Pipeline Builder Setup

Get your sales pipeline up and running in under 15 minutes. This guide walks you through creating a pipeline, adding stages, and connecting automation to keep deals moving forward.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

• Admin access to your GoHighLevel sub-account
• A clear understanding of your sales process (write down each step on paper first)
• Decision-maker buy-in on stage names and workflow structure
• At least one active contact in your CRM (for testing automation)

Create Your First Pipeline

Start by building the foundation of your sales tracking system.

1. Navigate to Opportunities in the left sidebar
2. Click Pipelines in the top navigation menu
3. Click Create new pipeline in the top-right corner
4. Enter a descriptive Pipeline Name (use “Sales Pipeline” or a specific service name like “Consulting Funnel”)
5. Click Save

Your new pipeline appears in the list view. Now you’re ready to define the stages that represent your sales journey.

Define Pipeline Stages

Add stages that represent major milestones in your sales process. Keep it simple with 5-7 stages that your team can easily understand.

1. From the Pipelines page, click on your newly created pipeline name
2. Enter a Stage Name in the input field (start with “New Lead”)
3. Click Add stage
4. Repeat for each stage in your workflow

Recommended stage structure for most businesses:

• New Lead
• Qualified Lead
• Discovery Call Scheduled
• Proposal Sent
• Negotiation
• Verbal Agreement

The system automatically adds Won and Lost stages to every pipeline. Do not create these manually.

Configure Stage Settings

Control how stages appear in reports and optimize your board layout.

1. Use the up and down arrows next to each stage to reorder them chronologically
2. Click the funnel icon to toggle funnel chart visibility (turn on for all active stages)
3. Click the pie chart icon to toggle pie chart visibility (turn off for “Lost” or “Disqualified” stages if desired)

Stage order matters for reporting. Arrange stages in the sequence prospects naturally move through your process.

Connect Automation

Trigger workflows based on pipeline stage changes to automate follow-up and task creation.

1. Go to Automation → Workflows
2. Click Create Workflow → Start from Scratch
3. Add New Trigger → Pipeline Stage Changed
4. Select your pipeline from the dropdown
5. Select the stage that should trigger the workflow (start with “Proposal Sent”)
6. Click Save Trigger
7. Add an action: Send Email or Create Task or Add Tag
8. Configure the action details (email template, task assignment, tag name)
9. Click Save Action
10. Toggle Draft → Publish in the top-right corner

Recommended automation for “Proposal Sent” stage:

• Send email with proposal document attached
• Create task: “Follow up in 3 days”
• Add tag: “Proposal Out”

Set Up Opportunity Auto-Creation

Automatically add leads to your pipeline when they submit forms or book appointments.

1. Go to Automation → Workflows
2. Click Create Workflow → Start from Scratch
3. Add New Trigger and choose:
   • Form Submitted (for web form leads)
   • Appointment Booked (for call bookings)
   • Contact Tag Applied (for leads marked “Hot Lead”)
4. Click Save Trigger
5. Add action: Opportunity → Create/Update Opportunity
6. Select your pipeline from the Pipeline dropdown
7. Select the starting stage (typically “New Lead”)
8. Set Status to Open
9. Toggle on Allow Opportunity to Move (this prevents duplicate opportunities)
10. Click Save Action
11. Toggle Draft → Publish

Now every form submission automatically creates an opportunity in your pipeline without manual data entry.

Test Your Setup

Verify everything works before rolling it out to your team.

1. Navigate to Opportunities
2. Click + Add Opportunity in the top-right corner
3. Select an existing contact or create a test contact
4. Choose your newly created pipeline
5. Select the first stage
6. Enter a test value like $1,000
7. Click Create
8. Drag the opportunity card to the next stage
9. Check your email or tasks to confirm automation triggered correctly
10. Navigate to Automation → Workflows and verify the workflow shows successful execution

If automation didn’t trigger, check that your workflow is published and the trigger matches the stage you moved the opportunity into.

Next Steps

Now that your pipeline is live, expand its capabilities:

• Review the Pipeline Builder guide for advanced stage management and best practices
• Set up Opportunities workflows for won and lost stages
• Add Lead Source Tracking to measure which channels fill your pipeline
• Create stage-specific follow-up sequences using workflow delays and conditional logic
• Schedule a weekly team meeting to review pipeline health and identify stalled opportunities