Magazine · 5 September 2026 · revised 9 October 2026
Pipeline stages: what does “qualified” actually mean at your company?
An opportunity is qualified when a criterion is met that can be checked. A good feeling on the call isn't enough. The simplest test: could someone who wasn't on the call move the card to the right stage? If not, the stage describes an impression, and so does every forecast built on it.
Six stages from the template
Lead, MQL, SQL, demo, proposal, closed: many CRM templates ship with these six stages. What they mean inside your company is rarely written down anywhere.
That's understandable. Naming a stage takes a second, defining it properly more like an afternoon, and that afternoon can always be postponed.
The test for a criterion
A criterion works if someone who wasn't on the call can move the card correctly.
Phrases like “showed interest”, “good fit” or “will get back to us” are not criteria. They are impressions. Not wrong, just impossible to hand over to anyone else.
A criterion, by contrast: “A meeting is in the calendar, and someone who controls the budget is attending.” That can be checked.
Why the forecast depends on the stages
A forecast adds up what sits in the stages. If a stage has no criterion, you end up asking people who aren't sure themselves, and you get whatever number feels right to them.
With criteria you read the number off instead of asking for it. Whether it gets more accurate depends on the criteria. Either way, you know where it comes from.
Criteria first, then the fields
Set up the CRM first and decide what the stages mean later, and you build the definition into a system that already holds data. Then you clean up twice.
So we settle the stages before we recommend a platform or create the first field. Beforehand it costs an afternoon, afterwards a migration.
How we set up qualification in your CRM is described at Sales OS.
What is the difference between MQL and SQL?
An MQL has shown enough interest for marketing to pass it on. An SQL has been checked by sales and judged ready for a conversation. Exactly where the line sits should be written down in your company.
How many pipeline stages does a B2B sales team need?
As many as you can back with a checkable criterion. Every stage without one makes the pipeline longer, not more accurate.
What is MEDDIC?
A qualification framework for B2B sales. It asks about six things: metrics, the economic buyer, decision criteria, the decision process, the actual pain (identify pain) and an internal champion. We derive the criteria for each stage from it.