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Sales Pipeline Overview

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Nik Schultz
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The Sales Pipeline provides a comprehensive set of features that facilitate, track, and otherwise allow you to oversee the various steps in securing sales. This article will provide an overview of the Pipeline feature and its interactivity with the other parts of the SharpSpring application.


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Understanding the Sales Pipeline

In SharpSpring, a pipeline is a complete sales cycle. Pipelines contain various stages that an opportunity will pass through. Pipelines can be customized via the Opportunity Stages dashboard.

Pipeline stages are individual, customizable steps used to track the progress of an opportunity from the beginning to the end of the sales cycle.

The Pipeline feature is a visual representation of a sales flow, and it is the primary tool to use when managing and tracking sales. The Sales Pipeline is a powerful tool, as it allows you to see at any given moment exactly where a sales opportunity is in the sales flow.


Using the Sales Pipeline

Pipelines are wholly customizable and reflect your sales by your given parameters. The purpose of the pipeline is to create opportunities and drag-and-drop those opportunities from stage to stage until they are considered a sale.

Access the pipeline by clicking Opportunities in SharpSpring's top toolbar.

  

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Depending on how your leads have been assigned, you may or may not see anything in the Pipeline at this point.


The Pipeline Editor

Multiple pipelines can be active at the same time, as different sales types may require different pipeline stages or other parameters. You can create pipelines to better match your sales needs. This is done through the Pipeline Editor.

To access the Pipeline Editor, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. Click  more.png  More Options.
  3. Click Edit Pipeline Stages.
  

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Alternately, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    user.png  User Settings > Settings.
  2. In the left panel, under Features, click Pipeline Editor.
  

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Creating a New Pipeline

To create a new pipeline, do the following:

  1. Access the Pipeline Editor.
  2. Click  cog.png  Options > New Pipeline.
  3. Enter a name for the pipeline.
  4. Click Create Pipeline.
  5. Optionally, after creating the pipeline, click
    pencil.png  Edit to enter a pipeline description.
  6. Click Save Changes.
  


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Important: SharpSpring CRM users are limited to one pipeline. Marketing Automation users can create unlimited pipelines.

 


Adding Stages to a Pipeline

Created pipelines have no stage data. Stage data must be added to a pipeline for the pipeline to be usable. Stages should be different enough from one another to clearly define where in the sales flow an opportunity is. Pipelines can have as few or as many stages as needed. To add stages to a pipeline, do the following:

  1. Access the Pipeline Editor.
  2. Click  cog.png  Options > Pipeline Stage.
  3. In the Deal Stage Name field, enter a name for the stage.
  4. In the Pipeline drop-down menu, select the pipeline this stage will be part of.
  5. In the Probability drop-down menu, select the probability value.
  6. In the Description field, enter a description for the stage.
  7. Optionally, in the Sales Automation Policy section, enter the number of days between prior contact that opportunities should be engaged via phone and email.
  8. Click Add Pipeline Stage.
  9. Click Save Changes.
  


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Editing Pipeline Stages

To edit pipeline stages, do the following:

  1. Access the Pipeline Editor.
  2. Select the tab of the desired pipeline.
  3. In the desired pipeline stage, click
    more.png  More Options > Edit.
  4. Edit individual stage information as necessary.
  5. Click Save Settings.
  6. Repeat as necessary for all applicable stages.
  7. Click Save Changes.
  


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Setting a Default Pipeline

The Pipeline feature allows you to keep track of all your pipelines. You can change a pipeline's parameters to view another pipeline, a pipeline's activity over a given time period, or a pipeline's owners. To change which pipeline you are viewing, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the pipeline name toolbar, click the Pipeline Name drop-down menu.
  3. Select the desired pipeline.
  4. Optionally, click the  eye.png  Default icon next to a pipeline name to set that pipeline as the default pipeline.
  5. Optionally, select any desired view settings. 
  


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Exporting Pipeline Data

You can save pipeline data for future reference. To export pipeline data to a spreadsheet file, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the Pipeline drop-down menu, select the desired pipeline.
  3. In the Date Range drop-down menu, select the date parameters.
  4. In the Owners drop-down menu, select the applicable owners.
  5. Click  more.png  More Options.
  6. Click Export Opportunities to .CSV.
  7. Click the link that appears at the top of the screen.
  8. Click the export to download the file.
  

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To access exported pipeline information in SharpSpring's Export Manager, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Contacts > Contact Manager.
  2. Click  cog.png  Options > Export Manager.
  3. Click on an item to automatically download the .CSV file.
  

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Deleting Pipeline Stages

To delete stages within a pipeline, do the following:

  1. Access the Pipeline Editor.
  2. Select the tab of the desired pipeline.
  3. In a pipeline stage, click  close.png  Delete.
  4. In the modal window that appears, select a deal stage in another pipeline to attach leads to.
  5. In the text box, type Delete.
  6. Click Delete Deal Stage.
  


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Deleting a Pipeline

You can delete pipelines only after you have deleted all stages from a pipeline. To delete pipelines, do the following:

  1. Access the Pipeline Editor.
  2. Select the tab of the pipeline to be deleted.
  3. Hover over the pipeline's name.
  4. Click  close.png  Delete.
  5. In the modal window that appears, click Delete Pipeline.
  


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Note: The default pipeline, which is titled Sales Pipeline, cannot be deleted.

