What is required to exit Stage 3 by moving the Opportunity to "Lost"?

• A. Submit a formal loss memo to the legal department.
• B. Update the opportunity notes and send to sales manager for sign-off.
• C. Completion of Loss Detail field and a reason for loss, then an email is sent to the manager for approval.
• D. Approve a cooperative extension with the customer.

Answer: (C)

To exit Stage 3 by marking the Opportunity as Lost, you must document the reason for the loss and obtain managerial approval. Specifically, fill the Loss Detail field with a clear reason for why the deal could not close, then have the manager review and approve via email to finalize the status. This creates an auditable record for pipeline analytics and ensures a controlled, approved closure rather than an unverified update. The other options don’t fit because a formal loss memo to legal isn’t part of the standard workflow, simply updating notes and sending for sign-off without a defined loss reason misses the required documentation, and pursuing a cooperative extension with the customer would keep the deal alive rather than move it to Lost.