Short answer
Lead pipeline stages are the steps an enquiry passes through before it becomes a customer or is closed, such as New, Contacted, Qualified, Won and Lost. Good stages describe what has really happened, not what someone hopes will happen. Most small businesses need five to seven stages. More than that and people stop updating them.
What a stage should mean
Each stage should answer one question: what is the last thing that definitely happened with this lead? Contacted means someone spoke to or wrote to the person. Qualified means you know they need what you sell and can afford it. A stage like Interested is weak, because two people will understand it differently.
A useful test: if a new staff member read the stage name, could they say what to do next without asking? If not, rename it.
The five standard stages
Spam is better kept out of the pipeline altogether, so it does not distort your numbers.
- New: the enquiry has arrived and nobody has acted on it yet.
- Contacted: someone has called, messaged or emailed the person.
- Qualified: the person has a real need, a rough budget and a time frame that fits you.
- Won: they bought, booked or signed.
- Lost: they said no, went elsewhere or could not be reached after a fair number of tries.
Example stage lists by business type
- Dental or skin clinic: New, Called back, Consultation booked, Consultation done, Treatment started (won), Not proceeding (lost).
- Coaching institute: New, Counselling call done, Demo class attended, Fee paid (won), Not joining (lost).
- Real estate broker: New, Requirement taken, Site visit booked, Site visit done, Booking amount paid (won), Dropped (lost).
- Home services: New, Quote sent, Visit scheduled, Job done (won), Not booked (lost).
Common mistakes
- Too many stages, so leads get stuck because nobody remembers to move them.
- Stages named after people (Ravi's leads) instead of steps. Use the owner field for that.
- No clear lost stage, so dead leads clutter the board for months.
- Changing stage names every few weeks, which makes month-to-month comparisons meaningless.
- Treating a stage as a to-do list. A stage says where the lead is; a task says what to do next.
Setting stages up in AI Marketing Master
Out of the box the board has the five standard stages. On the pipeline settings page you can replace them with up to 12 stages in your own words. Each of your stages is linked to one of the five standard ones, so a stage called Site visit booked might count as Qualified. This keeps your reports comparable even if you rename things, and every standard stage must keep at least one of your stages so no lead is left without a column.
Leads can be dragged between columns on the board, and each column shows how many leads it holds and the total recorded value per currency. Moving a lead can also start rules you set, such as adding a task when a lead reaches Qualified.
Reviewing your pipeline
Once a week, look at the oldest leads in each early stage and ask why they have not moved. Once a month, look at how many leads reached Won compared with how many started, and from which sources. If one stage collects leads that never move on, it may be a step customers do not want, or a step your team skips.
What it does not do
- Up to 12 custom stages per business, each tied to one of the five standard stages.
- Stages are one simple pipeline per business; separate pipelines for different products are not available.
Questions people ask
How many pipeline stages should a small business have?
Usually five to seven. Enough to show real progress, few enough that people keep them up to date on a phone.
Should every lead go through every stage?
No. A walk-in customer who buys on the spot can go straight from New to Won.
Can I go back to the standard stages later?
Yes. Saving an empty stage list in AI Marketing Master returns the board to the five standard stages.
Can different businesses in an agency account have different stages?
Yes. Stages are set for each business separately.
We only describe what the product really does today. Results depend on your business, your market and many things no tool controls.