Learn how to add a new pipeline or editing an existing pipeline.

Admins can make changes to pipelines in Nutshell from the Sales automation section in your company settings. Nutshell Pro customers can create an unlimited number of pipelines.

Need pipeline inspiration? Check out our B2B sales process templates!

Create a new pipeline

To add a pipeline:

1. Go to Company settings > Pipelines
2. Click +Add new pipeline
3. Give your pipeline a name so you and your colleagues can identify the pipeline later
4. Click Save

Add stages

To create stages:

1. Click Add stage
2. Give your stage a name
3. Add guidance or a brief description of the purpose of the stage (optional)
4. Choose a confidence level for leads that enter the stage (optional)
5. Select a timeframe for when leads should become overdue (optional)
6. Decide when you would like leads to automatically close, and the outcome (optional)
7. Click Add

Your new stage will appear in the pipeline, and Nutshell Pro users can add more automations for that stage now, or continue adding stages.

What is guidance?

Admins can add guidance to each stage to let your sales team know what to do to move the lead to the next stage. Stage guidance functions as a training tool to keep everyone on the same page and bring new team members up to speed immediately. 

Guidance is especially helpful when you make changes to your process. You'll be able to see the impact of these changes right away. 

What happens if I'm marking leads overdue?

Keep your teammates on track and moving leads along by letting Nutshell know when to mark leads as overdue. These rules are helpful especially when it comes to knowing how quickly you'll need to follow up with leads to make sure you're reaching them when they are most at risk of drifting away, early in the process.

Your overdue leads can be filtered in your leads list:

You can also save a view of your overdue leads on your Nutshell dashboard:

They will appear as overdue on your lead board: 

Lastly, you can see how frequently your leads are overdue on the Leads on time chart in your Snapshots report. If you have a low percentage of leads on time, it might be worth considering whether your sales cycle is longer than you think it should be, and why.

Editing a pipeline

To edit a pipeline:

1. Go to Company settings > Sales automation
2. Click Edit on the pipeline you want to revise

From there, you can add, remove, or re-order your stages.

• Click +Add new stage to create a new stage.
• Click on the name of any stage to edit the name, stage guidance, lead confidence, overdue and auto-close rules.
• Click and drag a stage header to change the order of your stages (the stage order is automatically saved). Note that changing the order of your stages will cause your Funnel report to be inaccurate for leads that are currently open and in this pipeline. 

Pipeline settings

To update the pipeline settings, click the menu button and choose one of the options:

• Rename: Change the name of a pipeline
• Set as default: All new leads will be placed in the pipeline
• Archive: Make the pipeline inactive (it’s like deleting a pipeline, but you can still view it later!)