Lead Pipeline Management

Why Pipelines Matter

Spreadsheets lose context. Memory fails. Pipelines give you a visual board where every conversation lives in one place. Drag a lead from "New Inquiry" to "Meeting Booked" to "Closed." Set up automations so leads advance automatically based on actions. Track average time in each stage to identify bottlenecks.

Finding Pipelines

Access pipelines at Email & Automation > Pipeline or /marketing-automation/pipelines/. You'll see a list of all your pipelines. Click any pipeline to open its board view.

Creating Your First Pipeline

Starting from a Template

1. Go to Email & Automation > Pipeline
2. Choose a template:

• Sales Pipeline: New Lead, Contacted, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Won, Lost
• Service Business: Inquiry, Consultation Booked, Proposal Sent, Agreement Signed, In Progress, Completed
• Real Estate: New Inquiry, Showing Scheduled, Offer Made, Under Contract, Closed, Not Interested
• Lead Nurture: Cold, Warm, Hot, Customer, Lost
• Agency Client Pipeline: Prospect, Discovery Call, Proposal Sent, Contract Sent, Client, Archive
• Blank Pipeline: Start from scratch with default stages

3. Name your pipeline (e.g., "Q1 2024 Sales Pipeline")
4. Add description (optional)
5. Click "Create Pipeline"

The pipeline is created with pre-configured stages. You can rename, reorder, or add stages from the board view.

Customizing Stages

Stages represent steps in your process. Good stage names describe where someone is in the journey:

Clear: "Demo Scheduled," "Contract Sent," "Closed-Won" Vague: "Follow Up," "In Progress," "Maybe"

Stage Types:

• Active stages: Leads you're actively working (most stages)
• Won stages: Successful conversions
• Lost stages: Disqualified or declined leads

Tag stages appropriately for accurate conversion reporting.

The Pipeline Board

Board Layout

The board displays as columns, one per stage. Each column contains lead cards. Leads flow left-to-right through your process.

Stage Header Shows:

• Stage name and color
• Number of leads in stage
• Automation badges (if configured)
• Three-dot menu for stage settings

Lead Cards Show:

• Lead name
• Email address
• Phone number (if provided)
• Company name (if provided)
• Estimated value (if provided)
• Source (form, manual, CRM import)
• Time since created

Moving Leads Between Stages

Drag and drop: Click a lead card, drag to another stage column, release. The lead moves instantly.

Quick move: Click the three-dot menu on a lead card, choose "Move to Stage."

What Happens When a Lead Moves:

1. Lead's current stage updates
2. Stage change is logged in lead history
3. If the target stage has an automation, it triggers (see Stage Automation below)
4. If the target stage has entry rules, they're considered (see Entry Rules below)

Adding Leads

Quick Add (from board):

1. Click "Quick Add Lead" button at top of board
2. Or click "+ Add Lead" at bottom of any stage column
3. Fill in:

• Name (required)
• Email (required)
• Phone
• Company
• Estimated value
• Notes
• Target stage (pre-selected if you clicked from a stage column)

4. Click "Add Lead"

The lead appears in the chosen stage immediately.

Import from CSV: From the pipeline list page, click "Import Leads" (available when viewing pipeline details). Upload CSV with columns: name, email, phone, company, estimated_value, stage_name. Leads are created and placed in the specified stages.

Automatic lead creation: Leads are created automatically when:

• Someone submits a lead form (if form has pipeline entry rule)
• Someone joins a list (if list has pipeline entry rule)
• Someone completes a sequence (if sequence has pipeline entry rule)
• A CRM contact syncs (HubSpot)

Lead Details

Click any lead card to view full details:

Contact Information:

• Name, email, phone, company
• Source (how they entered your system)
• Created date
• Current stage
• Time in current stage
• Estimated value

Stage History: Every stage change is logged. See when they moved, from which stage, to which stage. Track progression velocity.

Email Enrollments: If the lead is also a subscriber, see which email sequences they're enrolled in and their status.

Notes: Add internal notes visible only to your team. Track conversation details, commitments, next steps.

Activity Timeline: See all interactions: emails opened, links clicked, forms submitted, stage changes.

