If you’re drowning in sticky notes, spreadsheets, or a sales process that makes zero sense to your team, you’re not alone. Plenty of folks sign up for Close because they need a CRM that actually matches how they sell—not the other way around. But here’s the catch: if you just stick with the default pipeline, you’ll end up hacking things together and wasting hours fixing mistakes. This guide is for anyone ready to actually build a sales pipeline in Close that, you know, works.
Why Custom Pipelines? (And When To Skip Them)
Let’s be real: not every business needs a custom pipeline. If you’ve got a tiny team, one product, and a simple sales cycle, you can probably live with the default setup for a while. But if any of these sound familiar, it’s time to make your own:
- You sell more than one product or service, and the process is different for each.
- You have a team with multiple roles (SDRs, AEs, Account Managers) and handoffs.
- Deals keep getting stuck or “lost” because your current stages make no sense.
- You want to track progress honestly, not just move deals around to look busy.
If that’s you—keep reading.
Step 1: Map Out Your Real Sales Process (Don’t Skip This)
Before you even open Close, sketch out how deals actually move from first contact to closed-won (and lost). Don’t copy someone else’s pipeline. Don’t use fancy names for stages you don’t understand.
How to do it:
- Grab a whiteboard or a blank doc.
- Write down every step a deal goes through. Be honest—include ugly bits like “waiting for legal” or “ghosted for 2 weeks.”
- Ask your sales team (if you have one) where things really stall or get skipped.
Pro tip:
Aim for 5–8 stages. More than that, and you’ll spend your life moving cards instead of selling. Fewer, and your pipeline’s just wallpaper.
Here’s a basic example for a B2B SaaS:
- New Lead
- Qualified
- Demo Scheduled
- Proposal Sent
- Negotiation
- Closed Won
- Closed Lost
Tweak as needed. Don’t invent stages just to sound impressive.
Step 2: Set Up Your Pipeline in Close
Now you’ve got your stages, let’s put them into Close.
A. Go to the Pipelines Section
- Log into Close.
- In the sidebar, find “Pipelines.” (If you don’t see it, you might not have the right permissions. Ask your admin.)
B. Create a New Pipeline
- Click “+ New Pipeline.”
- Name it something clear—“Enterprise Sales,” “Renewals,” or whatever fits. Avoid in-jokes or vague names (“Pipeline 2” is not helpful).
C. Add Your Stages
- Enter the stages you mapped out. You can always adjust later, but get the basics in now.
- For each stage, use simple, action-based names. “Demo Scheduled” is better than “Interest Expressed.”
Things to skip: - Don’t create a new stage for every minor thing (“Sent Brochure,” “Had Coffee Chat”). You’ll regret it. - Don’t clone the default pipeline unless your process is identical.
D. Set Stage Order
Drag and drop to get the order right. Deals should move left-to-right, like your actual workflow.
Step 3: Customize Stage Settings (If You Need To)
Close lets you tweak a few things to fit your sales process.
- Stage Colors:
Use colors if it helps you spot at-a-glance where deals are (e.g., red for “Negotiation”). Don’t overthink it. - Stage Types:
You can mark stages as “Open,” “Won,” or “Lost.” Make sure “Closed Won” and “Closed Lost” are correctly flagged—this is how Close tracks your revenue and win rates. - Default Pipeline:
If this is your main pipeline, set it as the default for new leads.
Honest take:
You don’t need to use every setting. Fancy automations and custom fields are great after your base pipeline actually works. Start simple.
Step 4: Assign Users and Permissions
If you’re a solo act, skip this. But teams need to be clear on who sees and works which pipeline.
- Go to Team Management.
- Assign users access to the right pipelines.
- Decide who can edit vs. just view.
Real talk:
Too many cooks spoil the pipeline. Limit who can add or change stages, or you’ll end up with chaos.
Step 5: Connect Leads and Opportunities
Pipelines in Close work off Opportunities. Here’s how to connect the dots:
- When you talk to a new lead, create an Opportunity and assign it to the right pipeline and stage.
- Don’t just dump every contact into the pipeline. If they’re not a real opportunity, leave them out.
- Move deals forward only when the real action happens (e.g., after a demo is booked, not just “they might want a demo someday”).
Pro tip:
Be a stickler. If your pipeline fills up with “maybe” or “someday” deals, you’ll never know what’s actually going on.
Step 6: Build (Simple) Filters and Reports
Once your pipeline’s up and running, you’ll want to see what’s moving—and what’s stuck.
- Use filters to view deals by stage, owner, value, or close date.
- Build simple reports: “Deals by Stage,” “Deals Closed This Month,” and “Stuck Opportunities.”
- Don’t drown in dashboards. Pick 2–3 metrics and check them weekly.
What to ignore:
Don’t waste time on vanity metrics (“Deals Touched”). Focus on what helps you unblock deals and close more.
Step 7: Iterate—Don’t Set and Forget
Your first pipeline won’t be perfect. That’s normal. The key is to actually use it, spot where it’s clunky, and fix it.
- Review your stages every month or quarter. Are deals getting stuck? Is there a stage nobody ever uses?
- Prune or rename stages as needed.
- Ask your team what’s confusing or redundant.
Honest advice:
Don’t keep old, unused pipelines around “just in case.” Archive them. Confusion kills momentum.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Fix What’s Broken
Custom sales pipelines in Close aren’t about showing off— they’re about making it crystal clear where every deal stands, so you can close more and waste less time. Resist the urge to make it complicated. Start with what’s real, fix what’s broken, and iterate as you go. That’s how you actually get value from your CRM—no hype, just deals moving forward.