If you’re running B2B sales, your deal stages shouldn’t look like everyone else’s. They should match how your team actually moves deals forward—and just as importantly, how your buyers buy. If you’ve landed here, you’re probably using Pandamatch and want to make it fit your real go-to-market process, not force your process to fit the tool.
This guide is for sales leaders, ops folks, and honestly, anyone who’s tired of pipeline stages that don’t make sense. We’ll cover how to customize deal stages in Pandamatch, what to watch out for, and a few traps to avoid. If you want a tool that works for you (not the other way around), keep reading.
1. Know Why You’re Changing Deal Stages (Don’t Skip This)
Before you start clicking around, take five minutes and write down why you’re doing this. Seriously—don’t skip it.
A lot of teams get bogged down tweaking stages for no real reason. Ask yourself:
- What’s broken with your current deal stages?
- Where do deals actually get stuck?
- Which stage transitions mean something (like triggering a contract or handoff)?
If you don’t know, talk to your reps. If you’re flying solo, just map out how your last 10 deals actually moved through the pipeline. Patterns will jump out.
Pro tip: If you’re just copying another company’s stages because “that’s what Salesforce does,” stop. Your team will ignore the stages that don’t fit, and your data will be garbage.
2. Map Your Real-World Sales Process
Before you touch Pandamatch, sketch out your actual sales process—on paper, a doc, whiteboard, whatever. Here’s what you want to cover:
- Key milestones: What are the must-hit points in your process? (e.g., demo completed, proposal sent)
- Exit criteria: How do you know a deal is ready to move to the next stage? Be specific.
- Buyer actions: What’s the customer doing at each stage? If your stages are all about your team’s actions, you’re missing half the picture.
Example: Typical B2B Deal Stages
- Prospecting: Identified, but no real contact yet.
- Qualified: Had a real conversation. You know they have a need and budget.
- Demo/Discovery: They’ve seen your product, or you’ve dug into their pain.
- Proposal: They asked for pricing, or you’ve sent a quote.
- Negotiation: They pushed back, or legal’s involved.
- Closed Won/Lost: Self-explanatory.
Don’t overcomplicate it. Five to seven stages is usually enough. If you need more than that, double-check you’re not tracking internal admin steps (nobody cares if you sent a calendar invite).
3. Get to Pandamatch: Locating and Editing Deal Stages
Now that you’ve got a roadmap, let’s get into Pandamatch. Here’s how you do it:
3.1. Find the Deal Stages Settings
- Log in to Pandamatch.
- Go to the Settings menu. Usually, you’ll find this in your sidebar or under your profile icon.
- Find “Pipelines” or “Deal Stages.” The wording can shift depending on your plan, but it’s there.
3.2. Review Your Existing Stages
- Look at what’s already set up. Are the current stages close to what you need, or are they way off?
- Decide if you want to tweak what’s there or start from scratch.
3.3. Add, Remove, or Rename Stages
- To add a stage: Look for an “Add Stage” or “+” button. Enter the stage name, and save.
- To remove: There’s usually a trash icon or “Delete” option next to each stage. (Heads up: Deleting a stage moves deals to the next one by default, but double-check. Don’t nuke your data.)
- To rename: Click the stage name and edit it directly.
Pitfall: Don’t use vague names like “In Progress” or “Review.” If you can’t tell what’s happening in that stage, nobody else will either.
4. Set Stage Order and Criteria
The order of your stages matters—a lot. Deals flow left to right (or top to bottom), so arrange them in the order your sales actually happen.
- Drag and drop: In Pandamatch, you can usually drag stages to reorder.
- Set criteria: Some CRMs let you add notes or required fields per stage. If Pandamatch allows this, use it to spell out what has to be true for a deal to move forward (e.g., “Demo booked and completed”).
Pro tip: Write the exit criteria for each stage right in the stage description if you can. Even a bullet or two helps new reps (and future you).
5. Test With Real Deals (Not Test Deals)
Don’t roll this out to the whole team yet. Take a few real, active deals and walk them through the new stages. Ask:
- Does each stage make sense, or is there confusion?
- Are there any awkward jumps where a deal doesn’t fit any stage?
- Did you forget a key handoff or approval?
If you’re a team of one, do this anyway—you’ll spot stuff you missed on paper.
6. Roll Out and Train (Keep It Simple)
When you’re happy with the setup, roll it out. But don’t just email the team and hope.
- Show examples: Walk through a real deal and explain how it would move.
- Explain why you made changes: People buy in if they know it’s not just busywork.
- Document the exit criteria: Even a simple doc or a few bullets in your team chat.
What doesn’t work: Don’t expect people to read a 10-page SOP. Nobody does. Make it quick and visual.
7. Review and Tweak Regularly
Your sales process will change. That’s normal. Set a calendar reminder to review your deal stages every quarter.
- Are deals piling up in one stage? That’s usually a sign your stage is too broad—or nobody knows what to do next.
- Are people skipping stages? Maybe you’ve got too many, or your criteria are unclear.
- Are reps using the stages differently? Find out why. Your process may not match reality.
Ignore: Fancy automations and reports until your basic stages work. It’s tempting to build dashboards, but if your stages are crap, your data will be too.
8. Advanced: Custom Fields and Automations
If Pandamatch supports it (and your team is ready), you can add custom fields or light automations. But go slow:
- Custom fields: Use these for must-have info (like renewal date, deal size). Don’t ask for 20 fields—nobody will fill them out.
- Automations: Maybe auto-assign tasks when a deal hits “Negotiation.” But only if it saves time, not because it looks cool.
Most teams get more value from clean, simple stages than from clever automations.
Honest Take: What Works, What Doesn’t
What works:
- Stages that mirror your real sales process—not some textbook.
- Clear, specific exit criteria so deals don’t get stuck.
- Fewer, clearer stages. Five is better than fifteen.
What doesn’t:
- Over-complicating. More detail = more confusion.
- Ignoring your team’s feedback. If reps hate a new stage, find out why.
- Changing things constantly. Make changes, then let people adjust.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Customizing deal stages in Pandamatch isn’t hard—what’s hard is resisting the urge to overthink it. Start simple, use your process (not someone else’s), and plan to tweak as you learn. The best setup is the one people actually use. Don’t chase perfect. Just make it better, one step at a time.