1. [Help](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs) 2. [Pipeline and Smart Funnels (AI agents)](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/colecoes/19377999-pipeline-and-smart-funnels-ai-agents) 3. [Smart Funnels](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/colecoes/19431085-smart-funnels) # Standard stages of a sales funnel: how to design the agent's flow The funnel design Nuvia recommends, stage by stage: Reception, Screening, Qualification, scheduling, and the conversion and non-conversion outcomes. Available on all plans. Who can do it users with edit permission in Smart Funnels. Updated on November 3, 2026 [Smart Funnels](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/colecoes/19431085-smart-funnels) 1. [How to create custom skills for the AI agent](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/14590394-how-to-create-custom-skills-for-ai-agent) 2. [How to write the agent's goal, knowledge, and communication pillars](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515436-write-agent-goal-knowledge-communication-pillars) 3. [How to write the instructions for a stage](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515466-how-to-write-stage-instructions) 4. [Standard stages of a sales funnel: how to design the agent's flow](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515486-standard-sales-funnel-stages-agent-flow) 5. [How to archive a Smart Funnel by transferring its conversations](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16624949-how-to-archive-smart-funnel-transferring-conversations) 6. [How recent conversation reopening works in the Smart Funnel](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16644378-how-recent-conversation-reopening-works-smart-funnel) 7. [How to feed the Knowledge Center](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/14579639-how-to-feed-the-knowledge-center) 8. [How to set up and use Smart Follow-ups in Nuvia](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/14580483-how-to-set-up-use-smart-follow-ups-nuvia) On this page 1. The three groups of stages 2. The standard design 3. Use subtypes to know why 4. Priority leads 5. What if my funnel is not a sales funnel **On this page5 sections** 1. The three groups of stages 2. The standard design 3. Use subtypes to know why 4. Priority leads 5. What if my funnel is not a sales funnel Stages are the path the lead follows in the conversation. A well-designed funnel disqualifies non-customers early, digs into the pain of those who are a fit, and hands the sales team only what is worth human time. This article covers the funnel design Nuvia uses as its standard, stage by stage, with the role of each one. Available on all plans. **Who can do it:** users with edit permission in Smart Funnels. **Where it happens:Smart Funnels → Edit funnel → Funnel stages tab** ## The three groups of stages In the **Stages** panel on the left, stages are organized into three groups. Use **Add stage** inside the group you want: - **Main stages** — the lead's normal path (Reception, Screening, Qualification). - **Conversion stages** — the positive outcomes (Qualified, Meeting scheduled). - **Non-conversion stages** — the negative outcomes (Disqualified). The group is not cosmetic: it defines what the platform counts as conversion in the funnel and in Dashboards, and conversion and non-conversion stages do not run a prompt automatically when the lead enters them. ## The standard design StageGroupRequiredRole Reception Main Yes Receives the lead and asks the first question Data collection and confirmation Main No Completes or confirms the lead's data Screening Main Yes Removes those outside the profile Qualification Main Yes Digs into the pain of those who passed Schedule negotiation Main No Finds a time and sends the invite Qualified Conversion Yes Lead is a fit, ready for the sales team Disqualified Non-conversion Yes Lead does not meet the criteria ### Reception This is the first stage and it exists to receive the lead — including when the conversation starts from a campaign template. Here the agent welcomes the lead, asks the **first screening question**, and moves the lead to the next stage. Also use it to plan for handoff scenarios that come up right at the start (the lead who wants to talk to a human right away, the lead who replies with something off topic) and, if it makes sense, an icebreaker question such as “tell me a bit about what is going on today”. ### Data collection and confirmation Use it to ask for missing data or confirm data that already came from the CRM or from enrichment. Where to place it depends on how much the data matters: - **At the start of the flow**, when the data is decisive — a disqualification rule based on data, a quote that depends on specific information, a field the sales team requires. - **After qualification**, when collecting it is nice to have but not decisive. That way you do not burn the lead's interest asking for sign-up details before showing value. ### Screening The first questions, asked to **disqualify quickly** those who are not a fit — the merely curious, outside the ICP, outside the region you serve. Screening questions are objective and have a clear cutoff: - “What is the company's revenue today?” — below X, disqualified. - “Which city are you in?” — outside the area you serve, disqualified. Screening also helps **route** the lead: “are you looking for service A, B, or C?” sends the lead to the matching qualification. ### Qualification After removing those who are not a fit, here you dig into pain points and needs — and you can still disqualify if something outside the requirements comes up. Examples: “is the problem bigger in area X or Y?”, “which systems would you need to integrate with?”. **SPIN Selling in practice.** The sequence that works well on WhatsApp: 1. “Now tell me a bit more about this problem.” 2. “Got it. This has probably already cost you [consequence of the pain the lead mentioned].” 