Lead Scoring

Lead scoring is automatic. ILLIXIS assigns scores based on:

• Engagement: Opens, clicks, replies
• Form submissions: Each submission adds points
• Content consumed: Blog posts read, videos watched
• Time in pipeline: Longer = lower score (interest declining)
• Estimated value: Higher value = priority boost

Score Ranges:

• 80-100: Hot leads - immediate follow-up required
• 60-79: Warm leads - schedule follow-up
• 40-59: Cold leads - nurture sequence
• 0-39: Disqualified or stale - archive or re-engage

Scores update nightly based on recent activity.

Stage Automation

Stage automation triggers email sequences when leads move into specific stages.

Setting Up Stage Automation

1. Open your pipeline board
2. Click the three-dot menu on any stage header
3. Choose "Edit Stage"
4. Under "Automation," select an email sequence
5. Click "Save Changes"

Example: When a lead moves to "Demo Scheduled," trigger the "Pre-Demo Preparation" sequence that sends meeting confirmation, calendar invite, and prep materials.

What Happens:

• Lead moves to stage (via drag-drop or entry rule)
• System checks if stage has automation
• If yes, enrolls lead in the specified sequence immediately
• Lead receives first email in sequence according to sequence timing

Sequence Status Check:

• Sequence must be active to trigger
• If lead is already in that sequence, they won't re-enroll
• If lead has completed that sequence previously, they can re-enroll

Use Cases for Stage Automation

Demo stage: Send meeting confirmation, prep materials, day-before reminder Proposal stage: Send proposal document, case studies, ROI calculator Negotiation stage: Send testimonials, objection handling content, urgency messaging Won stage: Send onboarding sequence, welcome materials, first steps Lost stage: Send re-engagement sequence (after 30 days), feedback survey

Entry Rules

Entry rules automatically move leads INTO a stage when specific events occur. This is different from stage automation (which happens AFTER a lead enters a stage).

How Entry Rules Work

Set conditions that, when met, automatically place a lead in a specific stage:

• Sequence Completed: When someone finishes an email sequence
• List Joined: When someone joins a subscriber list
• Form Submitted: When someone submits a lead form
• Inactivity: When someone hasn't engaged for N days

A stage can have multiple entry rules (OR logic—any rule match moves the lead).

Setting Up Entry Rules

1. Open your pipeline board
2. Click the three-dot menu on any stage header
3. Choose "Edit Stage"
4. Scroll to "Entry Rules" section
5. Click "+ Add Entry Rule"
6. Configure:

• When: Choose event type (sequence completed, list joined, form submitted, inactivity)
• Source: Choose specific sequence/list/form (or days for inactivity)

7. Click "Add"
8. Repeat to add more rules
9. Click "Save Changes"

Example Entry Rules:

"Hot Lead" Stage:

• Entry Rule 1: When "Product Interest" sequence completes
• Entry Rule 2: When "Demo Request" form is submitted
• Entry Rule 3: When "High Intent" list is joined

Any lead matching ANY of these conditions moves to "Hot Lead" automatically.

"Re-engage" Stage:

• Entry Rule 1: When inactive for 30 days

Leads who haven't opened an email in 30 days move here automatically.

Entry Rule Priority

If a lead matches multiple entry rules across different stages, the most recent rule wins. If a lead is already in the pipeline, they move to the new stage. If they're not in the pipeline, they're added to the matching stage.

Preventing Duplicates: Leads can only exist once in a pipeline. If they match an entry rule but are already in the pipeline, they move to the new stage (overwriting current position).

Stage Metrics

Average Time in Stage

ILLIXIS tracks how long leads spend in each stage. View this on the pipeline analytics dashboard (coming soon) or in the stage detail view.

What It Tells You:

• Long time in "Proposal Sent": Proposals may need work, or follow-up cadence is too slow
• Short time in "Qualified": Good—leads are moving quickly to next step
• Long time in "Demo Scheduled": Scheduling friction or no-show rate issue

Using Time-in-Stage Data: Set internal SLAs. If average time in "New Lead" exceeds 24 hours, you're losing hot leads. If "Negotiation" averages 14 days, plan for that in your sales forecast.

Stage Conversion Rates

Conversion rate = (Leads moved forward / Total leads in stage) × 100

Example: "Qualified" stage had 50 leads. 35 moved to "Demo Scheduled." 15 moved to "Lost."

