When to Close an Opportunity?
An opportunity should be closed when it reaches a definitive outcome, ensuring accurate reporting and better decision-making for future sales efforts. There are four main ways to close an opportunity in TeamGram CRM: Won, Lost, Abandoned, and Cancelled.
You should close an opportunity when:
- A deal has been successfully won and finalized.
- The prospect has explicitly decided not to proceed with the purchase.
- The opportunity has stalled indefinitely and is no longer worth pursuing.
- The customer is unable to proceed due to unexpected circumstances.
Ways to Close an Opportunity
Marking an Opportunity as Won
A won opportunity signifies a successful sale. To mark an opportunity as won:
- Drag the opportunity to the green column at the right-hand side of the pipeline.
- A popup will appear asking you to enter the final sale value.
- Update the value if necessary and click the Won button to confirm.
Once an opportunity is marked as won, it is no longer considered an active deal and will be reflected in your sales reports.
Marking an Opportunity as Lost
Not every opportunity results in a successful sale. Marking an opportunity as lost helps maintain pipeline accuracy and allows sales teams to focus on viable deals. An opportunity should be marked as lost if:
- The prospect explicitly states they are not interested.
- The customer has chosen a competitor’s solution after evaluation.
- The lead is unresponsive despite multiple follow-up attempts.
To mark an opportunity as lost:
- Drag the opportunity into the red zone under the pipeline view (the red zone appears when you start dragging).
- A popup window will appear, prompting you to select a loss reason.
- Choose the appropriate reason (options are set by your administrator) and click Lost to confirm.
Marking an Opportunity as Abandoned
Some opportunities may not be lost in the traditional sense but are no longer aligned with business goals or are taking too long to close. You may want to abandon an opportunity if:
- The deal no longer fits your objectives.
- The sales cycle is too long with little to no progress.
- You decide not to pursue the opportunity further, despite the customer’s willingness to continue discussions.
To abandon an opportunity:
- Drag the opportunity into the gray zone marked as Abandoned.
- A popup window will prompt you to specify the reason.
- Confirm the action to remove it from your active pipeline.
Marking an Opportunity as Cancelled
A cancelled opportunity differs from a lost or abandoned one in that the customer is no longer interested in a deal, because their priorities or needs changed unexpectedly. Cancellations should be used sparingly and only in cases of unexpected changes impacting the customer, such as changes in their business strategy, financial problems or corporate restructuring.
To mark an opportunity as cancelled:
- Drag the opportunity into the grey Cancelled zone.
- Select the appropriate cancellation reason.
- Click Confirm to finalize the status change.
Best Practices for Closing Opportunities
- Close opportunities as soon as their outcome is clear to maintain an accurate pipeline.
- Be realistic. Avoid keeping opportunities open if you know you will not be working to win them. Keeping opportunities that should be closed open skews your metrics and makes it more difficult to forecast future sales.
- Use the appropriate closing category to differentiate won, lost, abandoned, and cancelled opportunities.
- Analyze lost opportunities to identify trends and improve future sales strategies.
- Keep notes on closed opportunities to facilitate re-engagement if circumstances change.
Conclusion
Closing opportunities effectively helps keep your sales pipeline accurate and ensures your team focuses on the most promising deals. Whether an opportunity is won, lost, abandoned, or cancelled, properly updating its status in TeamGram CRM provides better insights and improves future sales efforts. Stay proactive in managing your pipeline to optimize your sales process and drive success.
