Creating & Managing Deals

Deals are the individual opportunities that flow through your sales pipeline. Each deal represents a potential sale to a customer, with a dollar value, a pipeline stage, and an expected close date. This article provides a detailed walkthrough of the Deal dialog (FrmCRMDeal), explains every field and action available to you, and covers the full lifecycle of a deal from creation through to closing it as won or lost.

Opening the Deal Dialog

The Deal dialog opens in two situations:

• Creating a new deal — Click the New Deal button on the Deals tab of the Customer Form. The dialog opens with empty fields, ready for you to enter the deal details.
• Editing an existing deal — Double-click a deal row in the deals grid on the Customer Form. The dialog opens with all of the deal's current information pre-populated, and the stage history is visible at the bottom.

Deal Fields

The Deal dialog contains the following fields. Each field is described in detail below so you understand exactly what to enter and how the system uses the information.

Deal Name (Required)

The deal name is a short, descriptive label that identifies the opportunity. Choose a name that clearly communicates what the deal is about so that anyone reviewing the pipeline can understand it at a glance.

Good examples:

• "Office Furniture Package"
• "Annual Maintenance Contract"
• "Website Redesign Project"
• "Q2 Bulk Supply Order"

Avoid vague names like "New Deal" or "Opportunity 1" because they make it difficult to distinguish deals from one another when reviewing the pipeline.

Deal Value ($)

The dollar amount that the deal is expected to generate if it closes successfully. Enter the total value of the opportunity. This value is used in pipeline calculations, including the Total Pipeline Value and Weighted Pipeline Value on the Deals tab summary panel.

If you are unsure of the exact value, enter your best estimate. You can always update it later as the deal progresses and the scope becomes clearer.

Stage Dropdown

The stage dropdown lists all active pipeline stages configured for your system. Each stage is displayed with its associated color, making it easy to identify stages visually.

When you select a stage, the Probability field is automatically updated to the stage's default probability. For example, selecting "Qualified" sets the probability to 25%. You can override this automatic value if needed (see the Probability section below).

The stages available in the dropdown are determined by your pipeline configuration. See Configuring Pipeline Stages for information on customizing the available stages.

Probability (%)

The probability field indicates how likely the deal is to close, expressed as a percentage from 0 to 100. When you select a stage from the dropdown, this field is automatically filled with the stage's default probability.

However, the probability is editable. If you have additional information that makes a deal more or less likely to close than the default for its stage, you can manually override the value. For example:

• A deal in the Proposal stage (default 50%) where the customer has verbally committed might warrant a manual probability of 80%.
• A deal in the Qualified stage (default 25%) where the customer has gone silent might warrant a manual probability of 10%.

The probability value is used to calculate the Weighted Pipeline Value, so keeping it accurate helps improve your revenue forecasts.

Expected Close Date

The date by which you expect the deal to be finalized. This date helps you plan your sales activities and prioritize deals that are approaching their expected close. Deals on the Deals tab grid are sorted by this date in ascending order, so the most imminent deals appear first.

Set this date realistically. If the close date passes and the deal is still open, consider updating it to a new target date or re-evaluating whether the deal is still viable.

Source

The source field records how the deal originated. This is a free-text field where you can note the channel or method that brought the opportunity to your attention. Common entries include:

• Referral
• Website inquiry
• Cold call
• Trade show
• Email campaign
• Walk-in
• Repeat customer

Tracking deal sources over time helps you understand which channels produce the most opportunities and which generate the highest-value deals. This information is valuable for marketing and sales strategy decisions.

Contact Dropdown

The contact dropdown lists all contacts associated with the current customer. If the customer record has multiple contacts (for example, a purchasing manager and a project lead), you can select the specific contact who is the primary point of person for this deal.

Selecting a contact is optional but recommended. It helps your team know exactly who to reach out to when following up on the deal.

Assigned To Dropdown

The assigned-to dropdown lists all users at the current location. Select the user who is responsible for managing and advancing this deal. The assigned user is the deal's owner and is the person who will see the deal in their pipeline view (depending on the location's visibility settings).

If you are creating the deal for yourself, select your own name. If you are creating a deal on behalf of a colleague, select their name from the dropdown.

Notes

The notes field is a multiline text area where you can record any additional details about the deal. Use it to capture context that does not fit into the other fields, such as:

• Specific customer requirements or preferences
• Key decision-makers involved
• Competitive information (other vendors the customer is considering)
• Internal notes about pricing strategy or negotiation approach
• Follow-up reminders or next steps

Notes are visible to anyone who opens the deal (subject to visibility permissions), so keep them professional and factual.

Stage History Grid

Below the deal fields, the Deal dialog includes a read-only Stage History grid. This grid provides a complete audit trail of every stage transition the deal has gone through since it was created.

The Stage History grid displays the following columns:

The stage history is automatically populated whenever a deal's stage changes. You cannot edit or delete history entries. This ensures a transparent record of how the deal progressed through the pipeline.

The stage history is particularly useful for:

• Understanding how long a deal spent in each stage
• Identifying who moved the deal and when
• Reviewing the lost reason if a deal was marked as lost
• Auditing deal progression for management review

For a dedicated view of stage history, see Deal Stage History.

Quick Actions

The Deal dialog includes three quick action buttons that allow you to advance or close a deal without manually selecting stages from the dropdown. These buttons streamline common workflows and ensure consistency.

