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Creating deals

Updated

Overview

A deal is an active sales opportunity. Creating a deal lets you track its value, expected close date, assigned owner, and progress through your pipeline — and it links everything together: the company, the contact, the quotes, and the activities.

Creating a New Deal

  1. Go to Deals in the left navigation.
  2. Click New Deal.
  3. Fill in the deal details:
    • Title — give it a clear name. For example: "Acme Corp — Managed Services 2026" or "Ridgeline Law — Security Stack Renewal."
    • Pipeline — pick which pipeline this opportunity belongs to (new business, renewals, upsells, etc.).
    • Stage — where in the pipeline does this deal start? Typically New or Qualified.
    • Company — search for and select the company this deal is for. Required.
    • Contact — pick the primary contact at that company who is driving the decision.
    • Value — the expected total value of the deal. Enter your best estimate; update it as the deal develops.
    • Expected Close Date — when do you realistically expect to close this deal? No forecasting producer reads this date — it is shown on the pipeline board's deal cards (and flagged when overdue), and it appears on the QBR deck. CRM's daily snapshot is computed from value, probability and stage, and the platform's forecasting lives in Clarity.
    • Owner — the rep or account manager responsible for this deal.
    • Probability — defaults to the stage's built-in percentage. Override it if your situation is different.
  4. Add any Notes about the opportunity — initial discovery notes, key concerns, or context for the team.
  5. Click Save.

Linking to a Contact and Company

A deal should always be linked to both a company and a contact. The company tells you which account the revenue belongs to. The contact is the person you are working with to close. CRM uses these links to surface the deal on the company timeline and on the contact record — and to attribute the deal's revenue to the account. There is no forecasting report in CRM: forecasting is not a CRM screen, and the platform's forecasting lives in Clarity.

If you do not yet have a contact at the company, save the deal with just the company selected and add the contact link later once you have a name.

Tracking Value Accurately

The Value field represents the total contract value you expect to close. For recurring managed services, use the annual contract value (ACV). For project work, use the total project fee. Consistent use of this field is what keeps the pipeline value and weighted value figures accurate: CRM's daily snapshot computes both from it, and no CRM screen charts them.

There is no Recurring flag to set on a deal. The crm.deals.recurring column exists on the table and the platform's revenue summary derives MRR from the deals that carry it, but no deal form and no deal endpoint writes it — the create and update paths never name the column. The one thing that can is a stored automation: a deal rule or a workflow whose Update field action names the column by hand, which both builders accept as free text, so the column is 0 on every deal in an org that has stored no such rule. Recurring revenue in CRM is read from PSA contracts instead: the Customer LTV view multiplies the contract MRR PSA reports into a forward annual figure, so keep those contracts current rather than looking for a flag here.

What Happens After You Create a Deal

Once a deal is saved, you can:

  • Log activities — calls, meetings, and emails appear on the deal timeline.
  • Attach a quote — send pricing directly from the deal record. (Proposals have no CRM screen yet — see Quotes and Proposals.)
  • Move it through stages — drag the deal card on the pipeline board or update the Stage field.
  • Close it — mark it Won or Lost when the outcome is determined.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I create a deal without a company?

No. A deal must be linked to a company. If the company does not exist yet, create it first, then come back and create the deal.

What is the difference between Value and Weighted Value?

Value is the raw dollar amount. Weighted Value is the value multiplied by the deal's probability — it is the more realistic of the two figures. CRM's daily snapshot records both, and no CRM screen charts them: forecasting is not a CRM screen, and the platform's forecasting lives in Clarity.

How do I duplicate a deal? We often sell the same package to multiple clients.

There is no one-click duplicate. Open the new deal form and fill it in based on the previous deal. If you find yourself recreating the same deal type repeatedly, set up a quote template with your standard line items so the pricing portion is fast to fill in.

Can I change the pipeline after creating a deal?

Yes. Open the deal, edit the Pipeline field, and save. Pick the starting stage in the new pipeline as well.

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