The 7 sales pipeline stages every small business should use:

1. new opportunity
2. contacting
3. engaging
4. qualified
5. custom stages
6. closing
7. won/lost

The sales processes for a real estate agent, a trainer and a handyman might seem nothing alike. To land a new client, the real estate agent needs prospects to talk homes. The trainer or fitness coach wants them to try out the gym. And the handyman needs to explore the issue to determine a fair quote.

But while every company-and every sales rep-uses methods unique to them, the stages of their sales processes are actually quite similar. Sales reps identify a new lead, work to get in touch, and evaluate whether they're the right fit for the company before working to close the deal.

Here's something else most businesses have in common: That sales process doesn't necessarily play out the same way every time. According to a recent article in Forbes, most marketers are blind to 80% of the funnel. And an inconsistent process creates mistakes, resulting in lost leads, wasted time, and limited ability for the business to grow.

When the sales process is automated, though, sales happen the way they're supposed to. With automation software like Keap, small businesses can set up an automated pipeline that helps reps keep track of leads throughout each stage of the sales process.

When the rep uses the software to move prospects from one sales stage to the next, the software can automatically send emails to leads. And rather than digging through notes-trying to remember which lead is which, and when to follow up-reps can see the status of each lead and get reminders of next actions to take. One key to success: defining each stage of the sales process and the actions that should occur in it.

In this piece, we'll give an overview of seven sales pipeline stages that every small business can use. To illustrate how an automated pipeline actually works, we'll also describe how Sum of All Numbers, a bookkeeping and payroll services firm, uses these stages in its automated pipeline-a tool that has helped the Fremont, California company quadruple its sales.