> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.servicebooked.ca/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Lifecycle > The lifecycle stage on every contact — Lead → Qualified → Opportunity → Customer — and how it differs from a deal's pipeline stage. Every contact has one **lifecycle stage** that says how far along your relationship is, from a fresh lead to a paying customer. It's a fixed set of stages, and most of it happens automatically — bookings, deals, and payments move contacts forward on their own. ## The stages | Stage | Meaning | How it's set | | --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------- | | **Lead** | New contact, nothing happening yet | Automatic (default) | | **Qualified** | You've confirmed they're a real, interested prospect | You set it by hand | | **Opportunity** | Something's in flight — an open deal or an upcoming appointment | Automatic | | **Customer** | They've paid or the job is done | Automatic | | **Lost** | Dead — they ghosted, went elsewhere, or the deal fell through | You set it by hand | These show as a small dot badge on the contact list and the contact page. The list is fixed — you can't rename or add stages, because the automation depends on these exact ones. (For a customizable, deal-by-deal view, that's the [pipeline](/pipeline/stages).) ## How stages move **Forward automatically.** Opportunity and Customer set themselves: * Book an appointment or open a deal → the contact becomes an **Opportunity**. * A completed job, a Won deal, or a paid invoice → they become a **Customer**. **You set Qualified and Lost by hand** from the dropdown at the top of the contact page — those are judgment calls the system can't make for you. A few things worth knowing: * **Stages only move forward on their own.** A customer who books again stays a Customer; the system never demotes anyone automatically. You can always change it manually. * **You don't have to hit every stage.** Someone who books and pays right away jumps straight to Customer — Qualified is an optional waypoint, not a checkpoint. * **Lost isn't permanent.** If a Lost contact comes back — a new deal or booking — they're pulled back into Opportunity automatically. ## Lifecycle vs. pipeline stage Two different things, styled differently so you can tell them apart: * **Lifecycle** lives on the **contact** — the fixed stages above, shown as a dot badge. One contact = one lifecycle stage. It answers *"how far along is this relationship?"* * **Pipeline stages** live on **deals** — shown as filled colored badges, fully customizable in **Pipeline → Customize stages**. A contact can have several deals, each in its own stage. They answer *"where is this specific opportunity?"* So a repeat customer might be lifecycle **Customer**, with three closed deals and one active deal sitting in your **Quoted** stage. That's the intended model for businesses where customers come back for more work. If you don't use deals at all, the lifecycle stage alone is enough. ## Next The customizable, deal-level stages on the kanban board. How to move a deal through your pipeline.