Mautic contact stage
Belongs to a contact. It describes where that person sits in a marketing lifecycle or funnel and is managed by Mautic’s contact-stage tools.
The short answer
To customize Mautic stages for a sales pipeline, separate contact stages from deal stages first. Contact stages describe a person’s lifecycle; deal stages describe an opportunity’s position in a pipeline. Create and edit deal stages from the pipeline’s Stages screen, use Edit to rename them, and use the Up and Down controls to set their left-to-right order. Configure automation explicitly rather than assuming that changing one kind of stage changes the other.
Deal Flow supplies the deal-level stage editor inside Mautic. The procedure below follows the controls exposed by that editor and keeps contact-stage behavior outside the deal-stage setup.
Start with the deal-stage and contact-stage distinction
Deal Flow deal stage
Belongs to a deal. It describes where that opportunity sits in a named pipeline and becomes a column on the deal board.
The similar names can hide an important data difference. A contact named Jordan can be in one contact lifecycle stage while two separate deals involving Jordan sit in different deal stages. The broader Mautic stage vs pipeline guide explains why the records serve different jobs.
Keep the terms explicit in your process notes. Write “contact stage” when you mean a person’s lifecycle and “deal stage” when you mean a pipeline column. That small naming habit prevents automation and reporting instructions from becoming ambiguous.
Plan the stages before opening the editor
A useful stage name answers one operational question: where is this deal now? Begin with the smallest set that reflects real handoffs. A straightforward example is Discovery, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Won, and Lost, but use the language your team already uses consistently.
For each proposed stage, decide these four values before entering it:
| Field | What it controls | Planning question |
|---|---|---|
| Name | The label displayed on the board | Can the team tell what must be true in this stage? |
| Type | Whether the stage is open, won, or lost | Is work active, successfully closed, or unsuccessfully closed? |
| Probability | The default win probability for deals in the stage | What default reflects this point in the process? |
| Sort order | The stage’s left-to-right board position | What comes immediately before and after it? |
The field definitions and stage types are also listed in the pipeline documentation.
Create stages for a pipeline
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1
Open the settings gear, then Pipelines
In Deal Flow, select the settings gear and choose Pipelines. Find the named pipeline you want to customize.
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2
Choose Stages for that pipeline
Use the Stages action on the pipeline row. This opens the stage list in the context of that pipeline, so changes affect the intended board.
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3
Select New Stage
Enter the stage’s Name, choose its Type, set its Probability and Sort Order, then save the stage.
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4
Repeat for the remaining steps and outcomes
Add the open stages deals move through and the won and lost outcomes your process needs. The pipeline setup walkthrough covers the surrounding first-pipeline flow.
Rename an existing deal stage
In Deal Flow, select the settings gear, choose Pipelines, choose Stages for the correct pipeline, and select Edit beside the stage. Change the Name field and select Save Stage.
Rename for clarity, not novelty. Prefer a name tied to an observable milestone, such as “Proposal Sent,” over a vague label such as “Warm.” Before saving, tell the people who use the board so the new term does not look like a new process step.
If the stage’s business meaning is changing rather than just its wording, review its type and probability in the same edit. A renamed won or lost outcome should still carry the appropriate stage type.
Reorder stages on the pipeline board
Return to the pipeline’s stage list and use the Up and Down controls in the Reorder column. The saved order determines the left-to-right sequence of columns on the pipeline board.
- Move the earliest active stage to the beginning of the list.
- Place each later active stage after the milestone that precedes it.
- Keep terminal won and lost outcomes after the active work stages.
- Open the pipeline board and confirm the columns now match the intended sequence.
Reordering changes how the process is presented; it does not create a separate contact-stage lifecycle. The two stage systems remain distinct.
Choose an explicit stage-automation path
Stage configuration defines the pipeline structure. Automation is a separate decision with two verified paths:
Move a deal with a Mautic Campaign action
When a Mautic Campaign should move related deals, add the Deal Flow action labeled Move Deal Flow deal to stage and configure its target. The Campaign runs this explicit action when a contact reaches it; contact-stage and deal-stage configuration remain separate.
Send a stage change to another system
When an external service should respond to a deal move, configure an outbound webhook in Mautic Settings → Webhooks and subscribe it to deal.stage_changed. The consumer can then handle the event for a notification, handoff, or integration. See the webhook documentation for the outbound-webhook setup surface.
Matching names do not connect the records. Naming a deal stage “Qualified” and a contact stage “Qualified” does not by itself define how either record should change. Build and test the exact automation you intend.
Verify the customized pipeline
- 1The stage list belongs to the intended pipeline.
- 2Every name describes a current deal milestone.
- 3Open, won, and lost types match the meaning of their stages.
- 4The Up and Down controls produced the intended left-to-right board order.
- 5Any Campaign action or outbound webhook was configured and tested explicitly.
- 6Team instructions distinguish deal stages from Mautic contact stages.
Build a deal pipeline inside Mautic
Deal Flow adds named pipelines, customizable deal stages, and a working deal board to the Mautic instance your team already uses.
Explore Deal Flow Try free for 7 daysFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Mautic contact stage and a Deal Flow deal stage?
A Mautic contact stage describes one contact’s lifecycle position. A Deal Flow deal stage describes one opportunity’s position in a pipeline. They belong to different records and should be configured for different jobs.
How do I rename a deal stage in Mautic?
In Deal Flow, select the settings gear, choose Pipelines, choose Stages for the pipeline, and select Edit beside the stage. Change the Name field and select Save Stage.
How do I change the order of deal stages?
Open the pipeline’s stage list and use the Up and Down controls. The saved order determines the stages’ left-to-right position on the pipeline board.
How can a deal-stage change trigger automation?
Configure the response explicitly: use the Move Deal Flow deal to stage Campaign action when Mautic should move related deals, or subscribe an outbound webhook to deal.stage_changed when an external system should respond.