Step 5: Configure your Sales Status/Pipeline and Opportunities
Some users elect to keep track of a simple Sales Status and Pipeline record, and Sales Opportunities within Open Leads. While not required, it can be useful in getting a basic understanding of your sales volume and prospect statuses.
To configure your Sales Opportunities, click on your Settings Tab, and then on Opportunities. Each account can have up to 10 Sales Opportunity Channels. Configure as many as you need for the different product lines you offer. The first step is to name your opportunity, which is done by clicking on "Opportunity 1." You can then give this Opportunity a descriptive label - "Widgets," for example. Once you name your Opportunity, you will see that the box expands and gives you percentages from 0 to 100%, and the ability to label one or more of these percentages. You can use these to identify "likelihood of close" or you can label them to represent stages within the sales process. Examples of the later option would be "Not yet contacted" for 0%, "Contract Submitted" for 90%, and "Closed Sale" for 100%. How you use this feature is entirely up to you and what works best for your business.
These sales Opportunities will work in conjunction with your Lead Status and Sales Pipeline amounts on the lead detail screen, and you can then use the View system to create "reports" for your sales over certain time periods. You may also automatically increment or update this information for leads using your Workflows.