Guided selling on opportunities

---
title: Guided selling on opportunities
description: Guided selling on opportunities enforces process compliance and consolidates deal-related actions into a unified workspace so that sales agents can advance opportunities through each stage with confidence.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/order-management/explore-guided-selling.html
release: australia
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 2
keywords: [guided selling, opportunity stages, stage exit criteria, playbook, action center]
breadcrumb: [Opportunity Management, Sales automation, Explore, Sales Customer Relationship Management]
---

# Guided selling on opportunities

Guided selling on opportunities enforces process compliance and consolidates deal-related actions into a unified workspace so that sales agents can advance opportunities through each stage with confidence.

Guided selling helps sales agents follow a consistent, structured process as they move an opportunity through each stage of the sales cycle. Admins configure mandatory exit criteria for each stage, and agents complete the required actions before advancing to the next stage. This reduces the risk of deals stalling or advancing prematurely.

## Guided selling components

Guided selling on opportunities includes the following components:

-   **Stage exit criteria**

    Mandatory conditions that a sales agent must meet before advancing an opportunity to the next stage. Admins define the criteria per stage. The system prevents stage advancement until all required actions are complete.

-   **Playbook activities**

    Stage-contextual guidance that appears on the opportunity **Overview** tab. Playbook activities include progress indicators and an inline compact playbook view so that agents can track their progress without leaving the opportunity workspace.

-   **Action Center**

    A panel on the opportunity that consolidates all deal-related tasks, meetings, touchpoints, quote tasks, and stage guidance in one place. The Action Center updates in real time as agents complete actions.

-   **Closed stage reason enforcement**

    Optional enforcement that requires sales agents to complete the win or loss reason fields before they move an opportunity to the Closed Won or Closed Lost stage. Admins enable this enforcement through system properties. For more information, see [Configure guided selling activities in a playbook](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/order-management/configure-guided-selling-exit-criteria.md).


## Benefits

Guided selling provides the following benefits:

-   Enforces process compliance by requiring agents to complete defined actions before advancing a stage.
-   Reduces deal risk by surfacing contextual guidance at each stage of the sales cycle.
-   Improves visibility for sales managers by providing a consistent, trackable process across the team.
-   Reduces context switching by consolidating tasks, meetings, touchpoints, and stage guidance in the Action Center.

## What to explore next

To set up guided selling, see [Configure guided selling activities in a playbook](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/order-management/configure-guided-selling-exit-criteria.md).

To use guided selling on an opportunity, see [Use guided selling on an opportunity](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/order-management/use-guided-selling-opportunity.md).