CRM Setup
Setting up opportunity types
What a type is for, how it differs from a stage, and reporting on your mix of business.
Last updated September 2, 2026
A type says what kind of business a deal is; a stage says how far along it is. Every deal has one of each, and they answer completely different questions.
Choosing your types
Use the split that actually changes how you run the business — product lines, new business against renewals, one-off work against contracts. If two types would never lead you to do anything differently, make them one.
What it gives you
- Pipeline by type — what your mix of business looks like, not just its size.
- Filtering the opportunities list to one part of what you sell.
- A value breakdown on a deal that covers more than one type of work.
Where a deal spans several types, its value can be broken down across them and the total is the sum of the parts — so a mixed deal reports honestly against each line rather than landing entirely on one.
THE QUESTION A TYPE SHOULD ANSWER
"Are we winning more of the work we actually want?" If your types cannot answer that, they are the wrong types.