Pipedrive sales pipeline organized by deal stage

Use stages that match buyer progress

Do not create stages based on internal wishes. Create stages based on what the buyer has done or agreed to do.

  1. New lead: the opportunity exists but has not been contacted.
  2. Contacting: outreach is active and a next activity is scheduled.
  3. Interested: the prospect has shown real fit or intent.
  4. Evaluation: proposal, demo, or decision process is underway.
  5. Won or lost: the outcome is clear and logged.

Make activities non-negotiable

Pipedrive shines when every active deal has a next activity. That one behavior prevents the most common CRM failure: leads disappearing after the first conversation.

Pipedrive deal view with follow-up activity

Keep fields simple

Track source, deal value, priority, expected close date, and qualification notes. Add more fields only if they change follow-up, reporting, or forecasting.

Pipedrive automation action updating deal fields

Build reports around movement

Review stage conversion, overdue activities, deals added, won revenue, and deals with no next activity. These reports tell you whether the pipeline is alive.

Pipedrive Insights report creation screen