• Conversion rate: 35/50 = 70%
• Loss rate: 15/50 = 30%

Tracking Conversion Rates: View on the pipeline analytics dashboard. Compare conversion rates across stages to identify weak points in your process.

Improving Conversion:

• Low conversion at "Proposal Sent": Proposals may need better value articulation or pricing adjustments
• Low conversion at "Demo Scheduled": Demo may not address objections, or follow-up is weak
• High loss rate at "Qualified": Qualification criteria may be too loose

Multiple Pipelines

You can create multiple pipelines for different processes:

Use Cases:

• Separate pipelines for different products or services
• Separate pipelines for inbound vs. outbound leads
• Separate pipelines for different sales teams
• Separate pipelines for different regions or markets

Default Pipeline: Mark one pipeline as default. Leads without a specified pipeline go here automatically. Change default status in pipeline settings.

Moving Leads Between Pipelines: Open lead detail view, click "Move to Pipeline," choose destination pipeline and stage.

CRM Sync

ILLIXIS integrates with HubSpot. Sync deals and contacts bidirectionally.

HubSpot Sync

Connect HubSpot at Settings > Integrations > HubSpot. Once connected:

From HubSpot to ILLIXIS:

• Deals sync as leads in your pipeline
• Deal stages map to pipeline stages (configure mapping)
• Contact details sync (name, email, phone, company)
• Deal value syncs to estimated_value

From ILLIXIS to HubSpot:

• Stage changes in ILLIXIS update deal stage in HubSpot
• New leads created in ILLIXIS create contacts in HubSpot
• Notes added in ILLIXIS sync as activities in HubSpot

Mapping Stages: Go to HubSpot settings, configure stage mapping. Choose which HubSpot deal stages correspond to which ILLIXIS pipeline stages.

Pipeline Analytics

Overview Dashboard

View pipeline analytics from the pipeline detail page (click pipeline name from pipeline list).

Key Metrics:

• Total leads: All leads in pipeline
• Won leads: Leads in "Won" stages
• Lost leads: Leads in "Lost" stages
• Active leads: Leads in active stages
• Win rate: (Won / (Won + Lost)) × 100
• Average deal size: Mean estimated_value of won leads
• Total pipeline value: Sum of estimated_value for all active leads

Stage Funnel: Visual funnel shows leads in each stage, conversion rate between stages, and bottleneck identification.

Velocity Metrics:

• Average time to close: From first stage to won stage
• Average time to lost: From first stage to lost stage
• Stage-by-stage velocity: Time spent in each stage

Lead Source Breakdown: See which sources produce the most leads, highest win rates, and largest deal sizes.

Stage-Level Analytics

Click any stage to see:

• Lead count
• Average time in stage
• Conversion rate (% moving forward)
• Loss rate (% moving to lost)
• Entry rule stats (how many leads entered via each rule)

Bulk Actions

Bulk Stage Changes

1. From pipeline board, hold Shift and click multiple lead cards to select
2. Or use checkboxes (if enabled in settings)
3. Click "Bulk Actions" at top of board
4. Choose "Move to Stage"
5. Select target stage
6. Click "Move"

All selected leads move to the chosen stage at once.

Bulk Delete

Select multiple leads, choose "Delete" from bulk actions menu. Confirm deletion. Leads are removed from pipeline (and optionally deleted from system entirely).

Bulk Tag

Select multiple leads, choose "Add Tag" from bulk actions menu. All selected leads get the specified tag.

Custom Fields

Add custom fields to leads for tracking specific data points relevant to your business.

Examples:

• Industry
• Company size
• Lead source detail
• Budget range
• Decision timeline
• Authority level

Adding Custom Fields: Go to Settings > Pipeline Settings. Add custom field, choose type (text, number, dropdown, date). Fields appear in lead detail view and quick-add modal.

Using Custom Fields in Filters: Filter pipeline board by custom field values. Example: Show only leads where industry = "SaaS" and budget_range > 10000.

Mobile View

Pipeline boards are responsive. On mobile:

• Swipe left/right to scroll between stages
• Tap a lead card to see details
• Long-press to drag (or use "Move to Stage" button in detail view)
• Quick Add button floats at bottom-right

Stage columns stack vertically on narrow screens for easier one-handed use.

Collaboration

Team Visibility

All users in your tenant see the same pipelines and leads. Changes sync in real-time.

