The Deals Pipeline is where every opportunity at your dealership lives — from the moment a lead lands to the day the truck leaves the lot. Instead of tracking deals in a spreadsheet or in your head, you get one view of what's actually in play, what's stalled, and what's about to close, so your forecast reflects reality.
Before you start
Plan: Requires one of our paid CRM plans. If you don't see Deals in your portal, contact us to inquire about adding it.
Who can do this: Any user with an active portal account on a CRM plan can view and work the pipeline.
Before you begin: Nothing to set up. Deals start flowing in as soon as your CRM plan is active — leads from your listings and lead providers arrive automatically, and you can add walk-ins and phone-ups yourself.
What the Deals Pipeline is for
Every deal in the portal sits in exactly one stage, and every stage tells you the same thing about every deal in it. That consistency is the whole point: when your team uses the same definitions, “we've got twelve in Negotiating” means something specific, and your pipeline becomes a number you can plan against.
The pipeline gives you three things a spreadsheet can't:
A shared definition of progress. Stages are based on what has actually happened with the customer — not on how optimistic the rep is feeling.
A live forecast. Because every deal carries a stage, you can see how much business is close to closing versus how much is still early.
A record of what didn't work. Deals that don't close get a reason attached, so you can spot patterns in pricing, lead time, or competition instead of guessing.
How deals get into the pipeline
There are two ways a deal starts:
Leads that come to you arrive automatically and enter at New. These are inbound leads from your listings and lead providers — nobody at your dealership has touched them yet.
Deals you create yourself — a walk-in, a phone-up, a customer you've already spoken to — enter at Working, because contact has already happened.
Switching between Pipeline view and List view
The pipeline shows the same deals two ways. Neither is more “correct” — they answer different questions
Pipeline view lays the pipeline out left to right, one column per stage, so you can see the shape of your business at a glance. Use it when you want to know where deals are piling up, or to move a deal forward.
List view shows every deal as a row you can sort and scan. Use it when you're looking for something specific or working through deals one after another.
Step 1: Open Deals
Click the Deals icon in the left-hand navigation.
Step 2: Switch between Pipeline & List views
In the top-right corner of the Deals header — just left of Export — there are two small view icons. Click the grid icon for List view or the column icon for Pipeline view. The page switches instantly, and your filters carry over.
Pipeline Example
List View Example
Pro-Tip: The Salesperson and Dealership filters at the top of the page work in both views. Filter to yourself in Stage view for your own board, or clear the filter in List view to see everything your team has going.
What each stage means
Stages run left to right in the order a real deal progresses. A deal moves forward when something specific has happened with the customer — not when it feels like it should.
Stage Name | Definition |
New | The lead landed and nobody has contacted it yet. Inbound leads enter here. |
Working | You've had two-way contact with the customer, but haven't sent a quote. Deals you create yourself start here. |
Quoted | You've sent the customer a quote. |
Negotiating | You're working price or terms after the quote has gone out. |
Agreed | The customer has verbally committed, but nothing is signed. |
Sold | You have a signed buyer's order. |
Delivered | The truck is off the lot and with the customer. |
Note: A deal has to reach Sold before it can be marked Delivered. If Delivered isn't available, check that the buyer's order has been recorded.
When a deal doesn't move forward
Not every deal closes, and the pipeline is built to capture why. There are two ways a deal comes to rest, and which one you use depends on how far it got.
Closed - Unqualified
Use this for deals that were never a real opportunity. Only deals in New or Working can be marked Unqualified — once a quote is out, the deal was real enough that it belongs in Closed - Lost instead.
Unqualified outcomes:
Not a real opportunity
Unreachable
Went unresponsive
Vehicle availability / lead time
Duplicate
Closed - Lost
Use this for deals that were real opportunities but didn't come your way. Deals in Quoted, Negotiating, or Agreed can be marked Lost.
Lost outcomes:
Price / over budget
Financing fell through
Need changed or postponed
Vehicle availability / lead time
Bought same brand — different dealer
Bought different brand — different dealer
Bought from different dealer in group
Went unresponsive
Requested no further contact
Pro-Tip: Picking the most accurate outcome takes a few seconds, and it's what turns a closed deal into something you can act on. “Vehicle availability / lead time” showing up over and over is an inventory conversation; “Price / over budget” over and over is a pricing conversation.
Changed your mind? You have five days
Note: Closed - Lost, Closed - Unqualified, and Sold can each be reverted to the deal's previous stage within 5 days. After that the deal stays where it is — so if a customer comes back later, start a new deal.