Definition
A deal stage is one step in a sales pipeline, such as Lead, Quoted or Won, that shows how far an opportunity has progressed.
Deal stage meaning and exit criteria
Stages work best when each has a definition of done, sometimes called exit criteria: a site visit logged, a quotation sent, a PO received. Without them, salespeople move deals forward on optimism and the sales pipeline overstates reality. Each stage also has an outcome: still open, won or lost.
Example: a building-materials trader requires a sent quotation before any deal can enter Negotiation, and a reason before any deal is marked lost.
Deal stages describe the sale’s progress, not the order’s; fulfilment has its own statuses.