An opportunity is a potential sale, and a pipeline is the board it lives on. Picture sticky notes moving across a whiteboard: “New Lead” → “Contacted” → “Won”. That is the whole idea. Ten minutes and you will have one.

The steps

1. Open Opportunities

   Click Opportunities in the left sidebar. If this is your first time, the board is empty.

2. Open the Pipelines settings

   Look at the top of the page for a tab or button named Pipelines, then click Create new pipeline (usually top-right corner).

3. Name it and add stages

   Name it something obvious like Sales. Then add 4 simple stages: New Lead, Contacted, Quoted, Won. Fewer stages is better — you can always add more later. Click Save.

4. Add your first opportunity

   Back on the board, click the + Add opportunity button (top-right area). Pick a contact, give the deal a name, and if you know the value, type the dollar amount. Choose the New Lead stage and save.

5. Drag the card

   Press and hold the new card, drag it to the Contacted column, and let go. That drag is the entire daily habit: when real life moves forward, move the card.

Common questions

“What is the difference between a contact and an opportunity?” A contact is a person. An opportunity is a deal attached to that person. One person can have several deals over time.

“What stages should a beginner use?” Start with New Lead, Contacted, Quoted, Won. Add a “Lost” stage when you want honest numbers about deals that die.

“Do the dollar values do anything?” Yes — the board adds them up per column, so you can see how much money is sitting in each stage at a glance.