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Pipeline Stages and CRM Hygiene — GHL Opportunity Management

Standard pipeline stage definitions for agency acquisition in GHL, CRM hygiene rules, stale deal protocols, and the weekly pipeline review process.

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Agent trigger phrases: pipeline stages · crm hygiene · ghl pipeline · opportunity stages · sales pipeline management · pipeline review · crm cleanup

Pipeline Stages and CRM Hygiene

Last updated: 2026-05-12

A pipeline that has not been cleaned in two weeks is not a pipeline — it is a list of wishes. CRM hygiene is the practice of keeping the pipeline accurate so that your forecast is real and your follow-up system actually fires.

Standard Pipeline Stages

Use these stage names in GHL. Every contact with an open opportunity must be in exactly one stage at all times.

Stage 1 — New Lead

Definition: Contact entered the system but has not been contacted or qualified.

Source: Inbound form fill, cold SMS reply, cold email reply, referral referral before contact is made.

Max time in stage: 24 hours. If not contacted within 24 hours, the lead degrades significantly in quality.

Actions at this stage:

  • Attempt first contact within 5 minutes of inbound form fills
  • Tag with source (sms-inbound, email-inbound, referral, etc.)
  • Do not mark as Qualified until you have spoken with them

Stage 2 — Contacted

Definition: First contact attempt made, waiting for response.

Actions at this stage:

  • Automated follow-up sequence running (or manual follow-up logged)
  • No open task should sit more than 48 hours without a next touchpoint

Exit criteria: They respond (move to Qualified or Disqualified) OR they hit 7 days with no reply (move to Long-Term Nurture)

Stage 3 — Qualified

Definition: Had a conversation. Scored 9+ on qualification scorecard. Decision-maker confirmed.

Actions at this stage:

  • Qualification score entered in contact record
  • Discovery call notes documented
  • Closer call booked or proposal in progress

Exit criteria: Call booked (move to Booked) OR disqualified (move to Disqualified)

Stage 4 — Booked

Definition: Closer call or demo is scheduled with a confirmed time on the calendar.

Actions at this stage:

  • Confirmation SMS/email sent
  • 24-hour reminder and 1-hour reminder set
  • Closer has reviewed the setter's call notes

Exit criteria: Call happened (move to Pitched) OR no-show (move to No-Show)

Stage 5 — Pitched

Definition: Offer has been presented. Waiting on a decision.

Actions at this stage:

  • Follow-up sequence running
  • Decision-maker has been given a deadline (soft or hard)
  • Proposal document sent if applicable

Max time in stage: 7 days. If no decision in 7 days without a clear reason, move to Long-Term Nurture.

Exit criteria: Closed Won OR Closed Lost OR Long-Term Nurture

Stage 6 — Closed Won

Definition: Contract signed and deposit paid.

Actions at this stage:

  • Trigger onboarding workflow
  • Remove from all active follow-up sequences
  • Tag with niche, geo, and contract value for reporting

Stage 7 — Closed Lost

Definition: Explicitly declined or unresponsive after all follow-up exhausted.

Actions at this stage:

  • Add reason tag (price, timing, competitor, disqualified)
  • Add to 90-day re-engagement sequence if loss reason is timing
  • Do not delete from CRM — leads resurface

Stage 8 — No-Show

Definition: Booked call missed.

Actions at this stage:

  • Trigger no-show recovery workflow (see [[no-show-recovery-sms-workflow]])
  • Move to Booked if rescheduled, Long-Term Nurture if sequence exhausted

Stage 9 — Long-Term Nurture

Definition: Not ready now. Timing, budget, or circumstance prevents a decision.

Actions at this stage:

  • Monthly touchpoint (value-add email or SMS)
  • No active selling — relationship maintenance only
  • Review quarterly: are any nurture contacts now ready?

CRM Hygiene Rules

The 48-Hour Rule

Every open opportunity must have a next action (task or workflow step) within 48 hours. If a contact has no scheduled next step, someone fell through the cracks.

No Unnamed Opportunities

Every opportunity in the pipeline must have a value entered. "$0" opportunities are placeholders, not real pipeline. Estimate if you don't know exactly.

Stage Stale Limits

| Stage | Max Days Without Movement | |---|---| | New Lead | 1 day | | Contacted | 7 days | | Qualified | 5 days | | Booked | Day of call (auto-moves) | | Pitched | 7 days | | No-Show | 5 days (recovery sequence length) |

If a contact exceeds the stale limit without movement, flag it in the weekly review.

Weekly Pipeline Review (15 Minutes)

Run this every Monday morning:

  1. Filter: Stage = New Lead, older than 24 hours — These should be zero. If not, someone missed a follow-up.
  2. Filter: Stage = Contacted, older than 7 days — Move to Long-Term Nurture or disqualify.
  3. Filter: Stage = Qualified, no booked call — Why? Either set the call or move them down.
  4. Filter: Stage = Pitched, older than 7 days — Make a decision. Either follow up or move to Closed Lost.
  5. Count total pipeline value — Compare to last week. Growing, flat, or shrinking?

The pipeline review should take 15 minutes if the CRM is clean. If it takes 45 minutes, the hygiene has been neglected.

Tagging Conventions

Consistent tags make reporting and segmentation possible:

| Tag Category | Format | Examples | |---|---|---| | Source | src-[channel] | src-sms, src-email, src-referral | | Niche | niche-[niche] | niche-roofing, niche-hvac | | Outcome | [outcome] | closed-won, closed-lost-price, no-show-recovered | | Follow-up | [sequence]-active | nurture-active, no-show-active |

Do not create tags on the fly without a naming convention. Tag sprawl is the most common CRM hygiene failure in small agencies.

Related Topics

  • [[qualification-scorecard]]
  • [[close-won-onboarding-workflow]]
  • [[no-show-recovery-sms-workflow]]
  • [[appointment-show-rate-optimization]]
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