# Sales

> Deals from first conversation to won or lost, the quotes that price them, and the orders customers agree to.

Use Sales to see what is in your pipeline and what customers have agreed to buy. Sales is early: it
covers the basics of a pipeline, and more is coming.

## How work moves

A sale moves through three records:

1. A **deal** follows the sale through its status, shown as **Stage**, from **Lead** to **Won** or
   **Lost**.
2. A **quote** prices the deal. You send it, and the customer accepts or declines it.
3. An **order** is what the customer agrees to buy. You draft it from the accepted quote and
   confirm it.

<Screenshot
  src="/docs/screens/deals.webp"
  alt="The Deals list on its Pipeline board, with Lead, Qualified, Proposal, and Won columns. Each card shows a deal's number, title, expected close date, company, and amount."
  caption="Deals on the Pipeline board. Each column totals its deals' amounts."
/>

A confirmed order is ready to bill. When Finance is installed, you draft an invoice from the order,
which copies its lines. See [Finance](/docs/apps/finance).

## Metrics

Sales adds four [metrics](/docs/concepts/metrics) under **Metrics**: **Pipeline**, **Bookings**,
**Deals won**, and **Win rate**. Each is a sum of what your deals record as they move, so you can
open the deals behind any number.

## What Continual does here

Continual keeps each open deal's health current. It marks a deal **Ready** when it has an amount, an
expected close date, and a contact, and **Overdue** when its close date has passed.

When you ask, Continual works the pipeline with you:

- **Sort out an inbound lead.** It finds the lead's company and people first, and adds only what is
  missing instead of creating duplicates.
- **Update a deal after a call.** It writes a comment with what was decided and the next step. It
  changes the deal's **Stage** only when the comments say so.
- **Handle a discount request.** It writes the request in a comment on the deal and asks the deal's
  owner. It never agrees to a discount itself.

<TryAsking
  prompts={[
    "Which deals in Proposal close this month?",
    "Log my call with Dana at Northwind Health: they want a phased rollout by region.",
    "Add Pennine Haulage as a lead for a route analytics pilot, about $40,000.",
    "Westbrook USD asked for a 10% discount. Note it on the deal.",
  ]}
/>

## Who can do what

Sales adds one role, **Member**, which works deals, quotes, and orders, and takes their Actions.
Installing Sales gives it to every member of your organization.

## Records

Sales keeps three kinds of record. Each page explains how the record works and lists its fields.

<Cards cols={3}>
  <Card title="Deals" href="/docs/apps/sales/deals" icon="handshake">
    A sale to one customer, moving from lead to won or lost.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Quotes" href="/docs/apps/sales/quotes" icon="receipt">
    An offer the customer accepts or declines.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Orders" href="/docs/apps/sales/orders" icon="check">
    What the customer agrees to buy.
  </Card>
</Cards>

## Next steps

<Cards>
  <Card title="Send a quote" href="/docs/guides/send-a-quote" icon="receipt">
    Draft a quote, send it, and record the answer.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Finance" href="/docs/apps/finance" icon="receipt">
    Bill confirmed orders and collect payment.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Records" href="/docs/concepts/records" icon="list">
    How records, their history, and their Actions work.
  </Card>
</Cards>