# How do I best set up my sales pipeline?

Pipeline management 101 💡

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# Set up a pipeline to build a process

Think of your [sales pipeline](https://blog.salesflare.com/sales-pipeline) as a **process** through which you guide your prospects to become customers.

What are the steps you need to take with them? How does a lead evolve to a won or lost deal?

These steps are the **stages** in your pipeline. Take a few minutes to write them down.  
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# Visualize to take control

Now set up this pipeline in Salesflare to have a **visual overview** of who's where in your process.

Head to [Settings \> Configure pipeline](https://app.salesflare.com/#/settings/stage). You can hit the blue button to create stages, hit the pencil icon to edit stages, and drag and drop to reorder them.

This enables you **take control** of your process. And it will make you feel more in control as well.

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# Qualify leads to be more efficient

Now think of your pipeline as a **funnel**. How can you quickly filter in this process and make sure you spend your precious time with the best prospects?  
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This is where good **qualification** comes in. You need to proactively decide whether the prospect is a good one.

To make an objective decision, use the **BANT criteria**: you think you'll be able to close the deal because:

*   They have a budget to spend (Budget)
    
*   You're talking to the right person (Authority)
    
*   They have a need for your product (Need)
    
*   And there's a definite timeline; not "some day". (Timeline)
    

Define a stage where you say "yay or nay". The earlier you do it the better.  
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# A concrete example

Here's a concrete example of **how you can stage it** (for e.g. software sales):

*   Lead: you've found a good prospect, ready to contact
    
*   Contacted: you're in contact with the prospect
    
*   Interested: the prospect shows interest
    
*   Qualified: you've qualified the prospect as a good one (see above)
    
*   Trial: the prospect is trying your software
    
*   Won/Lost: the prospect becomes a customer... or not
    

![](/assets/ad0f897d7ff5729bf23f77de.gif)

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Need help defining the right stages? Hit us up on the chat.