Manual Stages & objectives
Every commercial activity carries a stage (progress in the sales cycle, colored and configurable), a visit objective and an evaluation score out of 3 stars. These three elements qualify field work by customer and by sales rep.
Overview
The stages and the score are the module's shared vocabulary: the stage says where a visit stands in the sales cycle, the objective says why it takes place, the score says what it is worth. They are chosen at planning time and found again, in color, on the calendar and in customer activity.
Business goal
- Visualize the progress of each opportunity
- Standardize the pipeline with shared stages
- Rate the quality of the contact (1 to 3 stars)
- Prioritize high-potential accounts
Target audience
- Sales manager — defines the pipeline stages
- Sales reps — qualify & rate each visit
- Administrator — configures labels, colors, icons
Tailored per company
The list of stages is not fixed: each company creates its own stages with its own labels, colors and icons, to match its sales cycle.
Colored stages
A stage places the activity within the sales pipeline. Each stage has its own color and icon, reused everywhere: on the calendar block, on the timeline dot. Example of a typical pipeline:
| Stage (example) | Color | Sales meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Prospecting | Indigo | First contact, needs qualification. |
| Presentation | Amber | Demonstration of the offer / products. |
| Negotiation | Cyan | Price / terms discussion. |
| Follow-up | Coral | Tracking a pending proposal. |
| Closing | Green | Conclusion (won / lost). |
These labels are examples: yours may differ. What matters is that each stage has a distinct color to be recognized at a glance.
Configuring a stage
A stage is defined with three settings: a label, a color and an icon. This trio is what then appears everywhere in the module.
Activity stage
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Label | Displayed name of the stage (e.g. Negotiation). |
| Color | Tint of the calendar block and the timeline dot. |
| Icon | Associated pictogram to visually identify the stage. |
| Description | Optional detail on the meaning of the stage. |
Choose contrasting colors between stages: this is what keeps the calendar readable when several visits sit side by side.
The objective of an activity
The objective is entered when the meeting / visit is created: it states why the customer is being met. Once the visit is done, it is matched against a report (what actually happened), visible on the activity card.
Objective (before)
Entered at planning time — e.g. "Present the new range", "Negotiate the volume discount".
Report (after)
Written after the visit — e.g. "Customer interested, quote to be sent within 48h".
Objective and report appear on the "Meeting / Visit" card of Customer activity: intent and outcome can be read at a glance.
The evaluation score
On completion, the activity receives a rating of 1 to 3 stars: quality of the welcome, customer interest, potential. The score is carried into the timeline to spot the most promising visits at a glance.
1 star
Weak contact / needs a follow-up.
2 stars
Decent contact.
3 stars
Strong opportunity.
The score is used to prioritize: an account rated ★★★ deserves close follow-up; a ★ waits for a follow-up call before investing more time.
Activity statuses
In addition to the stage and the score, every planned activity carries a status that tracks its progress.
| Status | Meaning | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| New | Activity planned, not yet carried out. | Remains editable / movable. |
| Validated | Visit or task carried out and reported on. | Feeds the "completed" timeline + score. |
| Canceled | Activity not carried out (reason mandatory). | Keeps the cancellation reason. |
| Reported | Postponed to a new date / stage. | Entry of a new date and stage. |
The Cancelled or Rescheduled status opens a mandatory Reason field. For "Rescheduled", you additionally enter the new date and the new stage.
Stage + objective + score
The three elements combine on a single activity. Here is how they come together on a typical visit.
Customer: EL MAZRAA · Responsible: Mouadh BEN AZIZA
Objective: negotiate the volume discount on the new range
Report: agreement in principle, quote for 12,400 TND sent
Stage
Gives the color and places the opportunity within the pipeline.
Objective
Frames the visit and is compared against the final report.
Score
Ranks accounts by their potential.
Where they appear
Stage, objective and score do not live on a single, isolated screen: they flow through the entire module.
flowchart LR E[Stage + objective + score]:::s --> P[[Planning
colored block]]:::p E --> T[[Customer activity
card + ★]]:::c E --> R[[Visit report]]:::ok P -.->|completed| T classDef s fill:#F5F3FF,stroke:#7366FE,color:#5B21B6; classDef p fill:#EEF0FF,stroke:#6C5DD3,color:#3a2b80; classDef c fill:#F0EEFF,stroke:#7366FE,color:#5B21B6; classDef ok fill:#D1FAE5,stroke:#10B981,color:#065F46;
Planning
The stage colors the calendar block; the score is set on creation.
Customer activity
The "Meeting" card displays the objective, report, status and stars.
Parallel timeline
The chronological thread recaps the stage and score of each task.
Business rules
Configurable stages — each company defines its own stages (label, color, icon); the color automatically propagates to the calendar and the timeline.
3-star score — bounded from 1 to 3, assigned on completion to prioritize accounts.
Objective → report — the objective set at planning time is checked against the report entered after the visit.
Rescheduled = new stage — postponing an activity requires choosing its new date and its new stage.
Company-level isolation — stages and activities are specific to each company.
Real-world scenario
Setting up the pipeline of a Tunisian SME
- 1The admin creates 5 stages — Prospecting, Presentation, Negotiation, Follow-up, Closing — each with its own color and icon.
- 2Mouadh plans a visit to EL MAZRAA at stage Presentation, objective "present the range".
- 3After the visit, he sets it to Validated, rates it ★★★ and writes the report "quote for 12,400 TND to be sent".
- 4The next time, he replans the account at stage Negotiation: the pipeline moves forward, visible by its color on the calendar.
FAQ & Tips
All my stages have the same color?
Check the Color field of each stage: without a distinct color, the calendar becomes unreadable. Give each stage a different tint.
A visit's score isn't showing?
The score is set on completion (Validated status): an activity that is simply "New" has no stars yet.
Tip — keep the pipeline short
4 to 6 stages are usually enough. Too many stages blur the picture; a few clean, well-colored stages work better.
Swifto ERP · Commercial activity module · User Manual v1.0
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