How To Use Pipedrive Effectively: Guide & Best Practices

Are you looking to improve your sales process and boost your team's performance? Pipedrive might be the solution you need. With this guide, I will walk you through everything you need to know about using Pipedrive effectively, from setting up your account to implementing advanced features and best practices.

In the meantime, I’ll also introduce you to Zeeg, a complete scheduling tool that uses meeting booking as a way to create more leads. And the best part is that it integrates with Pipedrive. 

Getting started with Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a sales CRM designed to help businesses visualize their sales process and manage their pipelines well. Known for its user-friendly interface and versatile functionality, Pipedrive makes sales tracking more intuitive and less time-consuming. Whether you're a small business owner or part of a large sales team, mastering Pipedrive can significantly boost your productivity and sales outcomes.

In this guide, we'll explore the fundamental aspects of Pipedrive, including account setup, daily usage tips, and advanced features. By the end, you'll have a solid understanding of how to leverage Pipedrive to its full potential for your sales operations. But let's just dive into how to use Pipedrive, then.

Understanding Pipedrive's core concepts

Before diving into the specifics of setting up and using Pipedrive, it's essential to grasp the fundamental concepts that make this CRM unique.

What is a sales pipeline in Pipedrive?

Your Pipedrive pipeline represents the journey a prospect takes from initial contact to closing a deal. It consists of stages that track the progress of potential sales opportunities. In Pipedrive, you can visualize this journey through a horizontal pipeline view, where deals move from left to right as they progress through different stages.

Each stage in your pipeline corresponds to a specific phase in your sales process, such as "Initial Contact," "Proposal Made," or "Negotiation." You can customize these stages to match your unique sales workflow, ensuring that Pipedrive adapts to your business rather than forcing you to adapt to the software.

Key Pipedrive Terminology

To navigate Pipedrive effectively, familiarize yourself with these essential terms:

• Deal: The core component of Pipedrive, representing a sales opportunity moving through your pipeline. Deals contain information about contacts, organizations, estimated value, and expected close dates.
• Lead: A potential deal that's not yet ready to enter your main sales pipeline. Pipedrive allows you to store leads separately in a Lead Inbox until they're qualified to become deals.
• Activity: Tasks associated with deals, including calls, meetings, emails, or deadlines. Activities help you plan and track your interactions with prospects.
• Contact: In Pipedrive, contacts are divided into two categories:
  
  • Person: Individual contacts with details like name, email, phone number, and organization.
  • Organization: Companies or entities that contain information such as name, address, and associated people.
• Product: Items or services that you sell, which can be attached to deals to track what you're selling and calculate potential revenue.

Understanding these elements and how they interact within Pipedrive is crucial for setting up an effective sales management system.

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Choosing the right Pipedrive plan: Start with the free trial

Before committing to Pipedrive, take advantage of their 14-day free trial to explore all features and determine which plan fits your business needs. This trial gives you full access to the platform, allowing you to test how it works with your specific sales process without any upfront cost.

During your trial period, focus on understanding how your team will use the system daily. Pay attention to which features matter most to your workflow. Basic contact and pipeline management come with all plans, but more advanced capabilities like email integration, automation, and reporting vary by tier.

Consider your team size and growth plans when selecting a pricing tier. Smaller teams with straightforward sales processes might find the Essential plan sufficient, while growing teams often benefit from the Advanced plan's additional automation features. For complex sales operations requiring forecasting and team management, the Professional plan offers more sophisticated tools. The Enterprise plan makes sense for larger organizations with strict security requirements or those needing dedicated support.

Your budget naturally plays a role in this decision. Pipedrive offers monthly and annual billing options, with significant discounts for annual commitments. Calculate the total cost based on your user count and compare it to the time savings and increased sales efficiency you expect to gain. For a complete breakdown of costs and features across all tiers, check out our comprehensive Pipedrive pricing guide.

