Short answer
The stages of the sales process are the steps a seller takes a deal through: prospect, connect, qualify and discover, present a solution, propose, negotiate and close, then onboard and expand. Each stage should end with an exit criterion, something the buyer has done, such as agreeing to a discovery meeting or reviewing the proposal with you, so a deal only moves forward on evidence rather than optimism.
- Seven stages: prospect, connect, qualify and discover, present, propose, negotiate and close, onboard and expand.
- End every stage with a buyer action you can verify, not a seller activity.
- Default CRM probabilities are placeholders; HubSpot's start at 20% for an appointment scheduled. Use your own win rates.
- Expansion belongs in the process: Ebsta found a 45% win rate on expansion deals against 19% for new logos.
- Find the stage where deals leak with conversion rates, and fix that stage first.
On this page
- The 7 stages at a glance
- Each stage in detail
- Why expansion is a stage, not an afterthought
- Exit criteria and stage probabilities
- Sales process, sales cycle, pipeline and funnel
- Worked example: a wholesale bakery wins, then expands, a hotel group
- How to set up the stages in your CRM
- Self-check
- Common mistakes
- Sources
- Questions people ask
This guide is for sellers, founders and sales managers who want a sales process their team can follow and their CRM can measure. It covers the seven stages from first research to expansion, the exit criterion that closes each one, a deal followed through every stage, and how to find the stage where your deals leak. Stage names vary between companies; the exit criteria matter more than the names.
The 7 stages at a glance
| Stage | The seller's goal | Exit criterion (what the buyer has done) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prospect | Find accounts that fit and a reason to contact them now | Nothing yet: the account fits your profile, has a dated trigger and a named, verified contact |
| 2. Connect | Start a conversation | Agreed to a discovery meeting at a set time |
| 3. Qualify and discover | Understand the problem, its cost, who decides and by when | Confirmed the problem, the decision makers and a date that matters to them |
| 4. Present a solution | Show how you'd solve their problem | Agreed the solution meets their requirements and agreed the steps to a decision |
| 5. Propose | Put the price and terms in writing | Reviewed the proposal with you, with the decision makers present |
| 6. Negotiate and close | Agree final terms and sign | Signed, or told you no (record the reason) |
| 7. Onboard and expand | Deliver the first result, then grow the account | Reached the first agreed outcome; next opportunity or referral identified |
Stage 1 is the exception: the buyer hasn't done anything yet, so the exit is a research standard you set. From stage 2 on, every exit is a buyer action.
Each stage in detail
- Prospect. Choose accounts that match your ideal customer profile and look for a recent trigger, such as a new site, a leadership hire or a contract ending. Find the person who owns the problem and verify how to reach them. Exit when the account fits, the trigger is dated and sourced, and the contact is verified. At volume, this research is the slow part; Bebop researches each account in a list and writes a playbook with the people, what's happening and the angle to open with.
- Connect. Reach the contact with a message built on the trigger, by email, phone or LinkedIn, across several attempts. Exit only when they agree to a discovery meeting with a date and time. A reply saying "send me more information" isn't an exit.
- Qualify and discover. In the first real conversation, learn what the problem is, what it costs them, who else decides, what they've tried and the date that makes it urgent. Exit when the buyer has confirmed the problem, named the decision makers and given you a date. Ebsta's 2025 benchmarks found win rates rose by 55% when decision makers were involved in the first two stages, so ask early who else should be in the room. The discovery call questions cover what to ask.
- Present a solution. Show how you'd solve their problem, using their words and their numbers: a tailored demo, a site visit, a tasting, a trial. Exit when the buyer agrees the solution meets their requirements and you've agreed the steps and dates to a decision. Writing those steps down together is what a mutual action plan is for.
- Propose. Send price, scope and terms, then walk through them with the buyer rather than letting the document arrive cold. Exit when the buyer has reviewed it with you and the decision makers were there or have seen it.
