Summary
When managing your leads there are several things you need to know, of which two very important ones are: where in the sales process is that lead at (sales funnel) and what’s it’s status (closed or alive)?
The main difference between these two elements is that the sales process is variable from one company to another, whereas statuses stay unchanged.
In every sales team out there, the statuses are: Either you have something to do with the lead right away (To-Do), either you will have something to do at some point (Standby), either you closed the deal (Won), either you lost it against a competitor (Lost), either the sale dropped for some reason (Cancelled).
On the other hand, it’s impossible to draw an exact list when it comes to sales steps because those not only vary from one company to another, but also from a sort of product or service to another.
Inside You Don’t Need a CRM! you can define each step of your own sales funnel so that it corresponds to your company’s needs. It’s the same for every sales person inside the company.
Example: To qualify > Contacted > Visited > Quotation > Closing.
But, statuses can’t be changed. To-Do / Standby / Won / Lost / Cancelled stay the same, always.
