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Everything you need to know about Sentinel, the revenue management platform that prevents deals from silently decaying in your pipeline. Learn how to turn your sales data into actionable insights and never lose a deal you didn't see coming.
This documentation is your complete guide to using Sentinel effectively. Whether you're a sales rep tracking your first deal or a revenue leader managing a complex pipeline, you'll find everything you need here to get the most out of the platform.
Sentinel is designed to be intuitive, but mastering its features will help you prevent revenue loss and close more deals. This guide covers everything from basic setup to advanced risk analysis techniques. We've organized it so you can jump to any section you need, or read it start to finish for a comprehensive understanding.
This documentation is structured to help you learn Sentinel progressively. If you're new, start with "Getting Started" and work your way through. If you're experienced, use the table of contents to jump to specific features or concepts you want to understand better.
Each section includes practical examples and real-world scenarios to help you understand not just how features work, but when and why to use them. We've also included best practices throughout, based on how successful teams use Sentinel.
Quick tip: Bookmark this page and refer back to it as you use Sentinel. The more you use the platform, the more these concepts will make sense, and you'll discover new ways to leverage Sentinel's capabilities.
Sentinel isn't just another CRM. Here's what makes it special:
Every deal in your pipeline gets a real-time risk score from 0 to 1. This isn't just a number, it's calculated based on multiple data points: how long a deal has been in its current stage, recent activity levels, historical patterns from similar deals, and more.
Why this matters: You can't fix what you don't see. Risk scores surface problems before they become lost deals, giving you time to intervene and save revenue.
Deals don't always fail dramatically. More often, they just... fade away. A prospect stops responding to emails. A meeting gets postponed repeatedly. A proposal sits unread. These are all signs of silent decay.
How Sentinel helps: By tracking activity patterns and comparing them to historical data, Sentinel identifies when a deal is quietly losing momentum and alerts you before it's too late to recover.
Every interaction, meeting, email, and milestone is tracked in a chronological timeline. This isn't just for record-keeping, it's the data that powers our risk analysis.
The benefit: You get a complete picture of each deal's journey, making it easier to spot patterns, identify bottlenecks, and understand why deals succeed or fail.
Get AI-powered revenue forecasts based on your actual pipeline data, not just wishful thinking. See pipeline value by stage, track conversion rates, and understand where your revenue is really coming from.
What you get: Data-driven insights that help you make better decisions about where to focus your efforts, which deals need attention, and what your actual revenue outlook is.
Let's get you up and running quickly. Sentinel is designed to be intuitive, but here's a step-by-step guide to make sure you hit the ground running.
Navigate to the Deals page and click the New Deal button. You'll see a form asking for:
Pro tip: Don't worry about getting everything perfect on the first try. You can always edit deals later. The important thing is to start tracking your pipeline.
Once you've created a deal, open it and add an event. This could be a meeting you had, an email you sent, or a proposal you delivered. Events are crucial because they feed into our risk analysis, the more events you track, the smarter Sentinel becomes.
Why this matters: A deal with recent activity is different from a deal that's been silent for weeks. By tracking events, you give Sentinel the data it needs to identify when deals are at risk.
Navigate to the Risk Overview page to see how Sentinel is analyzing your pipeline. You'll see deals categorized by risk level: High, Medium, and Low.
What to look for: Pay special attention to deals marked as High Risk. These are the ones that need immediate attention. Sentinel is telling you these deals are in danger, listen to it.
Sentinel uses a five-stage pipeline model that represents the typical journey from first contact to closed deal. Understanding each stage, and when deals should move between them, is key to getting accurate risk scores and actionable insights.
This is where it all begins. You've made initial contact with a prospect, and you're both evaluating whether there's a fit. Deals in Discovery are still being qualified, you're learning about their needs, they're learning about your solution.
Typical activities: Initial calls, discovery meetings, needs assessment, qualification questions.
When to move forward: When you've confirmed there's a real opportunity and the prospect has budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT).
The prospect has shown genuine interest and meets your qualification criteria. You're actively engaging with them, they're responding to your outreach, and there's momentum building. This is where deals either gain traction or start to stall.
Typical activities: Regular meetings, demos, technical discussions, stakeholder introductions, proposal preparation.
When to move forward: When the prospect is ready to see a formal proposal or quote. They've seen enough to make a decision.
You've sent a formal proposal, quote, or contract. The ball is in their court. This is often where deals go silent if you're not careful, prospects need time to review, but too much silence can mean they've moved on.
Typical activities: Proposal delivery, follow-up calls, answering questions, addressing concerns, waiting for feedback.
When to move forward: When they're ready to negotiate terms, pricing, or contract details. They've reviewed the proposal and want to move forward.
Active discussions about terms, pricing, implementation timelines, and contract details. You're close, but this stage can drag on if not managed well. Deals in Negotiation are high-value but also high-risk, they're so close that losing them hurts.
Typical activities: Contract reviews, pricing discussions, legal negotiations, implementation planning, final approvals.
When to move forward: When all terms are agreed upon and the contract is ready to be signed. The deal is won (or lost if negotiations break down).