- Negotiate and close. Handle the remaining objections, trade terms rather than give discounts, and get through procurement and legal review. Exit with a signature, or with a no and its reason recorded. A lost deal with a reason is useful data; one marked "went dark" is not.
- Onboard and expand. Hand over to whoever delivers, agree what the first result looks like and check it's reached. Then look for the next opportunity: another team, another site, a renewal or a referral. Exit when the first agreed outcome is met and the next opportunity or referral is logged.
Why expansion is a stage, not an afterthought
Many process diagrams stop at the signature. That leaves out the easiest revenue a seller has. In Ebsta's 2025 benchmark of 655,000 opportunities, expansion deals had a 45% win rate against 19% for new logos, closed in 52 days on average against 91 for new business, and involved an average of five stakeholders against eight. If your process ends at close, nobody owns that work.
Exit criteria and stage probabilities
An exit criterion should be something you could show a manager: a calendar invite, an email confirming the problem and the deadline, a proposal call with the decision makers on it. "Had a great call" and "sent proposal" describe the seller's activity, not the buyer's progress.
Stage probabilities follow from the same idea. Most CRMs ship with defaults; HubSpot's default sales pipeline sets 20% for appointment scheduled, 40% for qualified to buy, 60% for presentation scheduled, 80% for decision maker bought-in and 90% for contract sent. These are starting points, not facts about your business. Replace each with the share of deals that reached that stage in the last 12 months and went on to win; the sales forecast template shows how.
Sales process, sales cycle, pipeline and funnel
| Term | What it is | How you measure it |
|---|---|---|
| Sales process | The stages and exit criteria every deal goes through | Conversion rate from each stage to the next |
| Sales cycle | The time a deal takes from start to close | Days from opportunity created to closed |
| Sales pipeline | The open deals sitting in each stage right now | Count and value by stage |
| Sales funnel | How the number of prospects narrows from first contact to customer, across all deals | Volume at each stage over a period |
The process is the design; the pipeline is a snapshot of deals moving through it; the cycle is how long the trip takes. For more on each, see the sales cycle and sales pipeline definitions.
Worked example: a wholesale bakery wins, then expands, a hotel group
Illustrative example. The companies, people, dates and figures are fictional.
Hearth & Field Bakery (hearthfield.example) supplies bread and pastries to hotels and restaurants around Denver. Alder Peak Hotels (alderpeak.example) runs six hotels in Colorado, each with breakfast service.
| Stage | When | What happened | Exit evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospect | 2 to 6 June | Saw on Alder Peak's news page that a seventh hotel opens in October; found the group's director of food and beverage | Fits (six hotels, daily breakfast), trigger dated, contact verified |
| Connect | 9 to 20 June | Email about breakfast at the new hotel, then a call two days later | Discovery meeting booked for 24 June |
| Qualify and discover | 24 June | Current supplier misses the 6am delivery about twice a month; contract ends 30 September; the food and beverage director and the CFO decide | Problem, cost (lost breakfast covers), decision makers and deadline confirmed by email |
| Present | 8 July | Tasting with two head chefs; agreed 14 products and a 5:30am delivery window | Requirements agreed in writing; joint plan with dates to 30 September |
| Propose | 22 July | Proposal for a 60-day trial at two hotels, walked through on a call with the director and the CFO | Reviewed with both decision makers; one open question on unit price |
| Negotiate and close | 29 July to 12 August | Offered volume tiers instead of a discount | Signed supply agreement for two hotels |
| Onboard and expand | From 1 September | Weekly check-ins; deliveries on time through the trial | First outcome met; expansion opportunity opened for the other five hotels |
Two things kept this deal moving. The CFO joined at the proposal stage because the seller asked who else decides during discovery, not after the proposal went out. And the trial at two hotels made the expansion a separate, easier decision.