 


Creating Opportunities from Qualified Leads

In the left sidebar of the Pipelines section, is a list of all of your qualified leads. You can create opportunities from those qualified leads, so you can attach your projected revenue to its main point of contact. To create opportunities from qualified leads, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the left panel, under Qualified Leads, select the desired lead.
  3. Click  plus3.png  Add.
  4. In the Opportunity Name field, enter a name for the opportunity.
  5. In the Opportunity section, enter the following information:

       •   The account name
       •   The opportunity's monetary value
       •   The expected closing date
  6. In the Pipeline section, select the following:

       •   The desired pipeline
       •   The opportunity's pipeline stage
       •   The opportunity's status
  7. In the Attributions section, select the owner.
  8. In the Probability to Close section, select the probability to close the opportunity.
  9. Click Save Opportunity.
  


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Note: Pipelines can display a maximum of 500 opportunities at a time.

Once your opportunity is created, you can move it around the pipeline by dragging-and-dropping it from stage-to-stage.


Creating Pipeline Opportunities

To create an opportunity through a pipeline, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the pipeline toolbar, click + Create.
  3. In the text field, enter the name of the contact that will be associated with the opportunity.
  4. Click Create a New Opportunity.
  5. Enter opportunity information as necessary.
  6. Click Save Opportunity.
  


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Note: Pipelines can display a maximum of 500 opportunities at a time.



Understanding Pipeline Opportunity Icons

Opportunities will have icons added to them when they meet certain criteria. These icons provide an at-a-glance view of important information about and necessary actions for an opportunity. These icons are as follows:   PipelineIcons.png
     
Icon Name   Description  
pushpin.png

No Follow-up Set

  

The salesperson has not followed up with leads.

  
clock.png

Past Close

  

The close date has passed for the opportunity.

  
paper.png

Unread Notes

  

The opportunity has notes that have not been read.

  

 


Sending Smart Mail

You can send Smart Mails within an opportunity. To send Smart Mails, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. Click the desired opportunity.
  3. In the opportunity, click the Contact tab.
  4. Next to the desired contact, click  cog.png  Options.
  5. Click Send Smart Mail.
  6. Select the Smart Mail to send.
  7. Click Quick Send.
  


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Note: Click Personalize... to modify the content of the Smart Mail before sending.

 


Sorting Opportunities

Your pipelines may eventually have many different opportunities across many different stages. At this point, it may become difficult to see when opportunities were added to a stage. You can sort pipeline opportunities to better see when opportunities were added to stages. To sort opportunities, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the pipeline toolbar, click the Sort drop-down menu.
  3. Select either the Date or Name sorting option.
  4. Select the same option again to swap between
    sort-up.png  ascending order and  sort-down.png  descending order.

Opportunities will be sorted by those that have been added within the past week, added within the past month, added within the past three months, and those added more than three months ago.

  


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Note: Pipelines can display a maximum of 500 opportunities at a time.

 


Setting Qualified Lead Refresh Intervals

You can manually set how often the list of qualified leads refreshes. To set lead refresh rates, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the Qualified Leads pane, click the Qualified Leads drop-down menu.
  3. Select one of the following refresh rate options:

       •   Manually
       •   Every five minutes
       •   Every fifteen minutes
  4. Optionally, click  ccw.png  Refresh to instantly refresh the list of qualified leads.
  


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SharpSpring will automatically save your refresh option.


Sorting Qualified Leads

You can sort the list of qualified leads to better show those leads you want to focus on. To sort qualified leads in the leads panel, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click Opportunities.
  2. In the Qualified Leads pane, click the Qualified Leads drop-down menu.
  3. Select one of the following sorting options:

       •   Order by last activity
       •       Order by Date Created
       •   Order by Lead Score
  4. Select the same option again to swap between
    sort-up.png  ascending order and  sort-down.png  descending order.
  


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Saving Qualified Lead Advanced Searches

To save a search of qualified leads, do the following:

  1. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Contacts > Contact Manager.
  2. Create an Advanced Search.
  3. Save the Advanced Search.
  4. In SharpSpring's top toolbar, click
    Opportunities.
  5. In the Qualified Leads pane, click the Qualified Leads drop-down menu.
  6. Select a saved Advanced Search.
  

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When an Advanced Search has more results than the qualified lead pane can show, click the Go to Contacts link at the bottom of the lead pane to load the full result list in the Contact Manager.


Highlighting Custom Opportunity Fields

You can alert pipeline users to which custom fields are important to fill out for specific pipeline stages. To set custom field highlights, do the following:

  1. Access the Pipeline Editor.
  2. Select the tab of the desired pipeline.
  3. In the desired pipeline stage, click
    more.png  More Options > Edit.
  4. In the Additional Settings section, click the Select Fields drop-down menu.
  5. Click the checkboxes next to the fields to be highlighted for the pipeline stage.
  6. In the Stage Transition Tooltip Message text box, enter a message to display that informs users why the custom field is important for the pipeline stage.
  7. Click Save Settings.
  8. Set highlight settings across all other pipeline stages in the pipeline.
  9. Click Save Changes.
  


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Once you have set field highlights, all opportunities placed in the pipeline stage will have the custom fields highlighted.

In a pipeline, different stages can have different custom field highlights, and the opportunities will reflect this as they are moved across pipeline stages.


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