Remember that you can always upgrade your plan as your business grows. Many companies start with a lower tier and move up as they experience the benefits of using Pipedrive and identify needs for additional features. The key is finding the right balance between functionality and cost that works for your current situation while allowing room for growth.

After your trial ends, you'll have a clearer picture of which features truly matter to your team and which plan provides the best value for your specific needs.

👉 Want to know more about Pipedrive alternatives? Read our thorough guide:

• Pipedrive vs Freshsales
• Pipedrive vs Hubspot
• Pipedrive vs Keap
• Pipedrive vs Monday
• Pipedrive vs Salesforce
• Pipedrive vs Salesmate
• Pipedrive vs Trello
• Pipedrive vs Zendesk
• Pipedrive vs Zoho
• Pipedrive vs Copper

How to set up your Pipedrive account

Setting up Pipedrive correctly from the start will save you time and headaches down the road. Here's how to configure your account for optimal use:

Create your account and set it up:

1. Sign up for Pipedrive's 14-day free trial (no credit card required) to explore its features before committing.
2. After signing up, you'll be guided through a setup process that includes:
   
   • Creating your user profile
   • Adding company information
   • Setting your preferred language, time zone, and currency
3. Configure essential company settings by clicking on your profile picture and selecting "Company settings":
   
   • Upload your company logo
   • Set up your Pipedrive subdomain
   • Define activity types (call, meeting, email, etc.)
   • Create lost reasons (why deals might fall through)
   • Manage currencies (deactivate those you don't need)

Customize fields and permissions

To make Pipedrive work for your company’s needs:

1. Create custom fields for Pipedrive deals, people, and organizations:
   
   • Navigate to Settings > Data Fields
   • Add fields specific to your industry or sales process
   • Mark important fields as required to maintain data consistency
2. Manage user permissions:
   
   • Add team members by inviting them via email
   • Assign appropriate permission levels (Admin, Manager, Regular user)
   • Set visibility settings for deals and contacts
3. Configure the pipeline:
   
   • Create stages that match your sales process
   • Set probability percentages for each stage
   • Adjust the order of stages to reflect your workflow

Set up email and calendar integration

Connecting your email and calendar to Pipedrive streamlines communication and scheduling:

1. Email integration:
   
   • Go to Settings > Personal Preferences > Email Sync
   • Connect your email account (Gmail, Outlook, etc.)
   • Choose sync options (two-way or one-way)
     
2. Calendar integration:
   
   • Navigate to Settings > Personal Preferences > Calendar Sync
   • Connect with Google Calendar, Outlook, or other supported platforms
   • Select which activities to display in your calendar

With these foundational elements in place, you're ready to start using Pipedrive for daily sales management.

How to use Pipedrive: Managing your pipeline efffectively

The heart of Pipedrive is its visual pipeline management. Here's how to make the most of it:

1. Create and organize your deals

1. Add new deals:
   
   • Click the "+ Deal" button at the top of your screen
   • Enter essential information like deal title, value, and associated contacts
   • Place the deal in the appropriate pipeline stage
2. Move deals through stages:
   
   • Drag and drop deals from one stage to the next as they progress
   • Alternatively, open a deal and select a new stage from the dropdown menu
   • Update deal information as new details emerge
3. Deal organization tips:
   
   • Use consistent naming conventions for deals
   • Add tags to categorize deals by type, priority, or other criteria
   • Utilize color-coding to visually distinguish between different types of deals

2. Customize your pipeline

To optimize your Pipedrive pipeline view for daily use:

1. Sort deals in each stage:
   
   • Click on the pipeline view and use the sort options
   • Sort by next activity date to prioritize deals requiring immediate attention
   • Sort by deal value to focus on high-value opportunities
2. Customize deal cards:
   
   • Go to Settings > Pipeline View
   • Select what information appears on deal cards
   • Choose visible fields that help you quickly assess deal status
3. Create and pin essential filters:
   
   • Set up filters for common views like "My active deals" or "High-value opportunities"
   • Pin your most-used filters for quick access
   • Use filter combinations to create precise views of your pipeline

3. Manage your pipeline’s activities

1. Always schedule the next activity:
   
   • Every active deal should have a next activity scheduled
   • After completing an activity, immediately schedule the follow-up
   • Use the activity type that best matches the required action
2. Activity best practices:
   Set realistic due dates for activities
   
   • Include clear descriptions in activity titles
   • Assign activities to appropriate team members when collaborating

By managing your pipeline with these techniques, you'll maintain a clear picture of your sales process and keep all opportunities on track.

