Move Prospects Through “Account Status” Assembly Line Stages You can't predictably create revenue without predictable pipeline, and that requires ways to measure and track how pipeline gets created. An effective, easy-to-use sales automation or CRM system makes it convenient now to use a simple idea, the assembly line, as a model to "manufacture new pipeline", implying a sales organization that can measurably, consistently and predictably produce new sales opportunities. Just as you use stages in your sales process to track movement and progress through it, you need similar stages in your prospecting process. Also, if you can establish specific actions and methods for dealing with a prospect depending on which specific stage they are in, you will be far more effective as a salesperson. Our analogous sales process system for prospecting stages is called “Account Status.” These stages are separate and complementary to your sales process stages, because they precede the creation of a new sales opportunity. Below are the assembly line stages you should use to track how you're moving prospects through your prospecting process (customize as you see fit):