Get the most out of the Sales module

This provides a current overview of the concrete sales pipeline, allowing conversion rates to be improved, scoring chances to be increased, and thus more revenue to be achieved.

To get the most out of the sales module, you should carefully consider the following:

The progress of a sales trajectory indicates which phase of the sales process the (potential) client is in. Each successful step in the sales process must be created as progress. Which steps these are depends on the type of organization and how the sales process is set up.

In addition to defining the progresses in the sales process, it is also wise to determine in advance which probability of success applies to the respective progress. By then including the probability of success in the description, you ensure that each sales employee enters the correct probability of success per phase and does not assign one themselves (which may not be representative). You can configure the progress, associated colors, and probabilities of success via Settings > Sales > Deal stage:

For a realistic view in the KPIs, it is essential to accurately fill in and maintain the potential revenue and the win likelihood for each sale.

Using the progress bar, you can track which phase a sales trajectory is in. This progress bar is based on progress phases that are configured in the settings in Simplicate.

A sales trajectory eventually becomes 'Scored' or 'Lost'. However, this is separate from the progress phase in which the trajectory is.

Both options are explained in detail below, indicating the options you have after a sale is scored or lost.

After the client has approved the sent quote, you can accept the sales trajectory by clicking on the 'Scored' dot, as shown below. It is not necessary to go through every phase of the trajectory before accepting it.

After clicking this green checkmark, the following screen appears and you can make a choice:

The options that appear under 'Reason sale scored' can be customized and extended by creating them in the settings.

Once the reason and relationship type are filled in, the next screen may present the following options:

For each choice listed here, we briefly explain the options available if you choose it.

Acceptance | No further actions
If you choose 'No further actions', you accept the sales trajectory without needing to invest any more time. This option is used, for example, when 'old' sales trajectories are transferred from another program to Simplicate, so you can retain history in Simplicate.

Acceptance | Create draft invoice immediately
If you do not want to register hours or costs, but still need to send an invoice to the client, choose this option. This option is only available if you use the invoice method 'Fixed price'.

The draft invoice can then be adjusted as desired and subsequently sent to the client.

Acceptance | Create a new project
If no project has been started with this client yet, but hours need to be logged, you can choose this option.

If you choose this option, the following screen appears:

All empty fields can be filled in and after this, you can choose 'Save'. The project can then be further edited and completed as desired.

Acceptance | Add to existing project
Choose this option when a client has requested a quote for additional work to be done on a project. This option is therefore only available if a project already exists for the client.

If the client agrees to the additional work, this additional service can be added to the project. If you choose this option, a dropdown menu will appear showing all active projects of this client, including project numbers (if project numbering is used).

If you then click the green 'Ok' button, the created services in the sales trajectory will be transferred to the selected project.

Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that you lose a sales trajectory. If you cannot reach an agreement with the potential client, you must move the progress bar to the red cross:

If you choose 'Lost', the following screen appears:

As shown above, you can fill in the 'Reason sale lost', but also 'Lost to competitor'. If you select 'Lost to a competitor', you must of course have registered the relevant competitor as a relation in Simplicate.

By using and maintaining sources, you can get a good picture of where your leads are coming from. This can be very valuable for the (re)allocation of the marketing/sales budget. For example, it might be determined that a certain marketing campaign generates many leads, and it may be worth considering allocating more budget to it. You can read more about sources and managing them in this article.

Entering an end date for a sales trajectory is important to see in the 'Sales funnel' report when you expect potential sales. The report looks at the end date of sales trajectories to determine in which month you expect the sales to be accepted. For example, if you enter the end date as 20-02-2025, the expected revenue will be shown in the reports for February. If you don't enter a date, the revenue will appear in the last column "No date".