We have realized that having multiple pipelines for different stages of our sales progression is not working and would like to combine stages into one pipeline. What is the best way to make those changes and how does it affect our client data?
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Hi
- Pipeline 1 - Business Development - stages: New Prospect, Cold Outreach, Initial Screening.
- Pipeline 2 - Sales - stages: Demo Call, Contract Sent, Contract Signed
In this example, Opportunities in Pipeline 1 feed into Pipeline 2. And if sounds like you want to combine everything into one.
Let me know if I understood that correctly!
How do I combine Pipelines?
- Choose which Pipeline you’re going to delete and which one you’re going to edit. Usually it’s easier to edit/keep the Pipeline that represents the beginning of the process (Pipeline 1 / Business Development in the example above).
- As a best practice, I recommend you do an export of your Opportunities. Go to Settings > Manage Your Data > Export > Opportunities.
- Edit the Pipeline you’re keeping so that it contains all the stages you need. You can do this by going to Settings > Customize > Pipelines > Stages. This is also a good time to think about whether you have any stages you want to edit or get rid of entirely.
- Move the Opportunities from the Pipeline you are going to delete. The fastest way to do this is with Bulk Edit. Step-by-step instructions here. I would do one bulk edit for each stage of that Pipeline.
- Double-check that the Pipeline that you are deleting is fully empty! Then, go ahead and delete it by going to Settings > Customize > Pipelines > Stages
One more suggestion - if you have other folks working in those Pipelines, make sure you give them a heads up first!
How does moving Opps to another Pipeline affect the Opp data?
- Associated activities and notes will remain attached
- Associated People, Companies, Files, Tasks, Calendar Events, and Projects will also remain attached
- Details will transfer over (e.g. Value, Close Date, any custom dropdowns, Tags, etc).
On the last point about details - they will all transfer over. But some folks have different fields enabled on different Pipelines, so keep in mind it might look like a field disappeared when you moved it. In that case you just have to enable that field on the Pipeline you moved the Opp to. You can do this in Settings > Customize > Manage Fields on Records > Opportunities > [select that Pipeline] > scroll to the bottom to see Inactive fields for that Pipeline.
Lori, let me know if that’s helpful or if you have any follow-up questions :)
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