Skip to main content

How to Customize Pipedrive for Your Unique Sales Process

Remember that time Carla, our sales maven, took us to that vintage café with the creaky chairs and the aroma of roasted coffee beans wafting in the air? She was on a mission to help us streamline our sales process, and she had this glint in her eye that suggested she was onto something big. A bite into her croissant, and out came the revelation – Pipedrive was about to become our secret weapon.

Getting Started: Mapping Out Your Sales Process​

We scribbled on napkins, outlining what we thought was a foolproof sales process. But let’s be honest, things got messy. Pen marks, crumbs, the usual. Here’s how to do it without the napkin nonsense:

  1. Identify Your Sales Stages – Think about the journey your customer takes. For us, it was like a treasure map, starting from curious inquiries to sealing the deal. Break it down: First contact, qualification, proposal, negotiation, and closing. Each stage is a pit stop.

  2. Create a Sales Pipeline in Pipedrive – Open Pipedrive, that’s the first step. Click on the “Pipelines” tab. Add your stages, and don’t forget to name them something snazzy or whatever actually makes sense – “Curious Cats” to “Deal Makin’ Kings” worked for us.

  3. Set Up Custom Fields – We needed specifics. Maybe you do too. Go to “Settings,” then “Company Settings,” and “Data Fields.” Add the fields that will actually help you, whether it’s “Lead Origin” or “Favorite Coffee” – your call.

Tailoring Pipelines: Making It Sing​

Remember when Carla bet that we couldn’t personalize our pipeline and still make it work wonders? She was wrong. And now it’s your turn to prove her wrong too.

  1. Define Activities – Picture us, drowning in post-it notes, trying to figure out what comes next. Instead, in Pipedrive, click on a stage and set “Activities.” Calls, meetings, emails – assign them all here. This forms the bedrock of preemptive action.

  2. Automate Where Possible – Automation sounds like a robot takeover – it’s not. Hit “Workflow Automation” in Settings. We set ours to shoot out follow-up emails three days after a contact moves a stage. Carla’s face lit up like she’d found gold.

  3. Use Smart Contact Data – This nifty feature scrapes the web for info about your leads. In “Settings,” turn on “Smart Contact Data.” Less creepy than it sounds and oh-so-efficient.

Fine-Tuning: Analytics and Reporting​

The last bit of magic Carla shared was about continuously tinkering with our setup. It’s like learning to ride a bike – you keep adjusting the seat until it feels just right.

  1. Monitor Your Dashboard – We’d often pore over the “Dashboard” over lunch, comparing notes. Customize widgets with metrics that matter – deals won, conversion rates. Move them around until the picture feels complete.

  2. Analyze Reports – Go to “Reports,” and sift through all that data. Look for trends. Why did Jamie close 20 deals last month? Why did Sam close none? The answers are here. Carla once spotted a pattern—best time to call for us was 4 PM. Who knew?

  3. Adjust and Repeat – Take action. Adjust your pipeline, tweak your stages, add fields, and most importantly, keep Carla’s spirit alive – forever tweaking, optimizing, and smashing sales goals like they’re piñatas at a birthday party.

And so, our journey through customizing Pipedrive was like a series of small discoveries. Each adjustment made us better, faster, more aligned with our unique style. Now, when we sip on our coffees at that vintage café, we know our sales process hums along in perfect harmony. It’s not just about the destination but customizing every little piece of the journey.

Until our next cup of coffee and the next revelation, happy Pipedriving!