What should a sales phase include?

Most stage models describe what the salesperson has done. The best ones describe what the customer has done.

The customer's action, not the seller's

“Proposal sent” only tells you that someone clicked send. “The customer has confirmed the budget and timeline” tells you something about the likelihood. The latter is far more valuable in a forecast.

One clear exit criterion

What must be true for the deal to move forward? One criterion per stage, phrased so that two sales reps would give the same answer.

Probability by stage

Set a percentage for each stage based on your own historical data rather than gut feeling. Calculate it using last year's deals—the figure is usually lower than people think.

Stages should be able to move backward

If an assumption no longer holds, the deal should move back. If the stage only moves in one direction, it is a progress indicator, not an assessment.