Lead Organization with Pipeline Stages

Introduction

The main purpose of any CRM is to provide organization above and beyond what can be done with a typical spreadsheet or contact list. In Chime, this happens on the People Page and consists of Pipelines, Groups, Tags, and a variety of filters. This article will address the structure from the top level of organization (pipeline) all the way down to the filters that are made available.

Summary

• Edit Permissions
• What is a Pipeline?
• Customizing Pipeline Stages
• Changing the Pipeline Stages for Leads

Edit Permissions

It is important to note that only the Team Owner/Admin can edit the Pipeline and Groups by default. All users can add Team/Private Tags and use the other filters. This means that the Pipeline/Groups are maintained at the team level and cannot vary by user within that team. The "Team Filter" permission can also be given (see Team Permissions) to allow others access to edit the team pipeline and groups.

What is a Pipeline?

Though this will likely not be a new definition for anyone with sales experience, the pipeline is the top level of organization and indicates the actual stage of the buying or selling process that a lead/client is at as you work with them. A lead will always start at the left with "New Leads" and end at the right with "Closed." A lead can only be in one pipeline stage at a time. This is because that pipeline stage should reflect exactly where they are at in the buying/selling process.

Customizing Pipeline Stages

The stages in between "New Leads" and "Closed" can vary depending on your specific sales process. These can be adjusted in Chime by clicking on the "gear" icon to the right of the pipeline. Once clicked, you can drag and drop the stages to reorder, but keep in mind that "New Leads" will always be at the front and "Closed" should always be the finish line for a lead. You can also click the "Trash" icon to delete. 

Example Pipeline Stages

When you first activate your Chime account, the system will already have some default pipeline stages built in. You will want to edit these to reflect your buying/selling process. Some recommended pipeline names that you might consider adding to your CRM (from left to right):

• New Leads
• Attempting Contact
• Lost
• Leads
• Hot
• Nurturing/Cold
• Currently Showing
• Under Contract
• Closed
• Other/Affiliates
• Bad Leads
• Do Not Contact

Changing the Pipeline Stages for Leads

*NOTE: Changing the pipeline stage for leads will affect the data on the "Funnel Analysis." Reference Business Summary (Reporting).

Pipeline stages can be changed either one at a time for individual leads, or in mass by selecting them from the People Page. Here is where it is changed for one individual lead:

You can also change the pipeline stage for multiple leads at once by (1) checking the box next to the leads on the People Page and (2) selecting the option to "Change Pipeline." You can then (3) select the pipeline stage where you would like to move all the selected leads. Note that this will only work for 200 leads at a time. 

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@chimeinc.com> or by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557.