Searchlab Pipeline Design
A pipeline is a shared definition of progress. When two reps disagree on what stage three means, your forecast is fiction. We design stages around observable buyer actions, write the exit criteria down, and set rotting and probability rules so stalled deals surface on their own.
Good stages describe what the buyer has done, not what the seller hopes. Proposal Sent is observable. Interested is not. We rewrite vague stages into evidence-based ones, then attach a written exit criterion to each: the specific thing that must be true before a deal moves forward. That one document ends most pipeline review arguments before they start.
Stage count matters more than people expect. Five to seven stages is the sweet spot for most B2B pipelines. Fewer and the pipeline tells you nothing about where deals die. More and reps start guessing, or leave deals parked in the middle forever. If your process genuinely differs by product line, channel or region, that is a case for separate pipelines rather than extra stages bolted onto one.
Rotting is the most underused feature in the product. Each stage gets its own rot threshold in days, so a deal sitting in Negotiation for three weeks turns red on the board while a deal in Discovery gets a longer leash. Combined with a saved filter for deals with no scheduled activity, this gives a manager two views that surface every neglected opportunity without chasing anyone.
Stage probability drives the weighted forecast, so we set it from your own historical conversion between stages where the data exists, and from conservative estimates where it does not. We also configure loss reasons as a single option field with a short fixed list. Six well-chosen loss reasons will teach you more about your pricing and positioning than any amount of free text.
Everything in Pipeline Design
Pipeline architecture
A decision on how many pipelines you need and why, covering new business, renewals, partner or channel deals, and any product line with a genuinely different sales motion.
Stage definitions with exit criteria
Each stage named after a buyer action, with the written condition that must be met before a deal advances. Delivered as a one-page reference for the team.
Rotting rules per stage
Rot thresholds tuned to your real cycle length so early stages stay patient and late stages flag quickly, turning stalled deals visible on the pipeline board.
Stage probabilities and forecast setup
Probability per stage based on your conversion history where available, feeding a weighted forecast in Insights that leadership can reason about.
Required and important fields
Fields marked important or required at the stages where they matter, so the data arrives when it is relevant instead of being demanded at deal creation.
Loss reason taxonomy
A short single option list of loss reasons, plus a mandatory prompt on marking a deal lost, giving you clean data on price, timing and competitor losses.
Activity cadence per stage
A recommended next activity type and timing for each stage, wired into automation so the follow-up gets scheduled rather than remembered.
Pipeline review format
A weekly review agenda run entirely inside Pipedrive, using the filters and dashboard we build, so meetings work off live data rather than a slide deck.
The process
Historical analysis
We look at your closed deals from the last six to twelve months to find real cycle length, stage-to-stage conversion and where deals actually die, rather than where people assume.
Stage workshop
A working session with the sales team to name stages by buyer action and agree the exit criteria for each. Disagreements here are the useful part of the exercise.
Configure and migrate deals
Pipelines and stages are built, rot and probability values applied, and existing open deals mapped into the new structure in bulk without losing history.
Review and calibrate
After four to six weeks of live use we check where deals cluster and stall, then adjust stage boundaries, rot days and probabilities against observed behaviour.
Questions about Pipeline Design
Should we use one pipeline or several?
Use separate pipelines when the sales motion is genuinely different, for example new business against renewals, or direct against channel. Use one pipeline with a deal type field when only the product differs but the steps are the same. Too many pipelines fragments reporting and makes cross-pipeline dashboards harder than they need to be.
What is deal rotting and do we need it?
Rotting flags a deal that has sat in a stage longer than the threshold you set for that stage. The card turns red on the board. It is the cheapest early warning system in the product, and yes, you want it, with different thresholds per stage rather than one blanket number.
How do we stop reps parking deals in one stage?
Three things together. Written exit criteria so moving forward has a clear test, rotting so parked deals go red, and a required next activity on every open deal. Add a weekly review filtered to deals with no activity scheduled and the behaviour usually corrects within a month.
Can we change stages later without losing history?
Renaming and reordering stages is safe and keeps history attached. Deleting a stage requires moving its deals elsewhere first. Large restructures do affect how historical stage duration reports read, so we plan bigger changes at a quarter boundary and note the change date on the dashboard.
More in Pipedrive
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