How it works
A pipeline is a set of ordered deal stages, usually shown as columns. Each open deal sits in one stage. As the deal progresses, it moves to the right until it ends as won or lost.
Each deal typically carries a contact, an owner, an estimated value and the date it last moved. That lets you answer practical questions at a glance: How many quotes are out? Which deals haven’t moved in two weeks? Who is carrying the most open work?
“Pipeline” and “funnel” are often used interchangeably. Strictly, a funnel describes how many leads drop off at each step, while a pipeline describes the deals currently in progress.
Example
A five-person solar installer uses these stages:
- New inquiry
- Site info collected
- Proposal sent
- Financing or approval pending
- Scheduled
- Won / Lost
A homeowner texts asking whether panels make sense on a north-facing roof. The rep creates a deal at “New inquiry”. After the homeowner sends photos and a utility bill over WhatsApp, the deal moves to “Site info collected”. The proposal goes out and the deal moves again. On Friday, the owner filters for deals stuck in “Proposal sent” for more than a week and asks each rep for a follow-up plan.
Why it matters for messaging teams
When sales happen in chat, the pipeline is often invisible: deals live in someone’s memory and a scroll of messages. A pipeline linked to conversations shows where each opportunity stands without anyone retyping the chat into a spreadsheet, and makes stalled deals easy to spot.
Common mistakes
- Too many stages. If reps can’t agree which stage a deal is in, merge stages.
- Stages named after your actions (“Called”) instead of the customer’s progress (“Proposal accepted”).
- Leaving dead deals open, which makes the pipeline look healthier than it is. Mark them lost with a reason.
- Updating the pipeline only before a weekly meeting.
For a stage list built for service businesses, see sales pipeline stages for service businesses. inChat’s deals and pipeline features are in development as part of launch scope.