Glossary:

Sales Pipeline

Master the essential revenue and financial metrics that drive B2B SaaS success. From ARR and MRR to retention metrics and customer economics, these terms are critical for understanding pipeline health, forecasting growth, and making data-driven decisions.

Sales Stage

Short Definition

Defined milestones in the buyer journey with entry/exit criteria and conversion targets.

Definition

Sales stages define discrete milestones in the buyer journey where both buyer and seller complete specific actions. Each stage has entry/exit criteria, conversion targets, and exit gates to ensure progression reflects reality.

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Healthy stage definitions balance seller activities with buyer commitment.

Why Sales Stages Matter

  • Enable pipeline inspection and bottleneck diagnosis.
  • Drive consistent sales execution across team.
  • Support accurate forecasting by probability.
  • Inform enablement content by stage needs.
  • Measure coaching effectiveness by stage improvement.

How to Design Sales Stages

  1. Map buyer journey + key decision points.
  2. Define buyer actions required per stage exit.
  3. Set seller activities + proof points.
  4. Assign realistic conversion targets (25-40%).
  5. Test gates with historical win/loss data.

Example B2B SaaS Stages

Stage Buyer Commitment Seller Action Target Exit Rate
Discovery Meeting scheduled Pain validated 60%
Solution Fit Demo requested ROI outlined 40%
Business Case Budget approved Proposal sent 30%
Negotiation T&Cs agreed Contract signed 80%

Key Metrics

  • Stage conversion rates.
  • Days-in-stage by rep/team.
  • Stage progression velocity.
  • Win rate by entry stage.

Common Mistakes

Mistake Fix
Too many stages (>8) Collapse similar buyer actions
Seller-centric definitions Require buyer milestones
No exit gates Define "white space" between stages
Static definitions Review quarterly vs. win/loss

Frequently Asked Questions

Should we use seller or buyer stages?

Use buyer stages with seller activities mapped underneath.

How often should we review stage definitions?

Quarterly or when win rates/velocity shift >15%.

How do we forecast each category by stage?

Best-fit, commit, upside tied to stage and qualitative signals.

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Sales Pipeline

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