If your sales pipeline lives in spreadsheets, sticky notes, or your head, you know things slip through the cracks. Capsulecrm promises a smarter way to track B2B opportunities—without drowning you in features you’ll never use. This guide is for sales teams, founders, or anyone who needs a real-world walkthrough of moving a deal from “maybe” to “won” in Capsulecrm. Let’s skip the marketing speak and get to what actually works.
1. Setting Up: Don’t Overcomplicate It
Before you do anything, decide what you actually need Capsulecrm to track. Most B2B setups care about:
- Who the lead is (person & company)
- What stage the deal is in
- The value and likelihood of closing
- What’s next (task or follow-up)
Pro tip: Don’t waste a day customizing fields you’ll never use. Get the basics working—tweak later.
Create your pipeline
Capsulecrm uses “opportunities” to manage deals. Out of the box, you get a sales pipeline—but you can set up custom stages if your process is a bit different.
- Go to Account Settings > Pipelines.
- Edit the default pipeline, or create a new one if you want different stages for, say, new vs. existing clients.
- Typical stages:
- Lead in
- Qualified
- Proposal sent
- Negotiation
- Verbal yes
- Closed won/lost
Keep it simple. If you need more than 5–7 stages, you’re probably splitting hairs.
2. Capturing Leads: Get Them Into Capsulecrm Fast
You can’t track what you can’t see. Getting leads into Capsulecrm should be dead simple.
Manual entry
Fine for one-offs or if you don’t get a ton of inbound leads. Click Add Person/Organization to create a contact, then hit Add Opportunity from their profile.
Importing
If you’ve got a pile of leads in a spreadsheet, use the import tool. Watch out for:
- Field mapping (double-check email/phone fields)
- Duplicates—Capsulecrm tries to catch them, but it’s not magic
Web forms & integrations
Capsulecrm has basic web-to-lead forms. If you want more, look at Zapier or native integrations. Don’t waste hours here—just make sure new leads don’t get lost.
What doesn’t work: Over-engineering the “perfect” import. You’ll always have some cleanup. Don’t let that stall you.
3. Creating & Tracking Opportunities
Every deal = an “opportunity” in Capsulecrm. Here’s how to keep things tidy.
Adding an opportunity
- From any contact, click Add Opportunity.
- Fill in:
- Opportunity name (make it specific, e.g., “Acme Corp – Q3 SaaS Rollout”)
- Value (be realistic—don’t pad the pipeline)
- Expected close date (guess if you must)
- Pipeline & stage
- Owner (who’s on the hook?)
Linking contacts and organizations
Capsulecrm lets you link an opportunity to both a person and an organization. Always do this—B2B deals almost always involve more than one contact.
Custom fields & tags
If you need to track extra info (e.g., product line, competitor, source), use tags or custom fields. Don’t go wild. If you wouldn’t use it in a report, skip it.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure whether to make something a “tag” or a “custom field,” ask yourself: Is this a fixed choice for filtering (field), or a loose label you might use in lots of ways (tag)?
4. Moving Deals Through the Pipeline
Now comes the real work: progressing deals, not just logging them.
Updating stages
Capsulecrm’s drag-and-drop kanban view makes it easy to move deals. Update the stage every time you get a concrete next step—don’t wait for “big” milestones.
- Just had a call? Move from “Qualified” to “Proposal Sent”
- Got a verbal yes? Move to “Verbal Yes”—don’t skip stages
Tasks and follow-ups
Capsulecrm lets you add tasks to opportunities—this is where most deals die (no follow-up).
- Set a next action every time you touch a deal, even if it’s “Check in next month.”
- Use reminders. Capsulecrm’s notifications aren’t flashy but they work.
- Don’t count on your memory—use tasks for calls, emails, sending docs, whatever.
Notes and email tracking
You can BCC Capsulecrm on your emails to log them to the right opportunity. Actual email sync is basic—don’t expect CRM-level tracking like HubSpot or Salesforce.
- Paste call notes and highlights into the opportunity, not just the contact
- Don’t try to log every email—just the important steps
What doesn’t work: Moving deals without updating notes or tasks. You’ll forget what happened, and so will your team.
5. Reporting: What’s Real, What’s Noise
Capsulecrm’s reports are straightforward—pipeline value, win/loss, sales velocity. They’ll show you:
- Total pipeline value (but don’t get starry-eyed—some will always fall out)
- Deals by stage (useful for spotting bottlenecks)
- Average time in stage (if everything’s stuck in “Proposal Sent,” you’ve got a problem)
- Win rate per rep (if you assign owners)
Custom reports
Capsulecrm isn’t a BI powerhouse. If you want fancy dashboards, you’ll need exports or integrations. For most B2B sales teams, the built-in reports are fine.
Pro tip: Don’t obsess over “closed won” value. Look at your conversion rate and average deal age—that’s where deals get lost.
6. Keeping Data Clean (Without Losing Your Mind)
CRMs live or die by data quality. Here’s how to keep Capsulecrm from turning into a junk drawer:
- Review pipeline weekly—archive dead deals, update stages
- Merge duplicates as soon as you spot them
- Don’t let “value” fields get inflated—update with real info
- Use tags sparingly; too many = chaos
- Make sure every opportunity has an owner
What doesn’t work: Monthly “cleanups.” By then, you’ve already lost track.
7. What to Ignore (For Most Teams)
Capsulecrm has features you’ll probably never need—don’t get distracted:
- Cases (for support tickets, not sales)
- Project management: Capsulecrm isn’t Trello or Asana
- Advanced automation: It’s basic. Don’t expect magic workflows.
Stick to opportunities, pipelines, contacts, and tasks. That’s what actually moves deals.
8. Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Too many stages: More isn’t better. Each stage should mean a real change.
- Forgetting follow-ups: Set a task every time you touch a deal.
- Data bloat: Only collect what you’ll use. Ignore the rest.
- Letting things go stale: If an opportunity hasn’t moved in 30+ days, follow up or close it out.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Adjust as You Go
Don’t get paralyzed by setup. Capsulecrm works best when you start simple—pipeline, stages, contacts, tasks—and add structure only when you need it. If something’s not working, tweak it. Most importantly, use the CRM every day. That’s what separates teams that close deals from those that just move boxes on a screen.
If you’re not sure what to do next, just get your current opportunities in, pick reasonable stages, and commit to updating things as you go. Over time, you’ll spot what actually matters for your B2B sales—and that’s what Capsulecrm can help you track.