If you’re a B2B sales leader or ops person, you’ve probably heard a dozen pitches about “revolutionizing your sales funnel.” Most of them sound great, then flop in the real world. This guide is for folks who want to actually build a custom sales funnel in Spiky—one that fits how your team works, not just what’s in a playbook.
I’ll walk you through the nuts and bolts, skip the fluff, and point out where Spiky shines, and where you might need to work around its quirks. If you’re rolling your eyes at yet another “transformative” CRM article, you’re in the right place.
Step 1: Decide What “Custom” Actually Means For You
Before touching any software, get clear on what “custom” is supposed to mean for your team. Don’t copy some SaaS blog’s funnel stages—map out your actual sales process.
- Talk to your reps. What stages do they actually use? Where do deals get stuck?
- Define your core stages. Most B2B teams need stages like: Prospecting, Qualification, Demo, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed Won/Lost. But maybe you need “Legal Review” or “Pilot Project.” Write them down.
- Decide what data matters. Don’t track everything. What fields do you need to move a deal forward? (e.g., company size, decision maker, budget.)
Pro tip: If you’re not sure, start simple. You can always add more stages or fields later. Overcomplicating early just slows you down.
Step 2: Set Up Your Pipeline Stages in Spiky
Now that you’ve got your stages, let’s put them into Spiky. Here’s how to do it without making a mess:
- Go to the Pipeline Settings. In Spiky, find the section for customizing pipelines. You’ll see default stages—ignore them if they don’t fit.
- Add your stages. Name them exactly as your team knows them. If “Demo” means “Technical Validation” for you, call it that.
- Order matters. Drag and drop to match your process. Make sure it’s clear what moves a deal from one stage to the next.
- Don’t overthink stage colors. It’s easy to waste time here—pick something readable and move on.
What works: Spiky’s stage editor is straightforward. You can rename, add, or delete stages in seconds.
What doesn’t: If you have a multi-branch process (e.g., deals that split into “Self-Serve” vs. “Enterprise”), Spiky’s pipeline views can get a bit linear. You might need to fudge it with extra stages or tags.
Step 3: Customize Deal Fields (But Only What Matters)
Spiky lets you add custom fields to deals, contacts, and companies. This is where most teams go overboard.
- Keep it lean. Start with 3–5 custom fields you actually need. Example: “Renewal Date,” “Technical Contact,” “Contract Value.”
- Use dropdowns for consistency. If a field can be standardized (like “Industry” or “Lead Source”), use dropdowns. Free-text leads to chaos.
- Set required fields wisely. Don’t make everything mandatory. You’ll just annoy your reps and get junk data.
What works: Adding and editing fields in Spiky is easy, and you can make fields required by stage.
What doesn’t: If you want advanced logic (like fields that only show up for certain products), Spiky isn’t super flexible yet. Stick to basics.
Step 4: Automate the Boring Stuff
One thing Spiky gets right: basic workflow automation. Use it to handle repetitive tasks, not to “replace” your reps’ brains.
- Automate stage-based tasks. Example: When a deal moves to “Proposal,” auto-create a reminder to send pricing.
- Set up notifications. Notify account managers when deals hit “Negotiation” or “Closed Won.”
- Auto-populate data where possible. If Spiky can pull info from LinkedIn or your email, let it. Less typing is always good.
What works: Spiky’s built-in automations are useful for reminders, assignments, and simple updates.
What doesn’t: Don’t expect true no-code magic or complex branching. If your process needs heavy automation, you’ll hit limits fast.
Step 5: Build Views That Actually Help Your Team
Most sales teams drown in dashboards. Focus on views that answer real questions, like: “What’s stuck?” or “Who’s up next?”
- Pipeline view: Use Spiky’s kanban or list view to see where each deal sits. Filter by owner, stage, or close date.
- Activity view: Who hasn’t touched their deals in 30 days? Set up a view for “stale” opportunities.
- Forecast view: If you need to report numbers, set up a weighted forecast view. But don’t obsess—forecasts are guesses.
Pro tip: Invite your reps to suggest views they’d actually use. If nobody looks at a dashboard, delete it.
Step 6: Integrate With Your Core Tools (But Don’t Go Wild)
Spiky connects to email, calendar, and a handful of other tools. Integrate what saves time—leave the rest.
- Email and calendar: Sync these first. It’ll pull in conversations and meetings automatically.
- Slack or Teams: If your team lives in chat, set up deal notifications there.
- Don’t force every integration. If your marketing team wants to connect every webform and ad source, push back. More isn’t always better.
What works: The core integrations are solid and save manual entry.
What doesn’t: If you rely on niche tools or want deep two-way sync, you might need Zapier or a workaround. Test before you promise anything to the team.
Step 7: Train (Once), Then Iterate
You don’t need a week-long bootcamp. Show your team how the funnel works, then get out of their way.
- Host a short walkthrough. Show reps how to move deals, update fields, and use key views.
- Set expectations. What data must be kept up to date? What’s optional?
- Ask for feedback after 2–3 weeks. What’s working, what isn’t? Tweak accordingly.
Pro tip: Avoid “process by committee.” Pick one person to own changes. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a Frankenstein funnel nobody likes.
What to Ignore (For Now)
There’s a lot of noise in the CRM world. Here’s what you can safely skip when starting out in Spiky:
- Over-customizing every field. You’ll just create data nobody fills in.
- Scoring and AI suggestions. Useful maybe later, but not when you’re just mapping your process.
- Daily report emails. They pile up and get ignored—set up a weekly digest if you must.
- Third-party integrations you “might need.” Add them after the basics are working.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Tweak As You Go
A custom sales funnel in Spiky doesn’t have to be complicated to work. Get your core stages right, keep data lean, and automate only what’s genuinely tedious. Most importantly, expect to tweak things every month or so—what looked good on paper rarely survives real-world use unchanged.
Start simple, get feedback, and don’t let perfect get in the way of “good enough.” The best funnel is the one your team actually uses.