Use Cases:

• Sales team shares one pipeline
• Each team member sees all leads
• Stage changes visible to everyone immediately

Lead Assignment (Coming Soon): Assign leads to specific team members. Filters show "My Leads" vs. "All Leads."

Activity Tracking

Every action is logged:

• Who moved which lead to which stage
• Who added notes
• Who changed estimated value
• Who deleted leads

View activity log in lead detail view.

Automation Best Practices

Start Simple

Your first pipeline doesn't need automations. Focus on:

1. Getting stages right (clear names, logical flow)
2. Adding leads consistently
3. Moving leads based on real actions

Add automations once you see patterns: "Every time I move someone to Demo Scheduled, I send the same 3 emails." That's your cue to automate.

Use Entry Rules for Qualification

Set entry rules to automatically route qualified leads to "Hot Lead" stage:

• Entry Rule: When "Product Interest" sequence completes
• Entry Rule: When "Pricing Page Visited 3x" (custom event)
• Entry Rule: When "Demo Request" form submitted

Unqualified leads stay in "New Lead" until they engage more.

Use Stage Automation for Consistency

Stage automation ensures every lead in a given stage gets the same experience:

• "Demo Scheduled" → Send confirmation, prep materials, reminder
• "Proposal Sent" → Send case studies, ROI calculator, testimonial video
• "Negotiation" → Send objection handling content, urgency messaging

No lead slips through the cracks. No manual sending required.

Monitor Bottlenecks

Check average time in each stage weekly. If leads pile up in one stage:

• Too many leads stuck in "Contacted": Follow-up cadence too slow, or qualification criteria unclear
• Too many leads stuck in "Proposal Sent": Proposals need work, or follow-up sequence too passive
• Too many leads stuck in "Negotiation": Pricing objections, or decision-maker not engaged

Use entry rules and stage automation to reduce friction in bottleneck stages.

Clean Up Lost Leads

Move lost leads to a "Lost" stage instead of deleting. Tag with loss reason:

• loss-reason:budget
• loss-reason:timing
• loss-reason:competitor
• loss-reason:no-response

Analyze loss reasons monthly. If 50% of losses are "budget," your targeting or qualification needs adjustment.

Set up re-engagement sequence for lost leads after 90 days. Some come back.

Troubleshooting

Leads Not Moving When Dragged

Browser issue: Try refreshing the page. Drag-drop requires JavaScript.

Permissions: Ensure you have edit access to the pipeline.

Stage locked: Some stages can be locked to prevent accidental moves. Check stage settings.

Entry Rules Not Triggering

Rule not active: Check that entry rule is enabled (not paused).

Source not matched: For "sequence completed" rules, ensure the exact sequence completed (partial completion doesn't trigger).

Lead already in pipeline: If lead is already in the pipeline, entry rules move them to the new stage but don't create a duplicate.

Timing: Entry rules check every 5 minutes. Slight delay is normal.

Stage Automation Not Triggering

Sequence not active: The target sequence must be active.

Lead already enrolled: If lead is already in that sequence, they won't re-enroll.

Email platform not connected: Check Settings > Integrations. Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Resend, or Mailgun must be connected.

CRM Sync Issues

Mapping incorrect: Verify stage mapping in CRM integration settings. HubSpot deal stages must map to ILLIXIS pipeline stages.

API rate limits: If syncing large volume, HubSpot may throttle. Sync happens in batches every 15 minutes.

Field mismatch: Custom fields in CRM must have corresponding custom fields in ILLIXIS. Configure field mapping in integration settings.

Metrics Not Updating

Cache delay: Pipeline metrics update every hour. Changes may take up to 60 minutes to reflect.

Calculation period: Some metrics (e.g., conversion rate) require minimum data. If only 1-2 leads in a stage, conversion rate may show "N/A."

What's Next

Once your pipeline is running:

1. Monitor stage velocity weekly: Identify bottlenecks and address them
2. Add automations gradually: Start with one stage automation, expand as you see value
3. Track conversion rates by source: Double down on high-converting sources
4. Set up re-engagement for lost leads: Some lost leads return after 90 days
5. Integrate with CRM: Sync deals and contacts for full visibility

Pipeline management isn't about complexity—it's about visibility. See where every lead stands, move them based on actions, automate the repetitive parts. The pipeline adapts to your process, not the other way around.