Pipelines allow users to create a series of stages and activities that are associated with a deal that the person responsible for actioning the deal can follow.
1.0 Getting Started
Prior to creating your pipeline make sure you have outlined the stages and what activities you want to be used in each stage.
- Click on the CRM option from the left-side menu and click on any of the options (Contacts, Companies, Deals or Activities)
- From any of those screens click the more icon located in the top bar (to the right of Activities) and select Pipeline.
This will open the Pipelines listing page. - Click on the green, + PIPELINE button. The button can be located in two different places. In the middle of the page if no Pipelines have been made yet or, on the Top-Right corner of the screen if you’ve already made a Pipeline.
- You will be prompted with a popup where you can name the Pipeline.
Note: You will not be able to put in the same name as another pipeline in your account - Click on SAVE
2.0 Pipeline Stages
Pipeline Stages consist of activities that must be complete in order to move the potential deal to the next stage.
When creating a new pipeline TIEIT will create the initial stage in the new pipeline for you.
In that initial stage, you have the options,
- Name the Stage (Mandatory)
Note: What you type in the field that will update the First Stage text.
- Set a Stage color (Optional)
- Rot in Days (Optional): This will close the stage after a set number of days
Once you are done setting the initial stage click on SAVE
2.1 Adding a New Stage
TIP: We recommend adding all the stages in your pipeline first.
- To add a new stage you will need to click the + STAGE button located in the top left-hand corner.
- You will see the options to add the Stage Name, Color and Rot days again.
2.2 Editing a Stage
You have the ability to go back and update the Stage Name, Color or Rot Days for a stage.
- To edit a pipeline stage you can hover over the stage name and you will see the More Menu (3 vertical dots).
- Clicking on the 3 dots will show two icons over the stage name.
- Clicking the Pencil icon will show the Stage Name, Stage Colour and Rot in days which you can then edit.
- Click on SAVE when you're done with your edits.
2.3 Deleting a Stage
You have the ability to go back and delete a stage.
- To delete a pipeline stage you can hover over the stage name and you will see the More Menu (3 vertical dots).
- Clicking on the 3 dots will show two icons over the stage name.
- Clicking the Trash can icon will show the CONFIRM DELETE popup on the screen.
- You can click YES and the Stage will no longer appear in the pipeline.
2.4 Notes about Stages
- You can save a pipeline with just stages.
- You can have as many stages as your process that you which to build out for your company.
3.0 Pipeline Activities
Now that you have your pipeline stages laid out it's time to start adding in activities that will show in deals when your pipeline is selected in a deal.
3.1 Adding your first activity
This is the screen you will see when you have a stage that is ready for its first activity.
- Clicking on the + ACTIVITY button will show the drop-down with the activities you can add in.
The activities listed are the same as if you were adding a standalone activity in TIEIT but when added in the pipeline you can set what happens when an activity is marked as DONE or NOT DONE and what activity populates next. - When you have selected one of the activities as the initial activity in a stage you will see the activity box on the screen.
NOTE: What you see in the activity box might appear different from Activity to Activity but most of the elements remain the same.
3.1.1 Activity Group
You can arrange your activities into Groups to help manage your activities in a Deal. When you add your first activity that gets put into an Activity Group and by default, the name appears as New Group
You have the ability to edit the name of the group by hovering over the tab, in the top right corner of the activity, and clicking the pencil icon.
3.1.2 Adding Multiple Groups
You can add multiple Activity Groups (without clicking DONE/NOT DONE or adding in a new activity)
In the bottom left corner of the edit pipeline screen click the + ACTIVITY GROUP and that will show you the activity options you can add.
NOTE: When activities are grouped together you have the option to mark the entire group as DONE or NOT DONE
3.2 Breakdown of the Pipeline Activity box
In the following example we selected the CALL activity (the differences in the boxes will be mentioned in the next section):
| 1. | This is the title of the Group housing the activity. You can have multiple groups active at the same time. |
| 2. | This option will delete the activity. It is important to note that once you have added activity you can’t delete the initial activity as the stage cannot be empty. |
| 3. | This icon will change based on the activity type you have selected. |
| 4. | This is the title for the activity. By default, the activity type will be shown in the Title field (i.e. Call). You have the option to change this to what you want to see when the activity shows in the activity dashboard. NOTE: Merge tags can be used in the title of the activities so you can quickly identify who the activity in your Activities Dashboard is with. Learn more about merge tags. |
| 5. | This is the description of the activity. This will show when the activity is clicked on. Each description box comes with the same editing options. |
| 6. | This is who the activity will be assigned too. The options in the drop-down are based on the Deal that the pipeline is associated with. The following options are available: > Owner: This is who is listed as the Owner of the Deal. This is the default option. > Assignee: This is who is listed as the Assignee on the Deal. This option is used if you have deals that you have someone else in your organization working on. > Specific User: This option will allow you to select from a specific user in your TIEIT account. |
| 7. | This option will allow you to set a particular timeframe you wish for the activity to be scheduled. |
| 8. | This dropdown will give you the ability to add more than the initial activity in the activity group (Number 1). In the drop-down, you have the same options available to you when clicking on + ACTIVITY |
| 9. | These two buttons allow you to specify what happens when the activity or activities in the group are DONE or NOT DONE. NOTE: DONE and NOT DONE are what is shown in the pipeline edit screen but the buttons might appear different in the deal itself but function the same based on the Activity type. |
3.3 Activity Types
When adding an initial activity in a deal stage:
Or adding an additional activity to an activity group or after an activity is marked as DONE or NOT DONE:
The same activities will be available for you to select from. The following is a quick break down of each of those activities:
3.3.1 CALL
3.3.2 TASK
3.3.3 EMAIL
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The only difference between the Email activity type is the COMPOSE EMAIL button which when clicked on will expand and show the compose email section (shown below) |
3.3.3.1 COMPOSE EMAIL
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With the Compose Mail screen, you have the option to either type in your email or select from a Saved Response you have already created in your TIEIT account. Learn more about saved responses. |
3.3.4 VOICEMAIL
3.3.5 MEETING
3.3.6 SMS
To send an SMS, you must have the RingCentral feature add-on enabled.
