing data.

How can I use Sales Stage Probabilities?

Use Sales Stage Probabilities to enable accurate forecasting.

How can I setup Sales Stage Probabilities? 

There are three ways to setup Sales Stage Probabilities:

  1. Administrator set up of Sales Stage Probability in Sales Stages.
  2. Users enter their own estimates of Sales Stage Probability on individual Opportunities.
  3. Automatically Generate Sales Stage Probabilities using Veloxity AI.

Tip: You can select more than one way to setup Sales Stage Probabilities. For example, you can manually set Sales Stage Probabilities, but allow users to edit and update these probabilities on individual Opportunities.

Administrator Set Up of Sales Stage Probabilities

Sales Stage Probabilities are set up in Sales Stages on CRM Setup.

  1. Locate the Sales Stage where you want to enter a probability.
  2. Click the probability to the right of the Stage Name.
  3. Enter the probability you want to assign.
  4. Do you want users to be able to edit this probability? Do you want users to be able to change the probability on specific Opportunities?
    1. If yes, make sure the box Disable Probability Editing on Opportunities is unchecked.
    2. If no, make sure the box Disable Probability Editing on Opportunities is checked.
  5. Click Save.

You are looking at a screenshot of Administrator Setup of Sales Stage Probabilities:

Figure 3. Administrator Setup of Sales Stage Probabilities.

User Set Up of Sales Stage Probabilities

Sales Stage Probabilities are set as Opportunity Probability on Opportunity Records.

You have the option of allowing or prohibiting users from making changes to Sales Stage Probabilities on an Opportunity Record. The Probability % will show a locked icon if the probability cannot be changed. The Probability % will show an unlocked icon if probability can be changed. This is configured in Sales Stage Setup. 

You are looking at a screenshot of Sales Stage Probability on an Opportunity Record:

Figure 4. Sales Stage Probability on an Opportunity Record.

Automatic Generation of Sales Stage Probabilities

Veloxity CRM can optionally use machine learning (ML) to determine the probability that each Opportunity will close by analyzing your company's historical data for Opportunities closing at each sales stage. 

Veloxity CRM can be configured so that the user or administrator can accept the system computed percentage or enter their own probability.

Veloxity's Automatic Generation of Sales Stage Probabilities maximizes your forecasting accuracy by including probability thresholds into your forecasts. Instead of guessing probability, Veloxity learns the probability of an opportunity closing at each stage of the sales process based on your company's specific history. This probability is then used to generate your forecasts.

Tip: We recommend initially manually entering the values for each sales stage. Once you have accumulated enough data to enable machine learning, we recommend switching to automatic generation of sales stage probabilities. The values generated by Veloxity AI are an objective assessment. This estimate is likely more accurate than guesses made by administrators or users. Veloxity will become smarter over time as you accumulate a larger volume of sales data on which the machine learning can be applied.