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Prospect Engagement Stages

The stages a prospect moves through before being handed off as a Deal.

Why two systems?

Breadbox separates engagement state (can I reach this human?) from opportunity state (where is this deal in the sales process?). They’re two different jobs:

  • Engagement Stages (this page) — used for prospects in Focus Mode. Owned by reps doing outbound.
  • Pipeline Stages (configure separately) — used for the Deals kanban once a prospect is qualified.

When a prospect hits the Qualified engagement stage, Breadbox creates a Deal and that deal then progresses through Pipeline Stages. Engagement stages stop where deal stages start.

Default flow

  1. Initial Contact — net-new prospect, no outreach yet (default for new prospects)
  2. Attempting to Connect — outreach in flight, no response
  3. Connected — at least one real conversation
  4. Qualified — fits ICP + has need + budget + timeline → triggers Deal creation
  5. Disqualified — exits prospecting (wrong fit, no budget, etc.)

Marking a prospect Qualified

From a prospect’s Focus Mode header, either change the stage dropdown to a Qualified-flagged stage or click the Qualify quick action. A dialog appears so you can confirm the deal name, type, MRR estimate, and expected close date. On confirm:

  • A new Deal is created in your default Pipeline Stage
  • The prospect’s lifecycle changes to ASSESSMENT
  • You’re routed to the deal detail page so you can keep working

If the account already has an open deal, Breadbox skips creating a duplicate and routes you to the existing one.

Marking a prospect Disqualified

Either change the stage dropdown to a Disqualified-flagged stage or click the Disqualify quick action. A dialog asks for a reason (Wrong Fit / No Budget / Has Internal IT / Locked Into Competitor / etc.) and optional notes. On confirm:

  • The prospect’s lifecycle changes to CHURNED
  • Reason and notes are saved on the account for future reference
  • The prospect drops out of active prospecting views (My Breadbox, briefing, etc.)

Disqualified prospects can be reactivated later by changing the stage back to a non-terminal one.

Customizing the stages

Configure in Settings → Prospect Engagement Stages:

  • Add new stages (e.g. “Demo Scheduled”, “Awaiting Reply”)
  • Rename existing stages, change colors, set probability %
  • Toggle Qualified / Disqualified flags — at least one of each must be set
  • Drag to reorder
  • Set a different stage as default for new prospects

If you upgraded from an older Breadbox release that used the deal-pipeline-style sales stages (Discovery / Proposal / etc.), use the Reset to engagement defaultsbutton to switch over. This is destructive — all current sales stages are deleted and prospects are re-pointed to Initial Contact.