Sales

The process

Every deal moves down these steps in order.

What it records

These fields come with the template. Add your own, rename them, or delete the ones you do not use.

• Company nametext
• Contact nametext
• Contact emailtext
• Contact phonetext
• Budgetnumber
• Expected close datedate
• Proposal pdffile
• Lost reasontext
• Invoice numbertext
• Paid datedate

Step by step

The documentation below ships with the template. It is what your team reads on the step itself while they are doing the work, not a manual filed somewhere else.

1. 01

   Lead

   A new potential customer has come in. Capture who they are before doing anything else.

   Required before the job can move on

   • Company name
   • Contact name
   • Contact email

   Also on this step, but optional: Contact phone.

   Purpose

   A new lead has arrived. Before anything else, capture who they are so the rest of the pipeline has something to work with.

   Tasks

   1. Confirm the company exists and isn't already in the system.

   2. Fill in company_name, contact_name, and contact_email.

   3. Add contact_phone if you have it — useful for the Qualified step.

   4. Reach out within one business day to introduce yourself.

   Gate to advance

   company_name, contact_name, and contact_email must be set. Without these the deal can't be followed up.

   Notes

   If the lead is clearly out of scope (wrong industry, wrong country, no budget), archive the record with a note rather than dragging it through the rest of the pipeline.

2. 02

   Qualified

   The lead is real, has budget, and has a decision-maker willing to talk.

   Required before the job can move on

   • Budget
   • Expected close date

   Purpose

   Confirm the lead is worth a proposal. By the end of this step you should know roughly what they'll spend and when they want to buy.

   Tasks

   1. Hold a discovery call with the decision-maker.

   2. Confirm budget — even a rough range is fine.

   3. Agree an expected_close_date with the customer.

   4. Note any deal-breakers (compliance, contract terms, integrations).

   Gate to advance

   budget and expected_close_date must be set. If either is unknown, the deal isn't qualified yet — stay in this step.

   Notes

   If the customer can't articulate a budget or timeline, that's a signal to slow down, not push forward.

3. 03

   Proposal Sent

   A written proposal is out the door and the customer has it in hand.

   Required before the job can move on

   • Proposal pdf

   Purpose

   The proposal has been delivered. From here on it's about closing — not selling.

   Tasks

   1. Generate the proposal and attach it to the record as proposal_pdf.

   2. Send it to the customer and confirm they received it.

   3. Schedule a follow-up call within 5 business days.

   Gate to advance

   proposal_pdf must be attached. No proposal, no negotiation.

   Notes

   Don't move to Negotiation until the customer has actually opened the proposal and responded with questions or pushback.

4. 04

   Negotiation

   The customer is engaged and you're working through terms, pricing, or scope.

   Purpose

   The customer wants to buy but the terms aren't settled. Keep the conversation moving and protect the close date.

   Tasks

   1. Track every pricing or scope change in the activity log.

   2. Loop in legal early if contracts will be redlined.

   3. Get verbal commitment before producing a final contract.

   Gate to advance

   No new required fields. Move on once the customer has verbally agreed to the deal.

   Notes

   If negotiation drags past the expected_close_date by more than two weeks, flag the deal for review — it may be slipping.

5. 05

   Closed Won

   The deal is signed. Hand off to delivery / onboarding.

   Purpose

   The contract is signed. The deal is booked revenue — but the cash hasn't landed yet.

   Tasks

   1. File the signed contract on the record.

   2. Notify the delivery or onboarding team.

   3. Send the customer a welcome email confirming next steps.

   Gate to advance

   No required fields. Move on to Invoiced once you're ready to bill.

   Notes

   If the deal is lost instead, fill in lost_reason on the record and archive — don't drag it through Closed Won.

6. 06

   Invoiced

   An invoice has been raised against this deal.

   Required before the job can move on

   • Invoice number

   Purpose

   Booked revenue becomes a real invoice that the customer can pay. This step exists so unpaid deals don't get lost in "Closed Won" forever.

   Tasks

   1. On the record, open the Invoices section and click Create invoice from this record. The form pre-fills using company_name, contact_email, and budget.

   2. Review the line item description and adjust the amount if the final price differs from the original budget.

   3. Send the invoice from the Invoices tab. invoice_number is written to the record automatically — that's what passes this step's gate.

   Gate to advance

   invoice_number must be set. The Create-invoice button sets it for you.

   Notes

   If you need to invoice in instalments, create multiple invoices on the record — the first one passes the gate; later ones are tracked but don't change the step.

7. 07

   Paid

   Cash has landed. Deal is done.

   Required before the job can move on

   • Paid date

   Purpose

   The customer has paid in full. This is the terminal step — archive after reconciliation.

   Tasks

   1. Confirm the payment has cleared (bank statement or accounting sync).

   2. Mark the invoice as paid in the Invoices tab.

   3. Set paid_date on the record.

   4. Notify the team if it's a notable win.

   Gate to advance

   paid_date must be set. Archive the record after.

   Notes

   For partial payments, leave the record in Invoiced and let the Invoicing plugin track the partial state. Only advance to Paid when the invoice is fully settled.