Tag: workflow automation

By Elijah LeFavour, Chief AI Officer at Spectral Vision. Published October 17, 2026.

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You have a potential job to follow up on, but your pipeline is empty. The lead’s details are in front of you, and you need somewhere to record the next step. Create stages in Opportunities → Pipelines, add or import your deals, then use workflow triggers and reporting controls to track them. This guide gives you the clicks for setup, follow-up and report checks.

I read HighLevel’s pipeline creation guide, its opportunity creation guide and its funnel reporting guide before writing this, and they show you how to create stages, assign deals and read the reports. HighLevel’s March 27, 2026 pipeline guide calls Won and Lost stages, while its September 19, 2026 reporting guide calls them statuses. Both say you do not create them. Find the account guide for your business type in the HighLevel tutorial library.

What is a GoHighLevel pipeline?

A pipeline represents your sales process, and an opportunity represents a potential deal within it. HighLevel’s getting started guide, updated August 24, 2026, defines a stage as a step in that process and a contact as the associated person. Your contact record identifies the person, while the opportunity tracks the potential sale.

Your opportunity ties together the contact, pipeline, stage, estimated value and assigned owner. HighLevel’s opportunity creation guide, updated July 17, 2025, describes the owner as the person responsible for the deal. Enter the estimated deal value in Opportunity Value, then select the person responsible for the deal in Owner.

Which stages does your local business need?

Your stages should match your actual sales steps. HighLevel’s August 24, 2026 getting started guide suggests the names below and tells you to customize them for your business. Select names that fit your sales pipeline, not a required sequence. The guide also suggests Closed, omitted here because you will record outcomes in the status field.

Names to consider	How to use them
New Lead, Hot Lead, Booked Call	Choose the sales steps that match your process. Arrange sequential steps in their expected order for Funnel reporting.
No Show, Delayed, Non-responsive	Add these suggested stages where they reflect your process. Use Stages Distribution to see where open deals currently sit.
Won, Lost	Record these outcomes through opportunity status. You do not need to create custom stages for them.

You do not need to add Won and Lost manually. The pipeline creation guide, updated March 27, 2026, calls them automatically created stages, while the reporting guide, updated September 19, 2026, calls them opportunity statuses. Both documents say you do not need to create them yourself.

Your custom stage names do not replace the fixed outcome choices. HighLevel’s status guide, updated July 3, 2024, specifies 4 status types: Open, Won, Lost and Abandoned. HighLevel does not let you edit those names, so use stages for the steps and the status field for the outcome.

How do you set up a GoHighLevel pipeline?

Open Opportunities → Pipelines to create your pipeline, then add the stages and deals you need. The March 27, 2026 pipeline creation guide requires a unique pipeline name within your sub-account. Each stage name must also be unique within its pipeline.

1. Open your Sub-account. Click Opportunities in the left sidebar, then select Pipelines in the top navigation.
2. Click Create new pipeline in the top-right corner. Enter Pipeline Name and click Save.
3. Enter a Stage Name. Click Add stage for additional stages, then use the up and down arrows to put them in order.
4. In the pipeline’s Stages tab, select a color for each stage and choose Default (no color), Colored dot or Background tint.
5. Set report visibility with each stage’s funnel and pie-chart icons, then save your pipeline changes.
6. Return to Opportunities and click + Add Opportunity at the top right.
7. Select a saved Primary Contact or enter details for a new contact. Enter email and phone manually if unavailable.
8. Enter an Opportunity Name or retain the default contact name, then select Pipeline and Pipeline Stage.
9. Set Opportunity Status and Opportunity Value. Assign Owner, add Followers and fill in Opportunity Source if needed.
10. Click Add/Manage Fields to manage custom fields.
11. Click Create. Verify the opportunity appears in your pipeline.

The March 27, 2026 pipeline guide lets you choose a destination for deals when deleting a stage. HighLevel moves those deals to your selected stage. To delete a stage:

1. Open the pipeline and click the delete icon beside the stage.
2. Select a destination stage for its existing opportunities.
3. Confirm deletion. HighLevel moves the opportunities to the selected stage.

Your new opportunity defaults to Open, according to Editing Opportunities, updated August 27, 2026. To change its stage later, follow the July 17, 2025 creation guide: drag the card into the desired stage column or open the Edit Drawer and select Stage. To change its outcome, drag the card onto the status target at the bottom, as the editing guide describes.

In Owner, select the person handling your opportunity. That assignment concerns the deal. For your agency arrangement, read your contract. If you run a contractor business, use our contractor account and agency markup guide to review that arrangement.

For a spreadsheet, follow HighLevel’s September 17, 2026 import guide. Create your destination pipelines, stages and any Opportunity custom fields first. Prepare a CSV under 30 MB, then follow these steps:

1. Open Opportunities → Import. Select Opportunities when your contacts already exist in HighLevel, or Contacts + Opportunities to import both.
2. Upload the CSV, confirm upload success and review file warnings.
3. Choose whether to create or update records. For updates, include and map the correct Opportunity ID.
4. Map each CSV column to its HighLevel field. For an Opportunities-only import, map Contact ID, Opportunity Name and Pipeline, then any optional fields.
5. Leave unwanted columns unmapped and confirm Don’t import data for unmapped columns. Enable Don’t update Empty Values to preserve existing values where update cells are blank.
6. Review mappings, required fields, warnings, excluded columns and empty-value settings, then start the import.
7. Open Bulk Actions, locate the import and click Show Stats. If rows failed, open Error, download the error log, correct those rows and re-import only the corrected records.