Move to Next Stage

The Move to Next Stage button advances the deal to the next stage in the pipeline order. For example, if the deal is currently in the Qualified stage (order 2), clicking this button moves it to the Proposal stage (order 3).

This button saves you from opening the stage dropdown and selecting the next stage manually. It is especially useful during pipeline review meetings where you are quickly updating multiple deals.

The button is disabled if the deal is already in the last regular stage before Won/Lost, or if the deal has already been marked as Won or Lost.

Mark Won

The Mark Won button moves the deal to the Won stage in a single click. When you click this button, the following actions occur atomically (all at once, as a single database transaction):

1. The deal's stage changes to the Won stage.
2. The deal's probability is set to 100%.
3. The Actual Close Date is automatically set to today's date.
4. A stage history entry is created recording the transition to Won, including the user who performed the action and the timestamp.

Because all of these changes happen in a single database transaction, the deal is never left in an inconsistent state. Either all changes are saved together, or none of them are. This protects your data integrity and ensures that won deals always have a close date and a 100% probability.

After marking a deal as won, it is removed from the Open Deals count and the pipeline value calculations on the Deals tab summary panel.

Mark Lost

The Mark Lost button moves the deal to the Lost stage. When you click this button, a dialog prompts you to enter a Lost Reason. The lost reason is required and cannot be left blank. Common lost reasons include:

• "Customer chose a competitor"
• "Budget was cut"
• "Project postponed indefinitely"
• "Customer unresponsive after multiple follow-ups"
• "Price too high"

Once you enter the lost reason and confirm, the following actions occur atomically:

1. The deal's stage changes to the Lost stage.
2. The deal's probability is set to 0%.
3. The Actual Close Date is automatically set to today's date.
4. A stage history entry is created recording the transition to Lost, including the lost reason, the user, and the timestamp.

As with Mark Won, all of these changes are saved in a single database transaction so the deal is never in an inconsistent state. Requiring a lost reason ensures that your team captures valuable information about why deals fail, which can be analyzed over time to improve your sales process.

Auto-Tasks on Stage Change

When a deal moves to a pipeline stage that has auto-task automation enabled, AccuArk automatically creates a follow-up task and assigns it to the deal's owner (the user in the Assigned To field). This feature ensures that critical follow-up actions are not forgotten as deals progress through the pipeline.

For example, if the Qualified stage is configured with an auto-task titled "Schedule discovery call" with a due date of 2 days, then whenever a deal enters the Qualified stage, a task is automatically created with the title "Schedule discovery call," a due date of 2 days from now, and the deal owner as the assignee.

Auto-tasks are configured at the pipeline stage level by an administrator. See Auto-Tasks & Stage Automation for details on configuring auto-task settings.

Required Permissions

Access to deal operations is controlled by CRM permissions. The following permissions determine what a user can do with deals:

These permissions are assigned through the role-based permission system. Contact your system administrator if you need access to deal operations that you currently cannot perform.

Common Workflows

Creating a New Deal After a Sales Call

1. Open the customer record in the Customer Form.
2. Click the Deals tab.
3. Click New Deal.
4. Enter a descriptive name (for example, "Spring Renovation Project").
5. Enter the estimated deal value.
6. Select the appropriate starting stage (typically Lead or Qualified, depending on how far the conversation progressed).
7. Set the expected close date based on the customer's timeline.
8. Enter the source (for example, "Cold call").
9. Select the relevant contact from the dropdown.
10. Assign the deal to yourself or the appropriate salesperson.
11. Add any relevant notes about the conversation.
12. Click Save.

Advancing a Deal After a Successful Meeting

1. Open the customer record and go to the Deals tab.
2. Double-click the deal you want to update.
3. Click Move to Next Stage to advance the deal.
4. Optionally update the probability if your confidence level differs from the stage default.
5. Update the notes with details from the meeting.
6. Click Save.

Closing a Deal as Won

1. Open the deal from the Deals tab.
2. Click Mark Won.
3. The deal is moved to the Won stage, the close date is set to today, and the probability becomes 100%.
4. The deal is no longer counted in the open pipeline.

Closing a Deal as Lost

1. Open the deal from the Deals tab.
2. Click Mark Lost.
3. Enter a lost reason when prompted (for example, "Customer chose a competitor").
4. The deal is moved to the Lost stage, the close date is set to today, and the probability becomes 0%.
5. The lost reason is recorded in the stage history for future analysis.

Editing Deal Details Mid-Pipeline

1. Double-click the deal in the deals grid.
2. Update the fields that have changed (value, expected close date, probability, notes, etc.).
3. Click Save to apply the changes.
4. The deals grid and summary panel update to reflect the new values.

Tips and Best Practices

• Name deals descriptively — A good deal name saves time when scanning the pipeline. Include the product or service and any distinguishing detail.
• Update deals after every customer interaction — Keep deal stages, probabilities, and notes current so your pipeline accurately reflects reality.
• Use the lost reason to learn — Do not enter generic lost reasons like "lost" or "no." Be specific so your team can identify patterns and improve.
• Override probability when you have better information — The default probabilities are averages. If you know a deal is more or less likely than the default, adjust the probability to improve your forecast.
• Review the stage history before follow-ups — Before reaching out to a customer about a deal, check the stage history to understand the full context of how the deal has progressed.
• Do not delete deals unnecessarily — Even lost deals provide valuable historical data. Only delete deals that were created in error.

What to Read Next

• Auto-Tasks & Stage Automation — Learn how automatic tasks are triggered by stage changes
• Deal Stage History — Deep dive into the stage transition audit trail