Your sales pipeline is the foundation of your sales process in SalesSheet.ai. This visual, Kanban-style board helps you track deals from first contact to closed won. Whether you're using our default pipeline or creating a custom workflow, this guide will walk you through setting up your pipeline to match your sales process perfectly.
Requisitos Previos
- Active SalesSheet.ai account
- Admin or Manager role (required for pipeline customization)
- Understanding of your current sales process stages
Access Pipeline Settings
Navigate to your Pipeline view from the main navigation menu. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the pipeline board, then select "Pipeline Settings" from the dropdown menu. This will open the pipeline configuration panel where you can view and modify your pipeline structure.
If this is your first time accessing the pipeline, you'll see the default setup with six stages: Lead, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed Won, and Closed Lost. These stages represent a typical B2B sales process and work well for most teams starting out.
Understand Default Pipeline Stages
SalesSheet.ai comes with six pre-configured stages designed to cover the complete sales cycle:
- Lead: Initial contact or prospect identification. Deals enter here when first created.
- Qualified: Prospect has been vetted and meets your ideal customer profile criteria.
- Proposal: Formal proposal or quote has been sent to the prospect.
- Negotiation: Active discussions about pricing, terms, or contract details.
- Closed Won: Deal successfully closed. Revenue is recognized here.
- Closed Lost: Deal didn't proceed. Important for tracking win rates and loss reasons.
Each stage has a default probability percentage that affects your sales forecasting. For example, deals in the Proposal stage typically have a 40% probability of closing, while Negotiation stage deals have a 60% probability.
Customize Pipeline Stages
To add a new stage, click the "+ Add Stage" button in the Pipeline Settings panel. Give your stage a descriptive name that reflects a specific point in your sales process, such as "Demo Scheduled," "Technical Evaluation," or "Contract Review."
For each stage, you can configure:
- Stage Name: Clear, action-oriented names work best (e.g., "Discovery Call" instead of "Stage 2")
- Win Probability: Percentage likelihood of deals in this stage closing (0-100%)
- Stage Color: Visual identifier to quickly distinguish stages on your board
- Automation Rules: Trigger actions when deals enter or leave this stage
- Required Fields: Information that must be completed before moving to the next stage
To reorder stages, simply drag and drop them into your preferred sequence. The order should reflect your actual sales process flow from left to right.
Remove or Archive Unused Stages
If certain stages don't apply to your sales process, you can remove them by clicking the three-dot menu next to the stage name and selecting "Delete Stage." Note that you cannot delete a stage that contains active deals.
Before deleting a stage with existing deals, you'll need to move those deals to another stage. SalesSheet.ai will prompt you to select a destination stage for any affected deals, ensuring you don't lose data.
Alternatively, you can archive stages you might need in the future. Archived stages won't appear on your main pipeline view but can be reactivated anytime without losing historical data.
Create Multiple Pipelines (Pro Feature)
If your team handles different types of sales processes, you can create separate pipelines for each. For example, you might have one pipeline for new business, another for renewals, and a third for upsells.
To create an additional pipeline, click "Create New Pipeline" in the Pipeline Settings. Give it a distinctive name and choose whether to start from scratch or duplicate an existing pipeline structure.
Each pipeline can have completely different stages, probabilities, and automation rules. Team members can switch between pipelines using the dropdown selector at the top of the Pipeline view. You can also set default pipelines for specific team members or deal types.
Pro Tip: Start Simple, Then Customize
Many teams start with the default pipeline and use it for a few weeks before customizing. This helps you understand what stages your deals naturally flow through before committing to a custom structure. Track where deals tend to stall or skip stages - these insights will guide your customization decisions.
Qué Esperar
After setting up your pipeline, you'll see your custom stages displayed on the main Pipeline view as vertical columns. Deals appear as cards that can be dragged between stages. Your pipeline configuration affects:
- Sales forecasting calculations based on stage probabilities
- Automated workflows and notifications as deals progress
- Reporting and analytics showing conversion rates between stages
- AI recommendations for deal progression and risk alerts
Changes to pipeline structure take effect immediately for all team members. However, historical data and reports will maintain the stage names that were in place when deals were created.