In this guide · 7 sections
Short answer
Use stages that describe what the customer has done, not what you hope: New, Contacted, Quoted, Booked, Won, Lost. Require a few fields to enter each stage (source, quote amount, lost reason), automate a follow-up task when a deal sits too long, and review conversion between stages weekly.
A simple pipeline for service businesses
A stage should mark something that has actually happened, so two people looking at the same deal would put it in the same column. Pipedrive's pipeline design guide makes the same point: your pipeline should align with how you sell.
| Stage | Enters when... | Leaves when... |
|---|---|---|
| New | An enquiry arrives (form, WhatsApp, call, ad lead) | Someone replies or calls |
| Contacted | You have spoken or messaged and understood the need | A quote or proposal is sent |
| Quoted | A written quote with an amount has been sent | The customer accepts, books or declines |
| Booked | Date confirmed or deposit paid | Job done and invoiced |
| Won | Invoice issued or paid | (closed) |
| Lost | Customer declines, goes silent past your cut-off, or isn't a fit | (closed) |
Online shops rarely need a pipeline; this is for businesses where a person quotes, follows up and closes. If you haven't picked a CRM yet, our CRM comparison for Singapore SMEs compares HubSpot, Zoho CRM and Pipedrive.
Required fields for each stage
Asking for a few facts at each step keeps the pipeline honest and makes reports possible later. Keep it short; every extra required field is a reason not to update the CRM.
| Stage | Fields to require | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New | Name, phone or email, lead source | Source tells you which ads and channels work |
| Contacted | Service needed, rough budget or size | Lets you prioritise |
| Quoted | Quote amount, quote date, expected close date | Pipeline value and forecast |
| Booked | Job date, deposit (yes/no) | Scheduling |
| Won | Final amount, invoice number | Matches your accounting |
| Lost | Lost reason (price, timing, went elsewhere, no reply, not a fit) | Shows what to fix |
- HubSpot: its pipeline set-up article describes conditional stage properties that appear when a deal moves into a stage, with a Required checkbox that blocks the move until the field is filled. It also says each deal stage has a probability, and that Won and Lost stages must exist for sales reports to process deals correctly.
- Pipedrive: required fields stop users moving deals until the fields are filled, but are only on the Professional plan and higher, as of October 2026.
- Spreadsheet: use data validation drop-downs for the stage and lost reason columns, and conditional formatting to highlight empty required cells.
Automatic follow-up tasks
The biggest leak in most small sales processes is the quote that nobody chases. Automate the reminder, not the relationship.
New enquiry: task to reply within one working hour
Assign to whoever is on duty. If you use WhatsApp, link the chat or phone number on the deal.
Quoted: follow-up task after 2 working days
A call or message to answer questions. A second task after a week if still open.
Flag deals that sit too long
Pipedrive's rotting feature highlights deals not updated for a set number of days per stage. In HubSpot, pipeline automation can create a task when a deal enters a stage.
Lost: auto-close silent quotes
If a quote has no reply after your cut-off (say 30 days), move it to Lost with reason 'No reply' so the pipeline value stays real.
Won: hand-off to delivery and invoicing
Create the job, send a confirmation, and create the invoice in your accounting software.
Which automations are included depends on the CRM and plan, so check before you design around one. Our guide to workflow automation costs shows what it costs to connect a CRM to WhatsApp, email and accounting with Make or Zapier.
Reports that tell you something
You don't need a dashboard with twenty charts. These three, checked weekly, show where sales are stuck.
- Stage conversion: of deals that reached Quoted, how many became Booked? A low rate points to pricing, quote speed or follow-up.
- Lost reasons: count by reason each month. 'No reply' usually means slow follow-up; 'Price' may mean the wrong leads or unclear value.
- Leads and won deals by source: which ads, referrals or channels bring customers, not just enquiries.
Lead source and won deals are also what you need to send results back to Google and Meta. Our guide to offline conversions from your CRM explains how.
Setting it up: a one-afternoon checklist
Whatever tool you use, the set-up is the same.
Pipeline set-up checklist
Do it yourself or get help?
Setting up stages and fields in HubSpot, Pipedrive or Zoho CRM is a realistic DIY afternoon. Where businesses usually need help is the plumbing around it: getting website forms, WhatsApp and lead ads into the CRM automatically, and pushing won deals into accounting.
Our Workflow Automation (S$390) builds one workflow of up to five steps on Make, Zapier or Google Apps Script in your account, such as 'new form enquiry to CRM deal plus WhatsApp alert plus follow-up task', with error alerts and documentation. If your sales process runs on spreadsheets and doesn't fit an off-the-shelf CRM, a Custom Business App (from S$4,900) can combine quotes, jobs and invoices in one system with a fixed quote after a written scope.
Frequently asked questions
There is no single standard, but most small businesses do well with New, Contacted, Quoted, Booked, Won and Lost. The key is that each stage marks something that has actually happened, such as a quote being sent, so everyone files deals the same way. Rename stages to match your trade, for example 'Site visit' for renovation.
Five to seven, including Won and Lost. Fewer than that hides where deals get stuck; more than that and staff stop updating them. If you sell very different things, such as one-off jobs and annual contracts, use two simple pipelines rather than one long one, if your CRM plan allows more than one.
Yes. A Lost stage with a required lost reason is one of the most useful things in a CRM. It keeps the pipeline value honest and shows patterns, such as many quotes lost to 'no reply', which usually means follow-up is too slow. HubSpot also says Won and Lost stages are needed for its sales reports to work.
Yes, for a few people and a modest number of deals. Use one row per deal, a stage drop-down, dates for each stage, and a lost reason column. You lose automatic reminders and integrations, so most businesses move to a CRM once several people share leads or they want enquiries to arrive automatically from forms and ads.
Keep stages simple and event-based, require only a few fields, and make the pipeline the place where work happens: tasks, reminders and customer messages linked from the deal. Review it together for 15 minutes every week. If updating the CRM takes longer than a minute per deal, simplify it.