Contact Stages & Types

Every contact in your CRM has two important labels: their stage (how far along they are in your relationship) and their type (what kind of opportunity they represent). Getting these right helps you prioritize your time and gives the AI the context it needs to write better messages for you.

The Two Labels Explained

Stage answers: "Where are we in this relationship?"

Type answers: "What are they interested in—products or the business opportunity?"

When both are accurate, you can instantly see who needs attention and what kind of conversation to have with them.

Understanding Stages

Think of stages as a journey. Most contacts move through them in order, though some will skip ahead or fall back.

New

Just added to your CRM. You haven't reached out yet, or you're waiting for your first meaningful exchange.

Contacted

You've sent your first message. Now you're waiting to see if they respond.

Engaged

They responded, and now you're having a real conversation. There's back-and-forth happening, and they're showing interest.

Active

This is getting serious. They're engaged, asking good questions, and seem like they're moving toward a decision.

Partner

They've joined your team. Now it's about building the relationship and working together.

Inactive

The conversation has stalled. Maybe they stopped responding, or they said they're not interested right now.

The Typical Flow

New → Contacted → Engaged → Active → Partner
                    ↓
                 Inactive

Most people progress forward, but contacts can move backward too. Someone who was "Active" might go "Inactive" if life gets busy and they stop responding.

Understanding Types

Types tell you which path a contact is on. There are two:

The Customer Path

For people interested in buying your products.

Type	What It Means
Customer Prospect	Curious about products, asking questions, not ready to buy yet
Customer Lead	Ready to buy or has already purchased

The Business Path

For people interested in the business opportunity.

Type	What It Means
Business Prospect	Interested in the opportunity, learning more
Business Partner	Signed up and actively building with you

Which Path Are They On?

People are on one path or the other—not both. When someone first comes in and you're not sure yet, leave them as "None" until the conversation makes it clear.

Signs they're on the Customer path:

Asking about product benefits, pricing, or ingredients
Focused on their personal needs
Want to try or buy something

Signs they're on the Business path:

Asking about income, flexibility, or how the business works
Interested in entrepreneurship
Want to know what it takes to succeed

How to Change Stages and Types

Click on the stage or type badge on any contact card—a dropdown appears where you can select a new value. Changes save automatically.

You can also update them from the contact detail page using the dropdowns in the header.

When to Update

Moving Stages Forward

New → Contacted: You've sent a real introduction or outreach message.

Contacted → Engaged: They responded and you're now having a conversation.

Engaged → Active: The conversation is heating up. They're seriously interested and you're moving toward something.

Active → Partner: They've committed. Congratulations!

Moving to Inactive

Move someone to Inactive when:

They haven't responded to 3+ follow-ups
They explicitly said "not interested" or "not now"
It's been 30+ days with no communication

Setting Types

To Customer Prospect: When they start asking about products or express interest in buying for personal use.

To Customer Lead: When they make a purchase or clearly commit to buying.

To Business Prospect: When they express interest in the business opportunity itself.

To Business Partner: When they sign up and start working with you.

Why This Matters for AI

Here's the practical payoff: when you keep stages and types accurate, the AI writes much better messages.

For example, a "Welcome" message to a New contact sounds different than a "Follow-up" to an Engaged one. And a message to a Customer Prospect focuses on products, while one to a Business Prospect focuses on the opportunity.

If you label them...	The AI will...
New	Write introductions and value-focused openers
Engaged	Deepen the conversation and qualify their interest
Active	Focus on next steps and moving toward a decision
Customer Prospect	Educate about products and benefits
Business Prospect	Highlight flexibility, income potential, and what success looks like

Tips for Managing Your Pipeline

Update stages as conversations happen. Don't let contacts sit in "New" when you've already been talking.

Review your Contacted list. These people haven't responded yet—do they need a follow-up?

Focus energy on Engaged and Active. These are your hottest opportunities.

Don't write off Inactive too quickly. Some people come back months later. Check in periodically.

When in doubt, leave type as None. It's better to wait until you're sure than to guess wrong.

Next steps: Learn how AI drafting uses these classifications to write better messages, or see how the Action Queue helps you prioritize who to contact next.