Deal pipelines and stages
What this page is — the deal pipelines and the stages inside them, with the probability each stage carries.
What it is for — defining what your sales process looks like, and how likely a deal is to close at each step.
The problem it solves — the stages become the board columns and the weighting behind any forecast. It is also where an easily-missed data problem originates: stages that share an ordering number appear in the order you give them, which is what the board and any weighted forecast read.
Route: /org/marketing/deals/settings · Route gated on: Deals Settings
Every write enforced by: Deals Pipeline Management
1. Two permissions, two jobs
| Permission | Governs |
|---|---|
| Deals Settings | Opening /org/marketing/deals/settings — the route gate only |
| Deals Pipeline Management | Every create, update, delete and reorder of pipelines and stages |
A role with only settings.view can open the screen and change nothing.
2. Field reference — pipeline
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Required |
| Default | Marks the org default, used when conversion names no pipeline |
| Project scope | A pipeline is project-scoped or organisation-wide |
3. Field reference — stage
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | The board column heading |
| Probability | Percentage likelihood of closing at this stage — drives weighted forecasting |
| Order | Left-to-right board position |
Add a stage without saying where it belongs and it is placed after the existing ones, then you can drag it into position. Two stages cannot end up sharing a position and leaving the board in an arbitrary order.
A pipeline built before that was true may still read oddly — IN Progress, Lost, Deal, New. Drag the stages into sequence once and it will stay.
Nothing validates that probability rises through the pipeline. The same reference pipeline has a Lost
stage carrying probability 100. Set both deliberately.
4. The admin contract
| Needs | Or |
|---|---|
| A default pipeline | Conversion creates deals with no pipeline |
| Stages put in sequence | The board reads in creation order. Section 3 |
| Sensible probabilities | Weighted forecasts are wrong |
| Deals Pipeline Management | Read-only, even with settings.view |
5. Downstream
| Changing | Affects |
|---|---|
| Adding a stage | A board column, and a funnel step |
| Reordering | Board order |
| Probability | Weighted pipeline value |
| Deleting a pipeline | Its stages, and the board position of deals referencing them |
6. Don't confuse this with…
| This | Not this |
|---|---|
| Deal stages | Lead statuses |
| Deal Settings | Lead Settings |
settings.view | settings.pipeline, which guards writes |
7. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Board columns in a strange order | The stages have never been put in sequence. Drag them. Section 3 |
| A stage is not where you dragged it | Reload — the order is saved on drop |
| Forecast figures look wrong | Check stage probabilities. Section 3 |
| Cannot save anything | Missing Deals Pipeline Management. Section 1 |