How do pipeline changes start workflow automation?

Use Pipeline Stage Changed when your opportunity moves between stages. HighLevel’s stage trigger guide, updated February 26, 2026, says manual moves also trigger matching workflows. Before you drag cards during cleanup, check the filters because each matching move triggers the workflow.

1. Go to Automation → Workflows. Click Create New Workflow or open an existing workflow.
2. Click + Add New Trigger, search for Pipeline Stage Changed and select it.
3. Name your Trigger with a clear description of its purpose.
4. Set In Pipeline to your pipeline and Pipeline Stage to the destination stage that should start the workflow.
5. Define the follow-up actions, such as notifying the assigned sales representative or creating a follow-up task. Click Save Trigger, then Publish to activate the workflow.
6. Move an opportunity through the relevant stages, then confirm that each configured action runs.

Choose Opportunity Status Changed for an outcome change such as Open to Won. Its February 26, 2026 guide lists Moved From Status, Moved To Status, In Pipeline and Pipeline Stage filters. Your Pipeline Stage filter limits which deals qualify. Only a status change starts this workflow.

A Stale Opportunities trigger still needs actions before it performs your follow-up. HighLevel’s April 27, 2026 stale opportunities guide explicitly tells you to configure actions after setting the trigger. Add the required reminder, internal notification or stage movement instead of treating the trigger alone as finished marketing automation.

Why do your pipeline reports show different totals?

Funnel measures progression, while Stages Distribution shows where your open opportunities currently sit. The September 19, 2026 reporting guide says later-stage deals contribute to applicable earlier Funnel sections. Use Stages Distribution to see the stage that currently holds each open opportunity. The widget shows Won and Lost separately.

Your Funnel reporting period uses the opportunity’s last status-change date rather than its Created date. The same guide requires Dashboard Stats permission and access to the dashboard containing the widget. Check the last status-change date, Dashboard Stats permission and dashboard access before you call the totals wrong.

1. From your sub-account, open Opportunities → Pipelines and open the pipeline.
2. Locate its stages. Use the funnel icon to control Funnel visibility and the pie-chart icon to control Stages Distribution visibility.
3. Save the pipeline changes.

Before you judge a lost deal, review each change to its status. The August 27, 2026 editing guide says marking an opportunity Lost allows you to add a lost reason. The February 26, 2026 status trigger guide says its trigger activates each time the status changes, so review workflow conditions before repeatedly changing outcomes.

What does a HighLevel account cost for your pipeline?

HighLevel list price as of October 9, 2026: Starter costs $97 a month, Unlimited $297 a month and Agency Pro $497 a month. The published pricing plans list CRM & Pipelines and Workflow Automation among core features. HighLevel charges separately for telecommunications and AI usage in addition to your monthly subscription.

The pricing page lists email marketing, SMS marketing, reputation management, social media management and the mobile app among the platform’s features. Add telecommunications and AI usage charges to the monthly subscription when you compare account costs. For your gym’s account costs, read our gym account ownership and membership billing guide.

Start your own HighLevel account through our link and you pay HighLevel directly, from $97 a month. We earn a commission from HighLevel at no extra cost to you. HighLevel’s pricing page lists a 14-day free trial on any plan.

GoHighLevel pipeline setup FAQ

How do I import opportunities from a spreadsheet?

Open Opportunities → Import, upload your CSV, map its columns, then review failed rows under Bulk Actions → Show Stats → Error, as detailed in the CSV import steps. The September 17, 2026 import guide warns that missing or incorrect Opportunity IDs risk creating another deal instead of updating one. Test a small sample because completed imports have no one-click undo. For Opportunities-only imports, you do not need contact Name, Email or Phone fields when a valid Contact ID identifies the existing contact.

Why does View Only still let someone move opportunities?

View Only protects the pipeline structure while allowing users to move or update their assigned opportunities. HighLevel’s February 9, 2026 permissions guide distinguishes this from No Access, which hides the pipeline completely. Admins retain full access, and HighLevel blocks access removal while a user owns opportunities in that pipeline, so reassign those deals first. To review your settings, open Opportunities → Pipelines → Key icon → Manage permissions, choose the sharing mode and access level, then click Save.

How do I see opportunities from every pipeline together?

Use your Opportunities top-right toggle to switch to List View, then select All Pipelines from the Pipeline dropdown. HighLevel’s August 28, 2026 List View guide says All Pipelines is unavailable in Board view because a board uses a single pipeline’s stages. Sorting by stage in All Pipelines falls back to Created date.

Why won’t my workflow move a deal to an earlier stage?

For the Update Opportunity action, enable Allow Opportunity to Move to Any Previous Stage. HighLevel’s August 7, 2025 action guide identifies that toggle as the requirement for backward movement. Your stage-change workflow still triggers on backward moves when its conditions match, according to the February 26, 2026 stage trigger guide.

Do I need workflows before adding my first opportunity?

No, your initial setup does not require workflows. The August 24, 2026 getting started guide says you have a choice of manual creation, CSV import, workflow automation or a combination of those methods. Its automation example uses Form Submitted with Create/Update Opportunity, with Allow Opportunity to Move controlling updates when a record re-enters. After you publish that workflow, future submissions to the selected form place leads in your chosen pipeline and stage.