The deal is done, either won or lost. Closed deals are valuable for historical analysis. They help Sentinel learn patterns: what do successful deals look like? How long do they typically take? What activities correlate with wins?
Why this matters: The more closed deals you have in Sentinel, the better our risk analysis becomes. We learn from your history to predict your future.
Best practice: Always mark deals as Closed when they're done, whether won or lost. This keeps your pipeline accurate and helps Sentinel learn.
This is Sentinel's superpower. Our AI-powered risk analysis doesn't just look at one metric, it synthesizes multiple data points to give you a comprehensive view of deal health. Here's exactly how it works:
Every deal gets a risk score from 0.0 (lowest risk) to 1.0 (highest risk). This score is calculated in real-time based on multiple factors:
The magic: These factors are weighted and combined to create a single risk score that tells you, at a glance, which deals need attention. You don't have to manually analyze each deal, Sentinel does it for you.
These deals are in serious danger. They've been silent too long, stuck in a stage too long, or showing patterns that historically lead to failure. Don't wait. Reach out today. Review the timeline, identify what went wrong, and take corrective action immediately. Early intervention can save these deals.
These deals are showing warning signs but aren't in immediate danger. They might be moving slower than normal, or activity has decreased. Keep a close eye on them, add events regularly, and consider proactive outreach to maintain momentum.
These deals are healthy. They're moving through stages at expected rates, have regular activity, and show patterns consistent with successful deals. Keep doing what you're doing, but don't get complacent, continue tracking events and maintaining momentum.
Silent decay is when a deal slowly loses momentum without any dramatic failure. The prospect doesn't say "no", they just stop responding. Meetings get postponed. Emails go unanswered. The deal isn't dead, but it's not alive either.
The problem: By the time you realize a deal has decayed, it's often too late to recover. The prospect has moved on, found another solution, or lost interest.
How Sentinel detects it: We look for patterns: decreasing event frequency, increasing time between activities, deals stuck in stages longer than normal. When these patterns emerge, Sentinel flags the deal as at risk, giving you time to intervene before it's too late.
Events are the building blocks of Sentinel's intelligence. Every meeting, email, call, and milestone you track feeds into our risk analysis. The more events you add, the smarter Sentinel becomes. Here's how to use events effectively:
Track upcoming meetings, calls, and demos. This shows active engagement and forward momentum.
Record important email communications. Regular email activity indicates an engaged prospect.
Mark when proposals or quotes are delivered. This is a critical milestone that often precedes negotiation.
Set reminders for follow-up actions. These help you stay on top of deals that need attention.
Every deal has a timeline that shows all events in chronological order. This isn't just a log, it's a story. You can see the deal's journey from first contact to where it is now.
What to look for:
Best practice: Add events regularly, even for small interactions. A quick email check-in is still an event. The more data Sentinel has, the better it can help you.
Sentinel doesn't just track your deals, it helps you understand them. Our analytics give you insights into pipeline health, revenue potential, and where to focus your efforts. Here's what you can learn:
See the total value of all deals in your pipeline, broken down by stage. This tells you where your revenue potential is concentrated. Are most of your deals in Discovery (early stage) or Negotiation (close to closing)? This helps you understand your revenue timeline.
What to watch for: If too much value is stuck in one stage (especially Proposal or Negotiation), that's a bottleneck. You might need to focus on moving those deals forward.
Get realistic revenue forecasts based on your actual pipeline data, historical close rates, and deal velocity. This isn't wishful thinking, it's data-driven prediction.
How it works: Sentinel analyzes your historical data to understand:
Using this data, Sentinel predicts your likely revenue based on your current pipeline. The more deals you close (and mark as Closed), the more accurate these forecasts become.
Get a comprehensive view of your pipeline health. See how many deals are at High, Medium, and Low risk. This gives you a quick snapshot of where problems might be developing.
How to use it: Start your day by checking the Risk Overview. Focus on High Risk deals first, these need immediate attention. Then review Medium Risk deals to prevent them from becoming High Risk.
The goal: Keep as many deals as possible in the Low Risk category. When deals move to Medium or High Risk, that's your signal to take action.
Sentinel is used by revenue teams of all sizes. Here are some common scenarios where Sentinel makes a real difference:
The situation: You have a $50,000 deal in Negotiation. It's been there for 3 weeks. You sent the contract, but you haven't heard back. Is it still alive? Should you follow up? Or wait?
How Sentinel helps: Sentinel calculates the risk score based on how long deals typically stay in Negotiation (maybe your average is 10 days). It sees no activity in 3 weeks. The risk score jumps to 0.85 (High Risk). Sentinel alerts you: this deal needs attention now.
The outcome: You reach out immediately, discover there was a concern you didn't know about, address it, and close the deal. Without Sentinel, you might have waited another week, and by then it could have been too late.
The situation: A prospect in Qualification was very engaged, regular meetings, lots of questions, seemed interested. But it's been 2 weeks since the last event. Are they just busy? Or have they lost interest?
How Sentinel helps: Sentinel notices the activity pattern changed. This deal had weekly meetings, but now there's been no activity for 2 weeks. The risk score increases to 0.65 (Medium Risk, trending toward High). Sentinel flags it: something's changed.
