Looking for a practical way to wrangle your B2B sales pipeline in Monday? You’re not alone. Loads of teams buy sales tools hoping for magic, then end up with a mess of spreadsheets or a CRM nobody uses. This guide is for B2B sales leaders and ops folks who want to track deals in Monday without losing their mind, wasting hours, or getting lost in bells and whistles.
No sales fluff. No “synergy.” Just the steps, pitfalls, and a few honest warnings.
Step 1: Decide What You Actually Need to Track
Before you touch Monday, get clear on what information really matters for your pipeline. B2B sales can get complicated—don’t let your tracking do the same.
Bare minimum pipeline info usually includes: - Company/account name - Contact(s) - Deal value (amount, currency) - Stage (where is this deal right now?) - Next action or due date - Owner (who’s responsible) - Notes or latest activity
Don’t bother (yet) with: - Fancy automations - Lead scoring models you’ll ignore - Dozens of custom fields
Pro tip: Start with what you actually talk about in your pipeline meetings. If it’s not discussed, don’t track it.
Step 2: Set Up Your Basic Sales Pipeline Board
Now, jump into Monday and build a simple board. Don’t get pulled into templates promising everything—all you need is a board with the right columns.
To set up: 1. Create a new board. Call it “Sales Pipeline” (creative, I know). 2. Add a group for each pipeline stage. Example: - New Leads - Qualified - Proposal Sent - Negotiation - Closed Won - Closed Lost
Columns to add: - Name (default “Item” column; use for company or deal name) - Contact (Text or People column) - Deal Value (Numbers, set currency) - Stage (Status column) - Owner (People) - Next Step/Notes (Long Text) - Expected Close Date (Date)
Things to skip for now: - Subitems (they get messy fast) - Formulas or integrations you don’t need
Quick reality check: Monday’s “CRM” templates look slick, but they’re often overloaded and confusing for teams who just want to move deals through stages. You can always add complexity later.
Step 3: Input Your Current Pipeline
Don’t let this step get skipped “until later.” You want buy-in, so get your real pipeline in there now.
How to do it: - Bulk import from CSV if you have a spreadsheet. - Or just manually add 10-20 current deals—enough to see the flow.
Tips: - Keep notes short and actionable. - Assign owners so everyone knows what’s theirs. - Set a realistic expected close date (don’t default everything to end of quarter).
Warning: If your team sees an empty board, they won’t use it. Get some real data in, even if it’s messy at first.
Step 4: Build Simple Views for Focus
Monday boards can turn into cluttered messes. Use filters and views to keep folks focused.
Helpful views to set up: - My Deals: Filter by owner = me. - Deals Closing This Month: Filter by expected close date. - Stuck Deals: Filter by stage = “Negotiation” AND last update was 14+ days ago.
How to set up a view: 1. Click "Add View" at the top of your board. 2. Use filters to show only what’s relevant. 3. Save and share the view with your team.
Don’t bother with: Gantt charts, Kanban, or dashboards unless you know you need them. Start with filters and default table view.
Step 5: Keep It Updated—Make It a Habit, Not a Chore
The best pipeline tool is the one people actually use. Monday won’t magically keep itself updated. Bake updates into your sales process.
Ways to make it stick: - Update deals during your regular pipeline meeting—do it live, on screen. - Set a weekly reminder for reps to check their deals. - Use Monday’s basic notifications for changes or when you’re assigned something.
Pro tip: If you have to nag the team constantly, the board’s probably too complex or not useful. Go back and simplify.
Avoid: Over-automating. Monday can trigger reminders, but too many pings get ignored.
Step 6: Add Automations (Only If They Save Time)
Monday pushes automations hard, but most teams only need a few. Don’t automate for the sake of it—automate stuff that’s annoying or often forgotten.
Worth trying: - “When stage changes to Closed Won, move item to group Closed Won.” - “When expected close date arrives, notify owner.”
Probably not worth it (yet): - Complex email integrations - Auto-creating tasks for every new deal (unless you have a clear, repeatable process)
Honest take: Automations can break or cause confusion if you’re not careful. Add one, test it, and see if it actually helps.
Step 7: Reporting—Show Only What Matters
Monday’s dashboards are fine for basic reporting, but they’re not a replacement for full-featured CRM analytics. Most B2B teams need just a few numbers:
- Total pipeline value by stage
- Deals closed this month/quarter
- Average time in stage (if you’re feeling fancy)
How to do it: - Use the “Dashboards” feature to add simple charts. - Pull filtered views for pipeline reviews.
Skip: - Overly complex dashboards with every metric under the sun. - “Deal velocity” or “win rate” unless you trust your data.
Pro tip: If you want deep reporting, export your data to Excel or connect to a BI tool later.
Step 8: Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Get Feedback
Your first setup won’t be perfect. That’s normal. After a couple weeks, ask the team:
- What’s working?
- What’s annoying?
- What’s missing?
Then: - Remove unused columns or stages. - Add fields only if there’s a clear need. - Tweak views and automations bit by bit.
Remember: A pipeline board is a living thing. Don’t let it rot.
What to Ignore (For Now)
Monday has a pile of features you don’t need to touch until your basic pipeline works: - Integrations with other sales tools (unless you have a real, urgent need) - Subitems for “multiple contacts” (just use a text field) - Activity tracking (stick to notes for now) - Sales forecasting modules (they rarely work with spotty data)
Focus on getting everyone to use the board daily. That’s where the real value is.
Wrap-Up: Don’t Overthink It
Getting your B2B sales pipeline into Monday doesn’t need to be fancy—or take weeks. Set up a simple board, fill it with real deals, and make it part of your regular process. Ignore the hype, and don’t pile on features you don’t need. You can always add complexity later.
Keep it simple. Ship it. Tweak as you go. That’s how real teams win.