If you’re running a sales team (or are the sales team), you already know: the pipeline matters more than any dashboard, forecast, or motivational poster. But keeping tabs on deals, who owns what, and where things stall? That’s the grind. If you’re considering using Myteamfluence to wrangle your sales pipeline stages, this guide is for you. We’ll cut through the fluff and get right to what works, what’s annoying, and how to keep things moving.
Why Sales Pipeline Stages Actually Matter (and Where They Go Sideways)
Before we dive into setup, let’s be honest: pipeline stages aren’t magic. They give you:
- Clarity on what’s next for each deal.
- Accountability for reps (or yourself).
- A way to spot deals that are stuck.
But they also get misused. Overcomplicated pipelines, wishful thinking about deal progress, or “set it and forget it” tools make it all pointless. If your stages aren’t clear and your team isn’t actually updating them, none of this matters.
Step 1: Map Out Your Real Sales Process (Don’t Just Copy a Template)
Myteamfluence has default pipeline stages, but don’t just accept them blindly. Take 10 minutes—literally, set a timer—and sketch out how deals really move through your world. Keep it simple:
- Typical B2B SaaS: Lead → Qualified → Demo Scheduled → Proposal Sent → Negotiation → Closed Won/Lost
- Service business: Inquiry → Discovery Call → Proposal → Contract Sent → In Progress → Complete
Don’t add more than 6–7 stages. If you can’t explain what “Needs Analysis” means to a new hire in two sentences, drop it.
Pro tip: Ask your last three won deals and lost deals, “What actually happened?” That’s your real pipeline.
Step 2: Set Up Pipeline Stages in Myteamfluence
Once you’ve got your stages, it’s time to set them up in Myteamfluence. Here’s what to do:
- Log in and head to the Pipelines section.
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This is usually under “Sales” or “Opportunities.” If you’re lost, search “Pipeline” in their menu.
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Create a new pipeline or edit the default.
- If you’re starting from scratch, hit “Add Pipeline.”
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Already have one? Just edit the stages.
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Add your custom stages.
- Use the names you mapped out. Don’t be afraid to delete the default ones if they don’t fit.
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Keep the stage names short and obvious.
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Set stage order.
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Drag and drop to rearrange. The order matters—a weird sequence confuses everyone.
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Assign owners and permissions.
- For teams, decide: who can move deals between stages? Who gets notified?
- For solo users, you can mostly ignore this.
Honest take: Myteamfluence’s stage editor is decent—better than most CRMs, but not as slick as some newer tools. Sometimes the UI is a little slow, so save often if you’re making a bunch of changes.
Step 3: Assign Deals to Pipeline Stages
Here’s where things get real. Deals don’t magically know where they belong. You (or your reps) have to put them in the right stage.
- Manual entry: Click into a deal and set the stage from a dropdown.
- Bulk update: If you’re migrating from another tool or a spreadsheet, use the import feature. Map your stages carefully.
- Automations: Myteamfluence lets you set up basic automations (e.g., “Move deal to Proposal Sent when document is e-signed”), but these only work if your sales process is pretty standard.
What to ignore: Don’t spend hours building fancy automations until you’ve run your pipeline manually for at least a month. Most teams overcomplicate this and then get stuck fixing their own Rube Goldberg machine.
Step 4: Monitor Pipeline Progress (Without Losing Your Mind)
Now you’ve got deals in stages—great. But unless you actually watch the pipeline, it’ll get stale fast.
The Basics
- Pipeline view: Use the Kanban-style board to see where everything is. This is the only view that matters on busy days.
- Filters: Hide closed deals, filter by rep, sort by deal value. It makes the board less overwhelming.
Tracking Movement
- Aging deals: Myteamfluence color-codes deals that have been stuck in a stage too long. Pay attention—this is where sales die.
- If deals linger, ask: “Is this really alive, or are we kidding ourselves?”
- Stage history: You can click into a deal to see when it moved. This is handy if you’re trying to spot bottlenecks or sandbagging.
Reporting
- Stage conversion rates: See how many deals go from one stage to the next. If your “Proposal Sent” stage has a 10% win rate, you’ve got a problem.
- Forecasting: Yes, Myteamfluence can do basic forecasting based on pipeline value and stage probabilities. Don’t trust it blindly—gut check the numbers.
Pitfall alert: Reports are only as good as the data. If your team doesn’t update stages, your forecasts are worthless.
Step 5: Keep the Pipeline Clean and the Team Accountable
A pipeline is like a garden—ignore it, and it gets messy.
- Set a “stale deal” rule: If a deal hasn’t moved in X days, review it weekly. Archive or close as lost if there’s no action.
- Pipeline reviews: Do a quick team review once a week. Five minutes tops. Ask, “What needs to move?” and “What’s blocking us?”
- Don’t fudge stages: If a deal isn’t really in “Negotiation,” don’t move it there to look good. You’re only fooling yourself.
What doesn’t work: Endless pipeline meetings, complicated “stage reasons,” or overusing custom fields. Keep it simple. The more you add, the less people update.
Step 6: Adjust as You Go (Don’t Be Precious About Your Setup)
Your first pipeline setup won’t be perfect. That’s fine.
- Review stage definitions every couple months. If no deals ever make it to a stage, kill it.
- Listen to your team (or yourself). If people constantly ask, “Where does this deal go?”—your stages aren’t clear enough.
- Don’t get sucked into feature creep. Bells and whistles are tempting, but most of the value comes from using the basics well.
Honest Pros and Cons of Using Myteamfluence for Pipeline Management
What Works
- Visual pipeline: The Kanban board is clear, and moving deals is easy.
- Custom stages: You can match the tool to your real process, not the other way around.
- Solid reporting: The basics (conversion rates, pipeline value) are all there.
What’s Just Okay
- Automations: They help, but they’re limited. Fine for small teams; power users will hit the ceiling.
- UI speed: Not the fastest, especially with large pipelines. Not a dealbreaker, but you’ll notice.
What to Ignore
- Overly complex permissions: Unless you have a huge team, keep it simple.
- “Gamification” features: Leaderboards and badges sound nice, but don’t move real deals forward.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Keep It Honest
Setting up and tracking your sales pipeline in Myteamfluence isn’t rocket science, but it’s easy to make it harder than it needs to be. Start with the real way your deals move, set up clear stages, and actually use the tool every week. Ignore the bells and whistles until the basics are second nature. If something feels clunky, change it—don’t wait for “the perfect setup.” The pipeline is never perfect, and that’s fine. Just keep it up to date, stay honest about where deals really stand, and tweak as you go. That’s how you actually close more business.