3. “[Company] solves this with [solution]. Does it make sense to set up a call so I can show you how it works?” The destination of qualification is always **Qualified** or **Schedule negotiation** — never leave the lead stuck in the stage. ### Schedule negotiation Handles choosing a time and sending the invite, with or without Google Calendar integration. The rules that prevent most scheduling problems: - Offer **only times that are actually free**: check availability before suggesting, never make up a date. - Work on **business days**, within the business hours the company serves. - Do not offer the **current day**; start from the next business day. - Suggest fixed-length blocks (1 hour is usually the default) and offer **3 or 4 options** per message, not a huge list. - If the lead asks for a past date, a weekend, or a time outside the window, explain and offer alternatives right away. - **Ask for the email before sending the invite** and confirm afterward that the invite arrived. Good to know the scheduling stage is the one that benefits most from a stable script. If you already have a scheduling stage working well in one funnel, reuse its instructions in the others instead of writing them again. ### Qualified The lead met all the agreed criteria and is ready to buy. Two important decisions in this stage: - **Will there be a handoff?** In other words, does a human take over here, or does the agent keep talking? If it continues, define which topics it can handle. - **Do not set up follow-ups in a qualified stage.** The lead has already converted; automatic nudges at this point burn the relationship and get in the salesperson's way. ### Disqualified The lead did not meet one or more criteria. One rule always applies: **plan for wrong information**. If the lead corrects a piece of data that caused the disqualification, the agent should be able to send them back to the previous stage (Screening or Qualification) instead of closing things out for good. ## Use subtypes to know why Both Qualified and Disqualified become much more useful when you create variations instead of a single stage: Instead ofUse Qualified Qualified · Qualified – priority lead · Qualified – meeting scheduled Disqualified Disqualified · Disqualified – outside ICP · Disqualified – region not served The gain shows up in **Dashboards**: instead of “40 disqualified”, you see how many left because of region, company size, or lack of fit, and that changes campaign and ICP decisions. ## Priority leads For each decision stage (Collection, Screening, Qualification), ask the sales lead whether there is a **special or very hot** lead profile that should not go through the entire flow. If there is, create the short route: the agent identifies the criterion and sends the lead straight to Qualified with a handoff, skipping the remaining questions. ## What if my funnel is not a sales funnel The design above assumes a sales funnel. Support, collections, recruiting, or post-sale funnels follow a different stage logic — what stays the same is the principle: an entry stage, decision stages in the middle, and explicit outcomes in the conversion and non-conversion groups. If your case is very different from the standard, it is worth designing it with the Nuvia team before writing the instructions. To write the content of each stage, see [How to write the instructions for a stage](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515466-how-to-write-stage-instructions). ## Frequently asked questions **What is the difference between Screening and Qualification?** Screening removes: objective cutoff questions to quickly find out who is not a customer. Qualification goes deeper: it understands the pain of those who passed the cutoff and sets the stage for the offer. Merging the two into one stage is the most common mistake; the agent ends up asking pain questions to people who would never be customers. **How many stages should a funnel have?** The standard above covers most cases with 5 to 7 stages. More than that usually means a stage is being split too finely: if two consecutive stages ask the same kind of question and go to the same destination, merge them. **Can I change the order of the stages later?** Yes, by dragging them in the list. But be careful: the instructions of each stage often mention other stages by name. When you reorder or rename, review the instructions so the agent does not route the lead to a stage whose role has changed. **Do I really need conversion and non-conversion stages?** Yes. Without an explicit outcome, the lead gets stuck in the middle of the funnel, follow-ups keep nudging people who already replied, and Dashboards cannot calculate conversion. Every way out of the conversation needs a matching stage. [PreviousHow to write the instructions for a stage](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515466-how-to-write-stage-instructions) [NextHow to archive a Smart Funnel by transferring its conversations](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16624949-how-to-archive-smart-funnel-transferring-conversations) Was this article helpful? ## Related articles - [Nuvia glossary of terms](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/14580494-nuvia-glossary-of-terms) - [How to write the agent's goal, knowledge, and communication pillars](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515436-write-agent-goal-knowledge-communication-pillars) [Smart Funnels](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/colecoes/19431085-smart-funnels) 1. [How to create custom skills for the AI agent](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/14590394-how-to-create-custom-skills-for-ai-agent) 2. [How to write the agent's goal, knowledge, and communication pillars](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515436-write-agent-goal-knowledge-communication-pillars) 3. [How to write the instructions for a stage](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515466-how-to-write-stage-instructions) 4. [Standard stages of a sales funnel: how to design the agent's flow](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515486-standard-sales-funnel-stages-agent-flow) 5. [How to archive a Smart Funnel by transferring its conversations](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16624949-how-to-archive-smart-funnel-transferring-conversations) 6. [How recent conversation reopening works in the Smart Funnel](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16644378-how-recent-conversation-reopening-works-smart-funnel) 7. [How to feed the Knowledge Center](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/14579639-how-to-feed-the-knowledge-center) 8. [How to set up and use Smart Follow-ups in Nuvia](https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/14580483-how-to-set-up-use-smart-follow-ups-nuvia) ## Still need help? Customers reach support through the chat inside the platform. Not a customer yet? Talk to our team. [Talk to support in the platform](https://app.nuvia.ai) [I'm not a customer yet](https://nuvia.ai/en/contact) --- Source: https://nuvia.ai/en/docs/artigos/16515486-standard-sales-funnel-stages-agent-flow