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This is where you can type in the message content. |
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This is used to search through previously saved SMS messages. NOTE: There is an option for + CANNED SMS |
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This is where you can type in the message title you wish to save. NOTE: This is required when pressing the CREATE button |
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This will save the new saved SMS into your TIEIT account. |
4.0 DONE/NOT DONE
As mentioned in the breakdown of the activity box each activity or activity group has buttons for DONE and NOT DONE when editing a pipeline.
This will allow you to set what actions or activities are taken when one of those buttons is clicked on.
4.1 Activity Types DONE/NOT DONE buttons
Not all the activities will show the DONE/NOT DONE buttons when viewing the activity in the pipeline that is associated with a Deal. While the functionality is the same the text may appear different based on the activity type.
The following shows what will show for each activity in the pipeline:
CALL: Action Buttons in the pipeline will be: ANSWERED | NOT ANSWERED
TASK: Action Buttons in the pipeline will be: DONE | NOT DONE
EMAIL: Action Buttons in the pipeline will be: SEND | NOT SEND
VOICEMAIL: Action Buttons in the pipeline will be: DONE | NOT DONE
MEETING: Action Buttons in the pipeline will be: DONE | NOT DONE
SMS: Action Buttons in the pipeline will be: SEND | NOT SEND
4.2 DONE/NOT DONE actions
When creating or editing your pipeline you can set different actions that occur when the activity is marked as DONE or NOT DONE.
Pressing either of the buttons will allow you to set the actions for that path in your Stage.
Both paths will have the same actions available to you (we have identified any actions that appear in the NOT DONE below)
IMPORTANT NOTE: Before switching between DONE and NOT DONE it is best to press the SAVE STAGE button found in the bottom right corner.
When pressing DONE the line connecting to the next action will appear GREEN:
When pressing NOT DONE the line connecting to the next action will appear RED:
You can now set the next Action that you wish to happen.
Clicking the Select Action drop-down will provide you with the following options (which are broken up into different sections):
4.2.1 DONE Action: MARK DEAL AS
Each of these actions will end the current stage and will impact the status of the Deal.
- Won: Will mark the Deal as WON. Stage/Pipeline will end.
DONE:
NOT DONE:
- Lost: Will mark the Deal as LOST. Stage/Pipeline will end.
DONE:
NOT DONE:
Note: That the Lost reason will not be selected with this option.
- Close: Will CLOSE the Deal.
DONE:
NOT DONE:
4.2.2 DONE Action: GO TO
- Next Stage: This action will move the pipeline to the next stage automatically:
DONE:
NOT DONE:
4.2.3 DONE Action: OTHER
These actions will allow you to either continue adding to the stage itself or perform actions that impact the contact associated with the deal.
- Add Activity: Will give you the ability to add a new activity to continue the pipeline:
DONE:
NOT DONE:
- Add to Group: This will allow you to add the primary contact of a Deal to a group in your TIEIT account. You can continue adding to the stage once this option is selected but it can only be added after an activity is actioned:
DONE:
NOT DONE:
The Add Group drop-down will show you all the Groups in your TIEIT account.
- Remove from Group: This will allow you to remove the primary contact of a Deal from a group in your TIEIT account. You can continue adding to the stage once this option is selected but it can only be added after an activity is actioned:
DONE:
NOT DONE:
The Remove Group drop-down will show you all the Groups in your TIEIT account.
- Reschedule
This option is only available on the NOT DONE side
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This will allow you to add an activity that will be rescheduled along with the activity that NOT DONE was selected on. |
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This will allow you to set when the activity that NOT DONE was pressed on will be rescheduled. |
You can add the Reschedule option once but the activity is marked as DONE or NOT DONE you have another set of Actions you can select from:
- Reschedule Again: This option will reschedule the original activity after the initial Reschedule.
You will have the ability to Add Activities in the Reschedule option
- Add Group: This acts the same as selecting Add to Group under the Other option under DONE
- Remove Group: This acts the same as selecting Remove From Group under the Other option under DONE
- Mark Deal as Lost: This acts the same as selecting Lost under the Mark Deal As Lost option under DONE
- Close Deal: This acts the same as selecting Lost under the Mark Deal As Lost option under DONE
- STOP: This will Stop the deal entirely and is only available on the NOT DONE side under the Reschedule or Reschedule Again actions
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