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Working with New Pipelines
Working with New Pipelines

How to setup and use Pipelines

Chris Clark avatar
Written by Chris Clark
Updated over a week ago
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A pipeline represents a process from start to finish.

For example, you might have a Pipeline that represents your sales process, project management or your customer management process. Within each pipeline there are progressive stages that represent a milestone in the process. For example, your sales Pipeline might include stages for Discovery Call Booked, Demo, Negotiation, and Contract Signed.

You can access your Pipeline(s) and Pipeline Records by clicking the Pipelines icon in the left navigation.

In this article we'll cover:

Creating a new Pipeline

Pipelines allow you to build linear pathways for any process you are looking to capture in Copper.

To get started, Navigate to Pipelines -> Create a New Pipeline

In Copper we have built a variety of Pipeline Templates that cover common pipelines our users create, including templates tailored by industry. Select the template that best fits your process, or start from scratch!

Defining your Pipeline Record Type and Stages

When you create a new Pipeline in Copper you will need to select your Pipeline Record, select if the pipeline is sales tracking, and set up your stages.

There are 3 Pipeline Records you can use when setting up a Pipeline. Opportunity, Project or Item. Typically Opportunity is used for Sales Pipelines, Project for Project Management Pipelines and Item for other Pipelines, but you can rename these Pipeline Records to fit the type of record you will be tracking in your pipeline. For example, you might choose to rename Item to "Memberships" if your pipeline is tracking Memberships.

Sales Tracking Setting will make minor adjustments to your Pipeline, here are a list of the changes below:

if Sales Tracking Enabled:

  • Pipeline Record Statuses

    • Won, Lost, or Abandoned

  • In Board View, the total value of opportunities is summarized by stage.

  • Win Percentage can be set for each stage.

  • When an Opportunity is Won:

    • Option to Duplicate Pipeline Record into a new Pipeline

    • Option to Update Person and Company Contact Type to "Current Customer"

if Sales Tracking Disabled:

  • Pipeline Record Statuses

    • Done, Won't Do, On Hold

  • In Board View, the total value of opportunities is NOT summarized by stage.

  • Win Percentage can NOT be set for each stage.

Your stage names will depend on the use case of your business and the milestones of your process.

Sales Pipeline:

Qualified Opportunity → Presentation → Proposal Sent → Negotiation → Closing

Project Management:

Scoping → Ready to Start → In Progress → Delivery → Final Approval

Customer Management:

Renewal Opportunity → Engaged → Proposal Sent → Negotiation → Closing

As you progress the pipeline record and meet the defined criteria for each stage, you’ll move your pipeline record through to the next stage, until you finally reach the end of the pipeline and mark the opportunity complete or close the opportunity.

💡 Helpful tips:

  • Try to keep your pipeline stages to 3-7, this is optimal to capture where your pipeline records are in your pipeline while making it easy on your team to keep their records up to date.

  • Set the first stage of your pipeline align to a clear point when your user should create an opportunity. For example: discovery call booked.

Edit an existing Pipeline

  1. Go to Settings > Customize > Pipelines > Stages. There, you will see all your pipelines listed with an edit icon beside each one.

    edit_existing_pipeline.png
  2. Click the pencil icon and a popup will open where you can edit your pipeline stage or disable revenue for non-sales related pipelines.

    There, you can:

    • Rename the pipeline.

    • Rename, rearrange, or delete pipeline stages.

    • Update win probability for Sales Tracking pipelines.

    • Change the pipeline type to non-revenue pipeline.

If you think you'll need more than one pipeline, no problem! You can create multiple pipelines, move opportunities between pipelines, and customize fields to only appear on opportunities when they're in a certain pipeline.

Customize your Pipeline

If you're interested in making customizations to the look and feel of your pipeline, we have some options available.

Things you can customize include:

  • What data is displayed on Opportunity cards.

  • The number of inactive days before you are notified of a "slipping" opportunity.

  • What value constitutes a "top deal" and alerts you to it.

Note - Slipping Opportunities and Top Deals are not yet available in New Board View.

Opportunity Task Indicators

Opportunity Task Indicators allow you to see if an opportunity is on track or needs immediate attention. They are located at the top right corner of each opportunity in the pipeline view.

If the Opportunity Task Indicator is...

  • Red - Your Opportunity needs immediate attention. This Opportunity has an overdue task.

  • Yellow - Your Opportunity is on track. The Opportunity has a related task due within 24 hours.

  • Grey - Your opportunity is on track. The opportunity has a related task due in the future.

  • If the opportunity does not have an Opportunity Task Indicator, this opportunity does not have a related task.

Beyond just seeing the opportunity task indicator, you'll want to know which specific task it's associated with. You might also want to update the status of the task. To do this, follow the steps below:

  1. Click the Opportunity Task Indicator in the upper right of the opportunity.

  2. Click the name of the task to see the task details page on the right of the screen.

  3. Mark the task as complete by checking the checkbox next to the task.

To learn how to set these customizations, please visit the "Customize" section of our article on Working with Opportunities.

Note - Opportunity Task Indicators are not yet available in New Board View

Still have questions?

Reach out to Copper Support Team via the in-app chat or by contact support@copper.com.

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