---
{"title": "How Solo Consultants Track Open Deals Through Five Stages", "description": "A plain guide for solo consultants and freelancers to track open deals through five stages, with steps, tool options and common mistakes.", "url": "https://uncommoncomforts.com/how-to-track-open-deals-through-five-stages-for-solo-consultants/", "date": "2026-10-20"}
---
A plain guide for solo consultants and freelancers to track open deals through five stages, with steps, tool options and common mistakes.

Keep one record for each open deal, give it one of five stages, and write down a reason whenever a deal ends. You can do this in a notebook, a spreadsheet or a sales tool, and the steps below work with any of them. Connections Sales is one tool that records deals this way. [^1]

| Option | Free plan | Paid plan |
|---|---|---|
| Connections Sales | Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you [^1] | Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month [^1] |
| Other tools you compare | Check the tool's own pricing page | Check the tool's own pricing page |

## What you need before you start

Before you track anything, collect the open deals you already have in one place. For a solo consultant or freelancer, that usually means a short list of prospects who have asked for a quote, a proposal or a call, plus past clients who may buy again.

Write down each prospect's name, what they want, the amount you have discussed and the date of your last contact. Each line should also hold a next step, even if the next step is only a reminder to check in.

Decide now on five stage names that match how you sell, so that every deal gets the same labels. A common set is new, talking, proposal, won and lost. Using the same names every time makes the list easy to scan.

Finally, choose one place to keep the list. A notebook, an inbox and a file that each hold a different version of the same deal will drift apart over time, and the list will stop being trusted.

## Step by step

1. Open your list and check each open deal against the five stages. If a deal has stalled, move it back to the stage where it actually is.
2. Give every deal exactly one stage. A deal cannot be in two stages at once, so choose the most recent step that is true.
3. Write the date of the last contact on each deal. Read this date first when you review the list.
4. Set a follow-up for every deal in new, talking or proposal. A deal with no next step is the one most likely to be forgotten.
5. When you send a proposal, move the deal to proposal and note the price and the scope in one line.
6. When a client agrees, mark the deal won and record what was agreed in plain words.
7. When a deal ends without a sale, mark it lost and write one reason from a short fixed list, such as price, timing or a competitor the client chose.
8. If someone asks not to be contacted, mark them do-not-contact before you do anything else with their record.
9. Once a week, read the whole list from proposal back to new. Decide the next action for each deal, and close out any deal that has gone quiet with a short note.

The weekly read is the step that keeps the rest working. A list that is updated daily but never reviewed still hides the deals that need attention.

## Tools that can do it

Connections Sales is made by the team that publishes this site, Uncommon Comforts. It is a signed-in web workspace, not a public page. [^1]

Each deal sits in one of five stages: new, talking, proposal, won or lost. [^1] When you mark a deal lost, you pick a reason from a fixed list such as price, timing or chose competitor. [^1] A prospect is recorded one person at a time. [^1]

Two features help you keep track of who you may contact. You state why you may contact each prospect, and self-declared reasons are capped per day. [^1] Marking someone do-not-contact takes effect immediately, with no approval step. [^1]

For a deal marked won, you can request a testimonial with a unique capture link. [^1] The sales check-up is rule-based, with no AI model call and no credits. [^1]

Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [^1] Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month and gives premium across every Connections product. [^1]

Other tools also fit this job. For any other tool, check its own description of stages and lost-deal reasons before you choose. Connections Sales keeps every open deal in one of five stages and stores a fixed reason when a deal is won or lost. [^1] [^1]

## Common mistakes to avoid

A common mistake is keeping more stages than you can name. When a deal could sit in two stages, the stage stops meaning anything, and the list cannot tell you which deals need action.

Another mistake is leaving a deal without a next step. A deal in talking with no follow-up date will quietly go cold, and the list will look full while nothing moves.

It is easy to mark deals lost without a reason. Without a reason, you cannot see whether price, timing or a competitor is the problem, so the same losses keep happening.

Contacting someone after they have asked to stop is the mistake with the highest cost. Mark the person before any other action, and check that mark before every follow-up.

Finally, avoid keeping the list in two places. When the notebook and the spreadsheet disagree, you will follow the one that is easier to open, and the other one will quietly become wrong.

## Frequently asked questions

### How to track open deals without a CRM?

Start with one list that holds every open deal, with a name, a stage, a date of last contact and a next step on each line. A spreadsheet or a notebook works well for a small practice. Review the list once a week and update the stage on every deal you touch. Move to a dedicated tool when the list becomes hard to read, or when you want stages and lost reasons kept consistently for you.

### What are the five stages for tracking freelance deals?

A common set is new, talking, proposal, won and lost. New means you have a name but no real conversation yet. Talking means you have had at least one real exchange about the work. Proposal means a price and scope are in front of the client. Won and lost close the deal. Use the same names every time so that your list can be read at a glance.

### How to record why a freelance deal was lost?

Pick one reason for each lost deal from a short list that you keep the same over time, such as price, timing or a competitor the client chose. Write the reason at the moment you close the deal, while the details are fresh. Over a few months, the most common reason shows you where to adjust your pricing, your follow-up or the work you pitch.

### Is Connections Sales free for solo consultants?

Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [^1] Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month and premium is available across every Connections product. [^1] Check the current plans inside the product before you pay.

### How to stop contacting a client who asked to be removed?

Mark the person do-not-contact as soon as they ask, before you do anything else with their record. Keep the mark in the record so that no one on your list is contacted by accident later. Make it a habit to check the list before any follow-up and skip anyone carrying that mark. A short note with the date of the request also protects you if the question ever comes up again.

Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [^1] Connections Pro, the first paid plan, is $39.99 a month and adds premium features across every Connections product. [^1] - [Visit Connections Sales](/go/how-to-track-open-deals-through-five-stages-for-solo-consultants)

## Sources

[^1]: Connections Sales' own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher) (/go/how-to-track-open-deals-through-five-stages-for-solo-consultants)