Closed lost stage in sales pipeline

[NT_]

Hello, 

I have a question regarding closed lost stage that we use in our sales pipeline. Right now our sales team thinks the closed lost stage kills the validity. The reason why, is that they think a deal never "dies" and never resets, it just stays in their sales pipeline.

E.g. let's say a deal ends in closed lost and it stays there for 100 days. After 100 days, they try to book a new meeting again and 30 days later they win the deal. So now the time from closed lost to win is not 30 days, but the time is now 130 days - i'm curious to know how other does this. 

So now i'm looking for good solutions to this problem - if there even is a good solution. I know that moving deals from different pipelines can impact the data when creating reports. 

We thought about creating a closed lost pipeline, where we move all lost deals to different stages based on the close lost reason, but still keeps the closed lost stage in our sales pipeline too. But i could very much use some know-how and best practise on this topic. 

Thanks in thanks in advance. 

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @NT_,

Once a deal is closed lost, it should stay closed lost. This movement is permanent and you could consider it from another angle: Once you feel that an opportunity is not continuing, that's a permanent decision. For example, if you define that after a period of inactivity, an opportunity is closed lost because of inactivity, then a later activity shouldn't reopen a deal. That would violate your defined period of inactivity. You shouldn't be changing the rules of the game as you go.

Should that prospect show interest again, you would create a new opportunity / deal. This is correct and valid as the old pursuit was not successful but now there seems to be a new chance to close business with that prospect.

If you re-open deals systematically, that will skew your reporting on closed lost reasons and also on sales cycles. Let's just assume you have a closed lost deal from 5 years ago that is now re-opened. Is that really the same opportunity then?

It is expected behavior that closed lost deals stay in that pipeline stage - you can easily remove them from your view with filteres applied to your view. They should however remain there for reporting, on closed lost reasons, for example.

Best regards

[Rishabhsoni · Accepted solution]

Hi @NT_ ,

Create a new deal when a closed lost opportunity becomes active again. This way the time to close a deal is not affected. The original closed-lost deal stays in your system for historical reference but doesn’t skew your current data.

You can create a seperate pipeline for closed lost deals. Let's say a deal is moved to closed lost stage, based on the reason it is closed lost you can categorise it that can provide you insights for future re engagement strategies. 

You can have a "reopened" field in your deal properties, that can help you track these deals. 

In my point of view, there are mutliple ways to look into this scenario, but the most feasible would be to create a new deal and treat it as a new conversation. 

Thanks
Rishabh

[KlemenHrovat · Accepted solution]

@Victor_Becerra thank you for bringing me into the conversation. 

@JJones413 I hope I correctly understand what you are trying to do. If I didn't, please let me know. 

My understanding is that you would like to filter out Closed lost deals in the table deals view. 

You can do that by going to the + More option, selecting the Deal stage property, and then selecting all but the Closed lost stage. 

[danmoyle · Accepted solution]

A little late to the party here @NT_ (life and career changes) but I wanted to add more to the voices here calling for "closed deals are closed, create a new deal."  When a previously lost deal re-engages (e.g., the customer returns after 100 days), create a fresh deal/opportunity in the CRM, rather than reopening or advancing the old one. This captures an accurate new sales cycle and win rate, and more accurate real-time data. You can (and should) still keep historical data of course. The original "closed lost" reason and cycle remain intact for analysis (root causes, lost reasons), while the new record reflects the true momentum of re-engagement.

From my experience, teams that do it this way see improved data integrity, increased win rates from re-engagement, and less sales representative frustration. If using a separate closed lost pipeline, ensure it’s strictly used for nurture/re-engagement—not as a default holding area, to avoid data bloat and confusion. 

[JJones413]

Hi Karsten,

I have tried to remove the closed lost deals by filtering on the deals view, but I don't seem to have success. Can you please help?

"It is expected behavior that closed lost deals stay in that pipeline stage - you can easily remove them from your view with filteres applied to your view."

[Victor_Becerra]

Hi @JJones413 ,
Thank you for reaching out to the Community!
I'd like to invite some community members who are subject matter experts to join this conversation.
@karstenkoehler @danmoyle @KlemenHrovat - Would you be able to share any insights on this? Your expertise would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,

Victor

[danmoyle]

@Victor_Becerra 🤣 I answered the original, not @JJones413's question. Oops! But I see they resolved it and also @KlemenHrovat helped. Oh well - fun to think about the original question, too! 

[Victor_Becerra]

@danmoyle  Haha, no worries at all, Dan! 

I agree, the original question was an interesting one to tackle. The main thing is we all got it sorted out. Always appreciate you and @KlemenHrovat  jumping in to help! 👍

[KlemenHrovat · Accepted solution]

@Victor_Becerra thank you for bringing me into the conversation. 

@JJones413 I hope I correctly understand what you are trying to do. If I didn't, please let me know. 

My understanding is that you would like to filter out Closed lost deals in the table deals view. 

You can do that by going to the + More option, selecting the Deal stage property, and then selecting all but the Closed lost stage. 

[JJones413]

Thank you and I have managed to resolve the issue.

[Rishabhsoni · Accepted solution]

Hi @NT_ ,

Create a new deal when a closed lost opportunity becomes active again. This way the time to close a deal is not affected. The original closed-lost deal stays in your system for historical reference but doesn’t skew your current data.

You can create a seperate pipeline for closed lost deals. Let's say a deal is moved to closed lost stage, based on the reason it is closed lost you can categorise it that can provide you insights for future re engagement strategies. 

You can have a "reopened" field in your deal properties, that can help you track these deals. 

In my point of view, there are mutliple ways to look into this scenario, but the most feasible would be to create a new deal and treat it as a new conversation. 

Thanks
Rishabh

[ScottBrunelle]

That was a very well-written response. I agree 100%. If it's closed, it is closed. And a new deal is the way forward. 

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @NT_,

Once a deal is closed lost, it should stay closed lost. This movement is permanent and you could consider it from another angle: Once you feel that an opportunity is not continuing, that's a permanent decision. For example, if you define that after a period of inactivity, an opportunity is closed lost because of inactivity, then a later activity shouldn't reopen a deal. That would violate your defined period of inactivity. You shouldn't be changing the rules of the game as you go.

Should that prospect show interest again, you would create a new opportunity / deal. This is correct and valid as the old pursuit was not successful but now there seems to be a new chance to close business with that prospect.

If you re-open deals systematically, that will skew your reporting on closed lost reasons and also on sales cycles. Let's just assume you have a closed lost deal from 5 years ago that is now re-opened. Is that really the same opportunity then?

It is expected behavior that closed lost deals stay in that pipeline stage - you can easily remove them from your view with filteres applied to your view. They should however remain there for reporting, on closed lost reasons, for example.

Best regards