Finding the leak. Hearth & Field's numbers for the quarter, by the furthest stage each account reached:
| Stage reached | Accounts | Moved to the next stage |
|---|---|---|
| Prospected | 120 | 25% |
| Connected | 30 | 50% |
| Qualified | 15 | 67% |
| Presented (tasting) | 10 | 70% |
| Proposed | 7 | 43% |
| Won | 3 |
Overall, 3 of 120 prospected accounts became customers: 2.5%. The weakest late stage is proposal to win, and the lost-deal reasons say why: unit price, raised after the tasting. If volume tiers lift that stage from 3 wins in 7 to 4 in 7, Hearth & Field gains a customer a quarter without prospecting a single extra account. Fixing a late stage is usually cheaper than filling the top of the funnel.
How to set up the stages in your CRM
- Name each stage by what the buyer has done, such as "discovery booked" or "proposal reviewed", not by what the seller did.
- Write one exit criterion per stage and make it a required field or checkbox before a deal can move.
- Keep to five to seven stages. More than that and reps apply them inconsistently; fewer and you can't see where deals stall.
- Replace the default probabilities with your own stage-to-win rates once you have enough closed deals.
- Track days in stage. Flag any deal sitting at one and a half times the median for its stage and decide whether it's still real.
- Review the process each quarter using lost-deal reasons, and change the stage that loses the most deals.
Self-check
- Every stage after prospecting ends with something the buyer has done.
- Your reps could show evidence for the stage of any deal in the pipeline.
- Decision makers are named by the end of discovery.
- Your stage probabilities come from your own closed deals.
- You know the conversion rate from each stage to the next, and which stage is weakest.
- Someone owns onboarding and expansion after the signature.
Common mistakes
- Stages that describe the seller. "Proposal sent" moves deals forward on effort. "Proposal reviewed with decision makers" moves them on evidence.
- Skipping discovery. Presenting before you understand the problem turns a demo into a features tour.
- Meeting the decision maker last. A late introduction to the person who signs is the most common way a well-run deal stalls.
- Keeping dead deals open. Old, stuck deals inflate the pipeline and the forecast. Close them with a reason.
- Stopping at the signature. The first result and the next opportunity are part of the sale.
Next step: prepare the conversation that decides stage 3 with these discovery call questions.
Sources
- GTM Benchmarks 2025, Ebsta, March 2025
- Set up and customize pipelines, HubSpot Knowledge Base, accessed 26 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Last updated .
Questions people ask
What are the 7 stages of the sales process?
A common version is: prospect (find accounts that fit and a reason to call), connect (start a conversation), qualify and discover (confirm the problem, decision makers and timing), present a solution, propose (price and terms), negotiate and close, and onboard and expand (deliver the first result, then grow the account). Older versions end with follow-up after the sale; modern ones treat expansion as a full stage.
What is the difference between the sales process and the sales cycle?
The sales process is the set of stages and exit criteria that every deal goes through: the design. The sales cycle is the time a deal takes to get through those stages, usually measured in days from opportunity created to closed. You improve the process by fixing the stages where deals stall or are lost, which usually shortens the cycle as well.
What are exit criteria in a sales process?
Exit criteria are the conditions a deal must meet before it moves to the next stage, written as something the buyer has done. Examples: the buyer agreed to a discovery meeting at a set time, confirmed the problem and the decision makers, or reviewed the proposal with you. They stop deals moving forward on a seller's optimism and make stage probabilities and forecasts more reliable.
How many stages should a sales process have?
Usually five to seven. Fewer than five hides where deals stall, because too much happens inside each stage. More than seven tends to be applied inconsistently, so two reps put the same deal in different stages. Small, quick sales can merge stages, such as present and propose; complex enterprise deals sometimes add a formal evaluation or procurement stage.
How long does each stage of the sales process take?
It depends on your deal size and market, so measure your own median days in each stage from your CRM. As a reference, Ebsta's 2025 benchmark of 655,000 opportunities found new business deals took 91 days on average from start to close and expansion deals 52 days. Flag any deal that sits in a stage much longer than your median for that stage.