1
What Is a Pipeline?
A pipeline is a visual board with stages — like columns on a Kanban board — that leads move through as they progress toward a closed deal. It replaces a spreadsheet.
- Each column is a stage in your sales process — Examples: New Lead, Contacted, Appointment Booked, Proposal Sent, Closed Won, Closed Lost. You define the stages that match how you actually work.
- Each card on the board is an opportunity — An opportunity represents a specific deal with a specific contact. Cards move left to right as the deal progresses.
- Pipelines replace "where is this lead?" conversations — Instead of asking your team where a deal stands, anyone can open the pipeline and see at a glance where every deal is and who owns it.
- You can have multiple pipelines — Run separate pipelines for different services, product lines, or markets. Switch between them in a top dropdown on the Opportunities page.
- Pipelines feed your revenue reports — Once you add deal values to opportunities, Jtek calculates your total pipeline value, weighted pipeline, and win rate automatically.
Tip: Start with one pipeline and 5–7 stages before building more. It's easier to simplify a pipeline that has too many stages than to consolidate ones built too granularly from the start.
2
Opening the Pipeline Builder
The pipeline builder is inside Opportunities Settings — it's where you create, edit, and manage all of your pipelines.
- Go to Opportunities in the left sidebar — Click the Opportunities icon (it looks like a funnel or chart).
- Click the gear icon at the top right of the Opportunities page — This opens the Opportunities Settings panel.
- Select "Pipelines" from the settings menu — You'll see a list of all existing pipelines. If this is your first time, the list may be empty or have a default pipeline.
- Click "+ New Pipeline" — The pipeline builder opens, ready for you to name and configure your new pipeline.
3
Naming Your Pipeline
Your pipeline name appears in the dropdown at the top of the Opportunities board. A clear, specific name makes it easy for your team to find and switch between pipelines.
- Use a descriptive, specific name — "Home Buyers Pipeline" is better than "Sales Pipeline." "Commercial Leasing" is better than "Pipeline 2." Names should instantly communicate which deals belong here.
- Include the service or market in the name — If you work different markets or offer different services, include that in the pipeline name: "Austin Buyers", "Property Management", "Fix & Flip Investors."
- Avoid generic names like "Pipeline" or "Main" — These create confusion when you add a second pipeline later. Name it for what it tracks from the start.
- You can rename a pipeline later — Pipeline names can be edited in Settings → Pipelines at any time. Renaming doesn't affect the opportunities inside it.
4
Adding Stages
Stages define the steps in your sales process. Each stage becomes a column on the pipeline board. Think carefully about what milestones a deal must hit before clicking through.
- Click "+ Add Stage" in the pipeline builder — A new stage row appears at the bottom of the stage list.
- Name the stage after the milestone — Use action-based names: "Contacted", "Appointment Booked", "Proposal Sent." Not vague names like "Stage 3."
- A strong default set of stages — New Lead → Contacted → Appointment Booked → Proposal Sent → Closed Won / Closed Lost. This works for most service businesses as a starting point.
- Always include a Closed Lost stage — It's tempting to skip it, but you need a place to move dead deals so they don't clutter your active pipeline. Lost deals also feed win/loss reports.
- Keep it to 5–8 stages — Too many stages means deals rarely move, and the board becomes harder to read. Each stage should represent a real, distinct checkpoint in your process.
Jtek
Dashboard
Opportunities
Settings
STAGES
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New Lead
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Contacted
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Appointment Booked
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Closed Won
+ Add Stage
Tip: Map out your stages on paper before opening the builder. Having your full stage list ready before you start creates a cleaner pipeline than building it incrementally.
5
Setting Stage Colors and Order
Color-coding and stage order help your team process the board faster — a well-organized pipeline is scanned in seconds, not minutes.
- Drag stages to reorder them — Click and drag the handle (usually three horizontal lines) on the left of each stage row to reorder. The order here sets the order on the board from left to right.
- Assign a color to each stage — Click the color dot next to a stage to pick a color. Use a logical progression: blues and purples for early stages, orange and yellow for mid-stage, green for Won, red for Lost.
- Colors appear on the Kanban board — Stage headers on the board show the color you assigned, making it easy to visually scan where deals are concentrated.
- Click Save when done — Your pipeline is immediately live in Jtek and appears in the pipeline selector dropdown on the Opportunities page.
- You can edit the pipeline anytime — Return to Settings → Pipelines → click your pipeline name to reorder stages, add new ones, or change colors without losing any opportunity data.
Tip: Create separate pipelines for Buyers and Sellers — their stages and timelines are different enough that mixing them in one board makes tracking harder. You can switch between pipelines with the top dropdown.