Pipeline templates by business type
Ten pipelines with their stages and starting probabilities, written out. Pick the closest one, then change it to match how you actually sell.
- 10 pipelines in full
- Probabilities included
- No email required
The short answer
- Ten templates: B2B services, B2B software, home services replacement, home services repair, professional services intake, staffing client development, staffing job orders, marketing agency retainer, marketplace bidding, and insurance renewal.
- Each stage carries a starting probability, because a weighted forecast is only useful when the numbers came from somewhere. Adjust them after a quarter of your own data.
- Two rules that apply to all ten: a stage is a thing that happened rather than a feeling, and more than seven or eight stages means nobody will keep the board accurate.
Why this exists
Pipeline stages get copied from whichever CRM someone used last, which is why so many boards have a stage called Interested. Interested is not an event. Meeting booked is an event. You can check whether it happened.
The probabilities are starting points rather than truths. After a quarter, compare each stage's actual conversion rate to the number below and replace it. That single exercise does more for a forecast than any other change.
The ten pipelines
1. B2B services
New lead (10%), Contacted (20%), Discovery held (35%), Proposal sent (55%), Negotiation (75%), Won, Lost.
2. B2B software
New lead (5%), Qualified (15%), Demo held (30%), Trial or pilot (50%), Business case (65%), Contract (85%), Won, Lost.
3. Home services, replacement or project
Lead (10%), Estimate scheduled (25%), Estimate sent (40%), Follow-up 1 (45%), Follow-up 2 (50%), Financing (65%), Sold, Lost.
4. Home services, repair or service call
Call received (20%), Scheduled (60%), Completed, Invoiced. Deliberately short: this pipeline is administrative rather than persuasive.
5. Professional services intake
Enquiry received (10%), Fit or conflict check (20%), Consultation booked (40%), Consultation held (55%), Proposal sent (70%), Engaged, Declined, Not a fit.
6. Staffing, client development
Target account (5%), Contacted (15%), Meeting held (30%), Job order received (60%), Candidate submitted (75%), Placement, Lost.
7. Staffing, job orders
Open (20%), Sourcing (35%), Candidates submitted (55%), Interviewing (70%), Offer (85%), Filled, Cancelled.
8. Marketing agency retainer
Enquiry (10%), Discovery (25%), Audit or proposal delivered (45%), Scope agreed (70%), Contract sent (85%), Won, Lost.
9. Marketplace bidding
Job identified (5%), Proposal sent (15%), Interviewing (45%), Offer (75%), Hired, No reply, Lost. The no-reply stage matters: on marketplaces most proposals end there and folding it into Lost hides your real rate.
10. Insurance or renewal-driven
Quote requested (20%), Quoted (40%), Follow-up (50%), Bound, Not taken up, Renewal due (60%), Renewed, Lapsed.
How to choose and adjust
Start with the closest template rather than a blank board. Then apply three tests. Can someone looking at a card tell what has to happen for it to move? Is every stage an event with a date? Are there fewer than eight?
After one quarter, count how many deals that reached each stage were eventually won, and use that number as the probability. Your own data beats any template on this page, including these.
In SalesCrew stages and probabilities are configuration, editable in the app or with pipeline_stage_upsert, and the weighted forecast recalculates from whatever you set. Every stage change is written to the audit log with its actor, so a forecast that moved can be explained.
Build the board in ten minutes
Pick a template, set the probabilities, and let the weighted forecast be a sum of the board.