In a sales pipeline, what would be the instance?

• A. Deal
• B. Lead
• C. Opportunity
• D. Opportunity stage

Answer: (A)

In a sales pipeline, the thing you track as a concrete sales pursuit moving through stages is a deal. A deal represents a specific sales opportunity with details like potential value, expected close date, and current stage, and it progresses from qualification to close. A lead is an initial prospective contact that hasn’t yet become a defined sales opportunity, an opportunity is the broader potential or the record that may become a deal, and the opportunity stage is just a step within the process, not the actual item being tracked. So the unit you manage and advance through the pipeline—the instance—is a deal.