Deal stages are the columns of your pipeline, such as Qualified, Proposal Sent, and Negotiation. Each stage should map to a concrete buyer action.
Clean stage definitions make forecasting possible. Vague stages, or stages reps forget to update, make it impossible.
When stage transitions are inferred from real conversations, your board stays current. In Frontdesk, this is handled automatically: the AI listens to every call, reads every text and email, and updates the record without anyone typing it in.