How Pipelines work

How Lead360 helps

Lead360 Pipelines define the ordered stages used to represent a business process, while the board makes opportunity movement visible to the team. Clear stage definitions support reliable forecasting, automation, ownership, and reporting across the sub-account.

When to use this area

Use Pipelines to design or review the stages for a sales, onboarding, service, or other opportunity process and to move records as real-world progress occurs.

Before you begin

• Write a clear entry condition and exit condition for every stage.
• Identify automations, reports, and staff routines that depend on stage names.
• Plan how existing opportunities will be handled before reordering or removing stages.

Pipelines and Opportunities

1. A pipeline is the process definition: its stages describe the milestones work moves through. An opportunity is a contact deal placed in one of those stages.
2. Use the Opportunities tab for cards, values, status, tasks, and moving active deals. Use this Pipelines tab to review the process structure itself.

Default Pipeline

1. Default Pipeline supplies the stages used by the main Opportunities board. Its stage count is shown in the table.
2. Open Edit stages to review the order, add a stage, rename one, or remove one. A stage should represent an observable milestone rather than a staff action.

Create a named pipeline

1. Click Create Pipeline and enter a unique name. The page creates it from the current Default Pipeline stage order.
2. Ask360 can reuse that sub-account default, use a neutral B2B, B2C, or general-sales blueprint, or prepare 2 to 12 custom stages in the exact order you provide. Review the stage source and full order before accepting.

Design useful stages

1. Start with an intake stage, keep middle stages mutually clear, and include explicit successful and unsuccessful outcomes such as Closed Won and Closed Lost.
2. Avoid duplicate or vague stage names. Too many stages make the board harder to maintain; too few hide meaningful progress.

Edit safely

Renaming or removing a Default Pipeline stage can affect active opportunities, automations, filters, forecasts, and reports. Check those dependencies and relocate affected opportunities before a destructive stage change.

Use Ask360 here

Ask360 can list and explain the live Default and named pipelines, reuse the current sub-account default stages, use a neutral B2B, B2C, or general-sales blueprint, or prepare one new pipeline with a custom ordered stage set. The review card identifies where its stages came from. Creation is shown as one Accept or Decline review card. It never moves opportunities or edits or deletes an existing pipeline from this help flow.

Confirm the result

A completed How Pipelines work workflow should be visible in the product area that owns the final record. Use these checks before relying on the result or moving to the next customer-facing step.

• Test the pipeline with a controlled opportunity.
• Confirm stage movement updates the correct record and expected automation.
• Review board totals, ownership, and reporting after structural changes.

Troubleshooting

A stage cannot be removed safely

Move or resolve existing opportunities and review dependent automations before changing the structure.

Dragging a card has an unexpected effect

Inspect stage-triggered automations and confirm the card belongs to the intended pipeline and sub-account.