Why stages matter
Automations start when a deal moves to a stage. For example, Listing — Prepare to list gives a listing deal its photography task. It does so when the deal moves to your pre-listing stage. If nobody moves the deal, the work never starts.
Each morning, Berchtold compares each open deal's stage with its own facts. When the facts show that the deal is further along, you get a Stage check.
Stage checks come with Real estate. A workspace without Real estate gets none.
What a stage check says
A stage check names the deal, its stage and the facts. For example:
48 Elm Court is in Active Listing, but it has a contract date (October 24).
It shows in three places:
- Home: on Today, with the label Stage check.
- The deal: under its stage bar.
- The phone app: on the Today screen.
A stage check is for the deal's agent and its coordinator.
Act on a stage check
- Move to the stage it names, for example Move to Pre-Listing. One tap moves the deal. The stage's automations start, as they do for any stage change.
- Choose a stage, on the deal only. It opens Change stage, where you pick another stage.
- Not now, then why. The check hides for 14 days. If the facts still point to the move after 14 days, it comes back.
The check goes away as soon as the deal reaches the stage. It does not matter how the deal moved: the check, Change stage, a suggested update or Claude.
If someone moved the deal further after the check appeared, Move to does not move it back. It says that the deal changed. Check the stage on the deal.
Which facts ask for which stage
Each fact points to a phase. Berchtold asks for the first stage of that phase in the deal's own pipeline. It uses your pipeline's phases, not its stage names, so every pipeline works without setup. See Pipelines.
| Side | When the deal has | It asks to move the deal to |
|---|---|---|
| Seller or dual | A listing agreement in its documents, or a Listing date | The Engaged phase |
| Seller or dual | A Listing date that has come, or the MLS status Coming soon or Active | The Active phase |
| Any side | The status Active in your transaction platform | The Active phase |
| Buyer | A pre-approval letter in its documents | The Engaged phase |
| Any side | A contract date, the MLS status Pending, or the status Under contract in your transaction platform | The Under contract phase |
| Any side | A closing date that has passed, the MLS status Sold, or the status Closed in your transaction platform | The Closed phase |
Your transaction platform can show a seller deal as Preparing: a listing that is not published yet. This also points to the Engaged phase.
Berchtold finds a document by the words in its file name, as a task that waits for a file does. It finds a listing agreement with the same words as the Get the signed listing agreement task.
A closing date counts only on a deal with a contract date. Berchtold uses the closing date in Key dates. If there is none, it uses Expected close.
What a stage check never does
- It never moves a deal back. A deal at the phase, or past it, gets no check.
- It asks once per deal, for the furthest phase that the facts support. The words name the facts that point there.
- It never moves a stage by itself. A person moves it with one tap, or asks Claude to.
- A move to a Closed stage marks the deal Won. The check says so.
Stage checks and suggested updates
dotloop and the MLS can also suggest a stage, as a suggested update. Berchtold never asks twice for one move:
- When a suggested update already asks for the same stage, or a later one, there is no stage check. The suggestion shows on Today with the deal's other suggested updates.
- When the facts point to a later stage than the suggestion, the stage check asks for that later stage. When you move the deal, the earlier suggestion goes away.
- A suggested stage that the deal already reached, or passed, can no longer move the deal back. If you accept it, it says so.
With Claude or ChatGPT
In Claude, ChatGPT or another chat app connected to Berchtold, you can:
- Ask which deals have a stage check, and the stage each one should move to.
- Ask the chat app to move the deal. It moves it and marks the check done.
- Say "not now" to hide a check for 14 days.
The chat app asks you before it moves a deal. See Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Muse to Berchtold.