Introduction
Most CRMs come with default pipeline stages that don't match how you actually sell. "Qualified" means different things to different businesses. "Proposal sent" isn't a stage it's an activity. Proper pipeline design maps to buyer actions, not seller tasks. This makes forecasting accurate and shows where deals really stall. This chapter walks through how to identify your actual sales stages, validate them with your team, and configure your CRM to match reality instead of forcing your process into someone else's template.
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