If you’re wrangling deals, projects, or anything that moves through stages, you’ve probably outgrown spreadsheets. This guide is for folks who want to use Sheppardd to track multi-stage pipelines—think sales, onboarding, hiring, or any process with clear steps. I’ll walk you through real-world best practices, point out what to skip, and help you avoid common headaches.
Why Pipeline Tracking Gets Messy Fast
Let’s be honest: most teams start with good intentions and a simple list. But as the pipeline grows, so do the mistakes—lost leads, missed follow-ups, and team confusion. Sheppardd can help, but only if you set it up right from day one. Here’s how to do that without making things way more complicated than they should be.
Step 1: Map Out Your Actual Stages (Not Your Ideal Ones)
Don’t start in Sheppardd yet. First, grab a notepad or a whiteboard and sketch out your genuine pipeline. What really happens, step by step? Be brutally honest—even if your “qualification” stage is a mess right now.
- Keep it real: Don’t design for how you wish things worked. Capture the messy, in-the-weeds version.
- Limit your stages: 5–7 is usually plenty. More than that, and nobody will use it.
- Name stages clearly: “In Review” means nothing. “Waiting for contract signature” is better.
Pro tip: Ask your team what steps they actually take. If they’re skipping a stage, consider dropping it.
Step 2: Set Up the Pipeline in Sheppardd
Now, jump into Sheppardd and turn your real-world map into a pipeline.
- Create a new pipeline and give it a clear name (e.g., “Client Onboarding Q3”).
- Add your stages in the order you mapped out. Use simple, action-based names.
- Set stage requirements if you need to (like mandatory fields before moving forward), but don’t overdo it. Forced fields can lead to junk data.
- Assign stage owners when it makes sense, but avoid micro-managing who does what at each step.
What to skip: Don’t bother with custom fields or automations until your team is actually using the pipeline and asking for more.
Step 3: Decide What to Track—And What to Ignore
It’s tempting to track everything “just in case.” In reality, too much data means nobody updates the pipeline at all.
- Track only what you’ll use: If you never look at “Deal Source,” don’t bother collecting it.
- Stick to essentials: Things like owner, current stage, next action, and close date are usually enough.
- Use tags or notes for oddball info: Don’t make custom fields for one-off situations.
Pro tip: Review your fields after two weeks. If something’s always blank, kill it.
Step 4: Set Up Simple, Useful Views
Sheppardd’s default pipeline view is fine for most teams, but a few tweaks go a long way:
- Kanban view: Great for visualizing movement. Stick with this unless your team hates it.
- Filter for “stuck” deals: Add a filter for items that haven’t moved in X days. This helps you spot bottlenecks fast.
- Save views by role: Salespeople want to see their deals; managers want to see everything. Set up a couple of saved views, not dozens.
What to ignore: Don’t create a view for every possible scenario. Too many views just confuse everyone.
Step 5: Get Buy-In (Without Boring Meetings)
Set up is useless if nobody uses it. The best way to get buy-in is to make Sheppardd the only source of truth.
- Show, don’t tell: Demo the pipeline in a real meeting. Move a deal through the stages. Let people see it in action.
- Make it routine: Pull up the pipeline in every team meeting. If it’s not in Sheppardd, it didn’t happen.
- Keep feedback tight: Ask “What’s confusing?” and fix it quickly.
Pro tip: Skip long training sessions. A five-minute walkthrough beats a one-hour lecture.
Step 6: Keep It Updated—But Don’t Nag
Consistency is everything. If the pipeline isn’t up to date, it’s useless. But don’t turn into the pipeline police.
- Set a simple rule: “Update your deals before Friday stand-up.” That’s it.
- Automate gentle nudges: Use Sheppardd’s built-in reminders if people forget. Don’t spam your team with emails.
- Spot check, don’t micromanage: Once a week, check for deals with no recent updates. Ask about them in person.
Step 7: Review and Tweak—But Not Too Often
A pipeline is a living thing. Things will break. That’s fine.
- Review monthly: Look for stages nobody uses, or bottlenecks that slow everything down.
- Kill unused stages: Don’t be precious. If a stage is always empty, delete it.
- Add only what you need: If the team is always adding the same note, consider making it a field. Otherwise, leave it alone.
What to skip: Don’t redesign the pipeline every week. Small, thoughtful changes work best.
Honest Takes: What Works, What Doesn’t
What Works
- Simplicity: The fewer stages and fields, the better your adoption.
- Regular updates: Treating Sheppardd as your single source of truth prevents side spreadsheets.
- Clear ownership: If everyone owns everything, nobody owns anything.
What Doesn’t
- Over-automation: Fancy automations break and confuse more than they help—at least at first.
- Too many customizations: You’ll spend more time tweaking settings than moving deals.
- Ignoring feedback: If your team hates the process, they’ll work around it.
Pro Tips & Pitfalls
- Start small: Get one team using the pipeline before rolling it out company-wide.
- Never track “maybes”: Only track real deals, projects, or candidates. Pipelines full of junk are useless.
- Don’t chase perfection: Good enough and used beats perfect but ignored.
- Be ready to prune: Pipelines get messy over time. Put a recurring calendar reminder to clean up junk.
Wrap-Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate as You Go
Setting up multi-stage pipeline tracking in Sheppardd isn’t rocket science, but it can spiral if you let it. Map out your real process, keep things simple, and listen to your team. Expect to adjust things as you go. Most importantly, don’t get sucked into adding every feature under the sun—start with what you’ll really use, and build from there.