If you’re sick of your sales process living in a spreadsheet—or worse, in your head—custom pipelines can save your sanity. This guide is for small business owners, sales managers, or anyone trying to make sense of deals with Keap. I’ll walk you through building a custom sales pipeline, step by step. No fluff, no buzzwords—just what you need to know.
If you’re just poking around and want to know if Keap is worth your time: it’s decent for small teams who want to organize leads, automate some follow-ups, and actually see what’s going on with their sales. It’s not Salesforce, thank god, but it’s not perfect, either. Let’s get you set up.
Before You Start: What Is a Custom Pipeline, and Why Bother?
A sales pipeline is just a fancy way of saying “the stages a deal goes through, from first contact to closed.” Keap comes with a basic pipeline, but it’s too generic for most businesses. Creating a custom pipeline means you can:
- Track deals the way you actually work
- Stop losing track of leads and follow-ups
- Spot bottlenecks (like that stage where deals always stall)
If your sales process is simple (like, two steps), a custom pipeline might be overkill. But if you’re juggling more than a handful of deals, you’ll want one.
Step 1: Map Out Your Actual Sales Process (Yes, on Paper)
Before you even log in, sketch out what actually happens when you make a sale. Don’t copy what Keap suggests. Be honest about the real steps.
- Where do leads come from?
- What’s the first thing you do?
- What are the “drop-off” points—where deals fall apart?
- When do you send proposals, negotiate, or follow up?
Pro tip: Don’t overcomplicate it. Most pipelines have 4–7 stages. If you end up with 12, you’re probably splitting hairs.
Example for a service business:
- New Lead
- Qualification Call
- Needs Analysis
- Proposal Sent
- Negotiation
- Won/Lost
Just get your stages on paper. You’ll polish them later.
Step 2: Get Into Keap’s Pipeline Settings
Once you’ve mapped your process, log into Keap.
- In the left sidebar, find Deals (sometimes called "Opportunities" depending on your version).
- Click the settings gear in the upper right of the Deals screen.
- Look for a section called Pipelines (in some versions, it’s under "Sales Pipeline" settings).
If you don’t see these options, you might be on an older or limited Keap plan. Keap Max and Pro have full pipeline features; the basic plan is pretty limited. If you’re stuck, check your subscription before beating your head against the wall.
Step 3: Create Your Custom Pipeline
- Click Create Pipeline or Add New Pipeline.
- Give your pipeline a clear, practical name. If you only have one, just call it “Sales Pipeline.” If you run different lines of business (e.g., “Consulting” vs. “Product Sales”), name accordingly.
- Add your stages, using the steps you mapped earlier. For each stage:
- Keep names short and obvious (“Qualified,” not “Initial Qualification Discussion”)
- Put them in the real order they happen
- Don’t try to make stages for every little task—think big milestones
You’ll see options for “Stage Probability” (how likely a deal is to close at that stage). Honestly, don’t sweat these numbers unless you’re forecasting revenue. Set something rough (e.g., 10% for new, 90% for negotiation), and move on.
What to ignore: Don’t bother with “custom fields” or “automations” yet. Get the basic pipeline working first.
Step 4: Customize Stage Details (Optional, but Useful)
For each stage, Keap lets you:
- Set a default task list (e.g., “Send intro email,” “Schedule call”)
- Assign owners (who’s responsible for this stage)
- Add descriptions or notes
If you have a team, setting clear owners and default tasks can save confusion. If you’re solo, skip this, or just add reminders for yourself.
Pro tip: Don’t try to automate everything at this point. Manual steps are fine. You can always tweak later.
Step 5: Add (or Import) Your Deals
Here’s where most people get tripped up. A pipeline without deals is useless. You need to either:
- Add deals manually (one at a time)
- Import deals from a spreadsheet (if you’re migrating)
To add manually: - Go to your pipeline, click Add Deal - Fill in the basics: contact, deal name, value, stage - Don’t stress about all the fields—just get the essentials in
To import: - Keap lets you import from CSV, but the mapping can be annoying. Make sure your spreadsheet columns match the fields in Keap (name, email, deal value, stage, etc.) - Import a test batch of 2–3 deals first to spot issues before dumping in 500 records.
If you’re starting from zero, just add a couple of “dummy” deals to test the flow.
Step 6: Move Deals Through the Pipeline
Now the real work starts—actually using the pipeline. As you work deals, drag them to the next stage (Keap’s pipeline is drag-and-drop, which is pretty satisfying). Each time you move a deal:
- Update notes (so you remember what happened)
- Set reminders for follow-ups
- Don’t let deals languish—if it’s stuck, move it to “Lost” or “On Hold”
What works: The visual pipeline view is genuinely helpful for seeing what needs attention. The drag-and-drop is simple and beats using a spreadsheet.
What doesn’t: Keap’s notifications can be easy to miss. Set your own reminders outside Keap if you’re serious about follow-ups.
Step 7: (Optional) Set Up Simple Automations
Once your basic pipeline is working, you can add some automations—just don’t go nuts yet.
Some useful automations:
- Send a template email when a deal enters a stage (e.g., “Thanks for your time, here’s our proposal”)
- Assign a task to a team member when a deal hits a certain stage
- Trigger follow-up reminders after a set number of days
But keep it simple. Over-automating can annoy prospects (nobody wants 5 auto-emails in a row), and it’s easy to break things you don’t fully understand.
What to ignore: Don’t mess with “advanced” automations unless you’ve got the basics nailed. Fancy workflows can wait.
Step 8: Tweak and Improve as You Go
After a few weeks, review your pipeline:
- Are stages missing? Too many? Rename them.
- Are deals getting stuck? Maybe you need a “Follow-up Needed” stage.
- Are team members confused? Clarify who owns which stage.
Keap lets you edit pipelines on the fly. Don’t be afraid to adjust—nobody gets it right the first time.
Pro tip: You don’t need to track every tiny step. Focus on what actually helps you close deals or spot problems.
What to Watch Out For (Honest Downsides)
- Mobile experience is mediocre. If you work mostly from your phone, Keap isn’t great.
- Reporting is basic. Don’t expect deep analytics. You’ll get a sense of deal flow, but that’s it.
- Customization has limits. You can’t add unlimited fields or totally change how things look.
- Price jumps fast. If your team grows, costs add up quick.
If you need deep reporting, custom dashboards, or integration with a million tools, Keap isn’t for you. But for most small businesses, it does the job.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Setting up a custom sales pipeline in Keap isn’t rocket science, but it does take a little planning up front. Don’t chase perfection—get the basics working, use it for real, and tweak as you go. The goal isn’t a “perfect” pipeline; it’s a system you’ll actually use.
Remember: simple pipelines get used, complicated ones get ignored. Start small, fix what’s broken, and let the fancy stuff wait. That’s how you actually close more deals—with less hassle.