Sales pipeline · Autessa CRM
Stage gates and deal history
Autessa CRM uses stage gates to keep the pipeline honest: a deal cannot advance until it has what the next stage needs, moving backward needs a coded reason, and every move is written to the deal’s spine, an append-only history that nothing can edit or remove.
The problem
A forecast is only as good as the stages under it
When anyone can drag a deal to Contract with no value and no close date, the forecast is a guess. Stage gates make each stage mean something, and the spine shows exactly how every deal got where it is.
What you get
- Leaving Lead, Meeting, Proposal, Compete to Win or Contract: “Set the next step and a due date before advancing this deal.”
- Leaving Proposal: a deal value and a forecast close date.
- Leaving Compete to Win: name who you are competing against, or select None.
- Leaving Contract: link or create the contract record.
- Entering Won: record the signed amount. Entering Lost: a coded reason, and the competitor if lost to one. Entering Deferred: a revisit date.
- Backward moves need a reason (Re-scoping, Lost champion, Budget frozen, Deprioritized, Went dark) and permission.
- Transition rules whitelist which moves are allowed; forward skips are fine.
- The spine: every stage transition with reason, source, who and time held.
How it works
How does stage gates and deal history work in Autessa CRM?
- 1
Press Advance
Labelled with the move, e.g. “Advance to Proposal”.
- 2
The gate checks
Missing fields are listed in plain words.
- 3
Fill and move
Add what is missing in the popover and move.
- 4
It goes on the spine
Who, when, why and how long it sat.
Every option
Gate configuration
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Transition rules | Which stage-to-stage moves are allowed (46 seeded). |
| Field requirements | What must be filled to leave or enter a stage (12 seeded). |
| Per stage | Counts in forecast, requires next step, age warning and critical days. |
| Sub-states | Forecast inherit, yes or no, and the default on entry. |
| Backward reasons | A vocabulary you can edit. |
| Deactivate only | Stages are switched off, never deleted, so history stays intact. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Sales Rep | Advance their own deals through the gates. |
| Sales Manager | Move deals backward with a reason; edit stages, rules and requirements. |
| Administrator | Everything, including workspace settings, integrations and roles. |
Connected
How it connects to the rest of Autessa CRM
FAQ
Questions about stage gates and deal history
What are stage gates in a CRM?
Rules that check a deal has what the next stage needs before it moves. In Autessa CRM they are configurable per stage.
Can someone edit a deal’s stage history?
No. The spine is append-only: nothing in it can be edited or removed.
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