The outcome: You send a thoughtful check-in email, discover they're evaluating other options, and you're able to address their concerns. You re-engage them and move the deal forward. Without Sentinel, you might not have noticed the pattern change until it was too late.
The situation: End of quarter is approaching. You need to know: what's your realistic revenue forecast? Which deals are actually going to close? Where should you focus your efforts?
How Sentinel helps: You check the Risk Overview and see 5 High Risk deals, 12 Medium Risk deals, and 8 Low Risk deals. You focus on the High Risk deals first, then the Medium Risk ones. The Revenue Forecast shows your realistic closing potential based on historical data.
The outcome: You have a clear action plan. You know which deals need attention, you have a realistic revenue forecast, and you can make data-driven decisions about where to invest your time. You close more deals because you focused on the right ones.
Sentinel is powerful, but like any tool, you get out what you put in. Follow these best practices to maximize your results:
Update deal stages as soon as they change. Don't let deals sit in the wrong stage, this skews your risk analysis and forecasts. If a deal moves from Proposal to Negotiation, update it immediately.
Why it matters: Accurate stage data is critical for risk scoring. A deal that's been in "Proposal" for 30 days is very different from one that's been in "Negotiation" for 30 days. Keep it accurate.
Every interaction matters. Add events for meetings, emails, calls, proposals, everything. The more events you track, the better Sentinel understands your deals and the more accurate your risk scores become.
Pro tip: Make it a habit. After every call or meeting, immediately add an event. Don't wait until the end of the week, you'll forget details, and the data will be less accurate.
When Sentinel flags a deal as High Risk, don't ignore it. Don't wait. Don't think "I'll get to it later." High Risk means the deal is in danger right now. Review the timeline, identify what went wrong, and take action today.
The math: Early intervention has a much higher success rate than late intervention. A deal that's been silent for 2 weeks is easier to save than one that's been silent for 6 weeks. Sentinel gives you early warning, use it.
Set aside time each week to review your Risk Overview and Analytics. Look for patterns: Are certain stages becoming bottlenecks? Are risk scores trending up? What does your revenue forecast look like?
The benefit: Regular reviews help you catch problems early and make data-driven decisions about where to focus your efforts. Don't just react to alerts, proactively manage your pipeline.
When a deal is done, mark it as Closed. Whether it's won or lost, this data is valuable. It helps Sentinel learn your patterns and improve risk analysis for future deals.
Why it matters: The more closed deals you have in Sentinel, the smarter it becomes. It learns what successful deals look like, how long they take, what activities correlate with wins. This makes future risk scores more accurate.
Enter realistic deal values, not inflated ones. Accurate values lead to accurate revenue forecasts and better decision-making. If a deal is worth $10,000, don't enter it as $50,000 just because you hope it'll grow.
The impact: Inflated pipeline values lead to unrealistic forecasts and poor decisions. Be honest. If the deal grows, you can always update the value later.
Common questions about Sentinel, answered:
Risk scores become more accurate as you add more data. The more deals you track, the more events you add, and the more deals you close (marking them as Closed), the better Sentinel understands your patterns. Early on, risk scores are based on general patterns. As you use Sentinel, they become personalized to your specific sales process.
You don't need to track every tiny interaction, but you should track significant ones. A quick email acknowledgment might not need an event, but a scheduled meeting, a proposal sent, or an important call definitely should. The more events you add, the better, but focus on meaningful interactions that indicate deal progress or engagement.
That's fine! If a deal is taking longer but you're still having regular activity (meetings, emails, etc.), the risk score will reflect that. Regular activity, even if the deal is moving slowly, keeps risk scores lower. It's when activity stops that risk scores increase. Sentinel is looking for patterns of decay, not just slow movement.
Currently, Sentinel uses a standard five-stage pipeline (Discovery, Qualification, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed) that works for most sales processes. This standardization helps our risk analysis work effectively. If you have specific needs or use cases, we'd love to hear about them, contact us at help@sentinels.in.
Sentinel isn't trying to replace your CRM, it's designed to work alongside it. While traditional CRMs focus on tracking what happened, Sentinel focuses on predicting what will happen. Our AI-powered risk analysis and silent decay detection are unique features that help you prevent revenue loss before it happens.
We're here to help! Reach out to us at help@sentinels.in. Whether you have questions about features, need help understanding risk scores, or want to share feedback, we'd love to hear from you. This is a product built by a founder who cares deeply about solving real problems, your feedback helps us make Sentinel better.
Running into an issue? Here are solutions to common problems:
Possible causes:
Solution: Add events regularly, keep stages updated, and give Sentinel time to learn your patterns. The more you use it, the better it gets.
Possible causes:
Solution: Review your pipeline, ensure closed deals are marked as Closed, and verify deal values and stages are accurate. Pipeline value is calculated by summing all non-closed deals.
Possible causes:
Solution: Forecasts become more accurate as you close more deals and mark them as Closed. The more historical data Sentinel has, the better it can predict future outcomes. Be patient, and make sure you're marking deals as Closed when they're done.