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A pipeline is the path a deal takes, from the first conversation to a new customer. Each stage is a column on your Deals board, and its chance of closing weights the value of the deals in it. You can keep several pipelines, one for each kind of sale. This guide adds a second pipeline to Northwind, Café Accounts, for cafés that buy coffee every week, next to its Wholesale Sales pipeline.

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Open the pipeline settings

Click CRM in the left rail, then Setup at the top, then Settings. CRM settings opens on Pipelines & stages, with every pipeline and its stages.
The Setup menu open under the CRM tabs, with Connections and Settings, and Settings outlined

Settings, in the Setup menu

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Add your contact stages first (once)

A stage can also move the people on a deal to a contact stage, for example to Customer when the deal is won. If the page says No lifecycle stages configured yet, click Statuses in the menu on the left, then Seed default lifecycle stages. It adds Lead, Prospect, Opportunity, Customer and Churned, the stages your contacts already use.
CRM settings with Statuses outlined in the menu, and No statuses for contacts yet with the Seed default lifecycle stages button outlined

Statuses, and the button that adds the contact stages

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Add a pipeline

Under your pipelines, type the new pipeline’s name in New pipeline name… and click Add. It starts with no stages.
Pipelines and stages with the Wholesale Sales pipeline and its four stages, and Café Accounts typed in New pipeline name with the Add button, outlined

A second pipeline, Café Accounts

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Add its stages

1

Add the first stage

On the new pipeline’s card, type the stage’s name in Add stage name…. Pick the contact stage it matches from the list beside it if you like, then click Add stage. Here Inquiry matches Lead.
The Café Accounts card with Inquiry typed in Add stage name, and the list beside it open with Lead outlined

The first stage, matched to Lead

2

Add the rest

Add each stage the same way. New stages go to the bottom of the list. For Northwind: Inquiry, Tasting Scheduled, Trial Order, Closed Won and Closed Lost.
3

Put them in order

Click the up or down arrow at the end of a stage’s row to move it. Here Tasting Scheduled moves above Trial Order.
The five Café Accounts stages, each with its contact stage, and the up arrow on Tasting Scheduled outlined

Moving a stage up

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Set each stage’s chance of closing

New stages start at 0%. Click the pencil on a stage’s row to change its Name, its Prob. % (the chance that a deal in this stage closes) and its Lifecycle mapping, then click Save. Northwind uses 10% for Inquiry, 25% for Tasting Scheduled, 50% for Trial Order, 100% for Closed Won and 0% for Closed Lost.
The edit form for Tasting Scheduled: Name, Prob. % set to 25 and outlined, Lifecycle mapping Prospect, and the Save button outlined

Tasting Scheduled at 25%

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Set a default deal amount

Next to Default deal amount, click Edit. Type the Default amount and the Currency, then click Save. A deal created in this pipeline without a value gets this amount. Leave the amount blank to keep those deals at no value.
Café Accounts with Default amount 1500, Currency USD and the Save button outlined

A default of 1,500 US dollars

The finished pipeline shows each stage with its chance of closing and its contact stage.
Café Accounts with Default deal amount USD 1,500.00 outlined, and the stages Inquiry 10% to Lead, Tasting Scheduled 25% to Prospect, Trial Order 50% to Opportunity, Closed Won 100% to Customer and Closed Lost 0%

Café Accounts, ready for deals

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See it on the Deals board

Click Deals at the top of the CRM, then pick the pipeline from the list next to the title.
The pipeline list next to Deals, open with Wholesale Sales and Café Accounts, and Café Accounts outlined

Pick a pipeline

Each stage is a column, with its chance of closing under its name. Drag a deal from column to column as it moves along.
The Deals board for Café Accounts with the pipeline picker outlined and the columns Inquiry, Tasting Scheduled, Trial Order, Closed Won and Closed Lost, outlined

The Café Accounts board

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Good to know

  • The stage name decides how a deal closes. A deal moved to a stage whose name starts or ends with Won, such as Closed Won, closes as won, and so does a stage at 100% whose name doesn’t mention lost. A stage whose name starts or ends with Lost closes it as lost. A stage called just Closed leaves the deal open.
  • Contacts can move with their deals. When a deal enters a stage that has a lifecycle mapping, the contacts on the deal move to that contact stage, as long as Keep contact stages in step with deals is on under CRM settings > Sales agent. It is on to start with.
  • Deleting a pipeline deletes its deals. The trash can on a pipeline’s card asks you to type the pipeline’s name, then removes its stages and every deal in it, with their activities and notes. A stage that still holds deals can’t be deleted.
  • More: Follow Up a Lead from Your Website starts a deal from a contact, and Add and Manage CRM Contacts covers contacts.