Pipelines and stages

A pipeline is the series of stages a type of CRM record moves through, from first contact to a final outcome. Structurell CRM creates one pipeline for each type of record when CRM is set up for your subscription. Each stage has a position, which sets its order, and a probability, which is used to forecast the value of open deals. This article explains the standard pipelines, where to review them and what you can change.

Before you start

• You need permission to view pipelines to open Pipelines, and permission to view stages to open Stages. To change them you also need permission to update them. See Users, teams, groups and permissions.
• Pipelines and stages are created for you. You can't add new pipelines or stages from Portal. If you need a different set of stages, contact support.

The standard pipelines

Each pipeline belongs to one type of record. The standard stages, in order, with their probabilities, are:

• Organisations: New (10%), Lead (35%), Opportunity (60%), Customer (100%) and Lost (0%).
• Contacts: New (10%), Lead (35%), Engaged (55%), Customer (100%) and Inactive (0%).
• Deals: New (10%), Qualifying (35%), Proposal (60%), Won (100%) and Lost (0%).

If your subscription has Recruitment, there are two more:

• Candidates: New, Parsed, Screened, Shortlisted, Submitted, Interview, Offered, Placed and Rejected.
• Vacancies: Draft, Open, Sourcing, Shortlist, Interviewing, Offered, Filled and Closed.

The last two stages in each pipeline are final stages: a record there has reached an outcome. For example, Customer and Lost for organisations, Won and Lost for deals, and Placed and Rejected for candidates.

Review your pipelines

Go to Grow → CRM → Pipelines. The list shows each pipeline's code, name, the type of record it is for, its status and when it was last updated.

Review your stages

Stages are listed on the Stages page in CRM settings. Open CRM settings and select Stages; CRM settings explains how to get there. The list shows each stage's pipeline, code, name, position, probability and status, in position order.

Change a pipeline or stage

If you have permission to update pipelines or stages, you make changes directly in the list.

1. Find the row you want to change.
2. Select the pencil icon in the cell you want to edit. Only values that can be changed show the icon.
3. Enter the new value and select Save, or Cancel to leave it unchanged.

To stop a pipeline or stage being used, open the row's menu, select Disable and confirm. Select Enable to bring it back.

Renaming a stage changes the label people see when they choose it. Changing its position changes where it appears in the Stage list on records.

How stages are used

On records and deals

When you edit an organisation, contact, deal, candidate or vacancy, you choose a Pipeline and then a Stage. Only enabled pipelines and enabled stages are offered. Disabling a stage doesn't change records that are already at it. See Organisations and contacts.

Contacts moving their organisation forward

In the standard Contacts pipeline, the Lead, Engaged and Customer stages also move the contact's linked organisation forward:

• A contact at Lead moves the organisation to Lead.
• A contact at Customer moves the organisation to Customer.
• A contact at Engaged moves the organisation to Lead, because organisations have no Engaged stage.

This only happens if the organisation has no stage yet or is at an earlier stage. An organisation is never moved backwards by a contact.

In the spend forecast

Deal stage probabilities drive the Likely figure in the spend forecast. For each open deal, Structurell takes the midpoint of its minimum and maximum value and multiplies it by the probability of its stage. For example, a deal worth between £10,000 and £20,000 at the Proposal stage (60%) adds £9,000 to Likely.

A deal in a final stage with a probability of 50% or more counts as won, and its final price counts towards Committed Spend. A deal in a final stage with a lower probability counts as lost and is left out. A deal with no stage isn't counted at all. See The CRM overview.

Tips

• Don't disable the Won stage in the Deals pipeline or change its code. Close as Won on an organisation's deals needs it.
• Change probabilities carefully. Changing a deal stage's probability immediately changes the Likely figure for every open deal at that stage.