---
title: "Customer Stages"
type: doc
evidence_type: method
category: "CRM Tips"
publisher: "LeanScale"
date_modified: 2023-12-26
word_count: 293
topics: ["revenue-operations"]
canonical_url: https://knowledge.leanscale.team/docs/crm-tips-salesforce-customer-stages/
source: "LeanScale Knowledge Hub — https://knowledge.leanscale.team"
license: "Free to quote and cite with attribution to LeanScale."
---

# Customer Stages

**Evidence type:** method (what we prescribe)

Customer lifecycle management needs its own fields and automation on the account, separate from the opportunity. This covers the custom fields, the automations that maintain them, and the account page configuration that surfaces them to the team owning retention.

### Customer Fields

The following custom fields are used in the customer lifecycle management process:

* **Customer Lifecycle Stage**: A picklist field that includes the following values:
  * Pre-Onboarding
  * Onboarding
  * Implementation
  * Early Adoption
  * Mature Adoption
* **Customer Lifecycle Stage Timestamps**: A set of five date/time fields, one for each stage of the customer lifecycle. These fields are automatically updated when the customer lifecycle stage changes.

#### Automations

The following automations are used to manage the customer lifecycle:

* **Pre-Onboarding Notification**: This automation triggers when an opportunity moves to the "Negotiations Completed" stage. It creates an account record, sets the customer lifecycle stage to "Pre-Onboarding", and sends an email alert to the customer success team.
* **Onboarding Updates**: This automation triggers when an opportunity closes. It updates the account record with the following information:
  * Customer Lifecycle Stage: "Onboarding"
  * Customer Lifecycle Stage Timestamp: Current date/time
  * Account Type: "Customer"
  * CSM Name: The name of the CSM assigned to the account
  * Account Owner: The name of the account owner
* **Customer Lifecycle Stage Timestamp Updates**: This automation triggers when the customer lifecycle stage changes. It updates the corresponding customer lifecycle stage timestamp field with the current date/time.

#### Account Page Configuration

The account page is configured to display the following sections based on the customer lifecycle stage and account type:

* **Customer Success**: This section includes information that is relevant to the customer success team, such as the customer lifecycle stage, customer health, and renewal date. It is only visible when the customer lifecycle stage is populated and the account type is "Customer" or "Churn".
* **Customer Lifecycle Stage Timestamps**: This section displays the timestamps for each stage of the customer lifecycle. It is only visible when the customer lifecycle stage is populated and the account type is "Customer" or "Churn".

## Canonical

https://knowledge.leanscale.team/docs/crm-tips-salesforce-customer-stages/