Best practices to use Pipedrive workflow automation

To get the most out of Pipedrive on a day-to-day basis, adopt these proven workflows and habits:

1. Start your day with activities

The most effective way to use Pipedrive daily is by beginning with the Activities view:

1. Navigate to the Activities list first thing in your workday
2. Filter activities to view what's due today
3. Organize activities by type (calls, meetings, emails) for batch processing
4. Focus on completing overdue items before moving to today's scheduled activities

This way, you're tackling the most important and timely tasks first, rather than getting lost in browsing through all your deals.

2. Manage comms efficiently

Pipedrive excels at helping you maintain organized communication with prospects:

1. Use Pipedrive's email integration:
   
   • Send emails directly from deal cards
   • Track opens and clicks on your emails
   • Keep all communications visible to team members
2. Document conversations adequately:
   
   • Add notes immediately after calls or meetings
   • Keep notes concise and focused on action items
   • Pin important notes to the top of the deal card for quick reference
3. Use email templates for common communications:
   
   • Create templates for frequent message types
   • Personalize templates before sending
   • Analyze which templates perform best

3. Maintain data hygiene

Clean, accurate data is essential for getting valuable insights from Pipedrive:

1. Follow a consistent process for creating new entries:
   
   • Check for existing records before creating new ones
   • Fill out all required fields completely
   • Use standardized formats for phone numbers, addresses, etc.
2. Regular cleanup activities:
   
   • Review and update stagnant deals weekly
   • Merge duplicate contacts or organizations
   • Archive closed deals that are no longer active
3. Documentation best practices:
   
   • Use the pinned note feature for deal summaries
   • Update deal values and probabilities as negotiations progress
   • Record lost reasons thoroughly when deals fall through

4. Save time with shortcuts and tips

Become a Pipedrive power user with these efficiency boosters:

1. Learn keyboard shortcuts:
   
   • Use "C" to create new activities
   • Press "N" to add notes
   • Hit "D" to create new deals
2. Batch similar activities:
   
   • Group all your calls together
   • Schedule multiple emails in one session
   • Process all follow-ups at a designated time
3. Customize your view preferences:
   
   • Set up your preferred default views
   • Configure which columns appear in list views
   • Save common filters as bookmarks in your browser

By incorporating these daily best practices, you'll work more efficiently in Pipedrive and maintain a more organized sales process.

Advanced Pipedrive features and techniques

Once you're comfortable with the basics, explore these advanced features to elevate your Pipedrive usage:

1. Automate repetitive tasks

Pipedrive's workflow automation capabilities can save significant time by handling routine tasks:

1. Set up workflow automations:
   
   • Create activities automatically when deals reach specific stages
   • Send follow-up emails when certain conditions are met
   • Automatically update fields based on deal progression
2. Implement activity reminders:
   
   • Configure notification rules for upcoming and overdue activities
   • Set up email alerts for important activities
   • Use mobile notifications to stay on top of your schedule
3. Automate deal rotation and assignment:
   
   • Distribute new leads evenly among team members
   • Automatically assign deals based on territory or expertise
   • Set up rules for reassigning inactive deals

2. Leverage Pipedrive’s reporting and analytics tool

Use Pipedrive's reporting tools to gain insights into your sales performance:

1. Configure your dashboard:
   
   • Add key metrics to your Insights dashboard
   • Set up goal tracking to monitor progress
   • Create custom reports for specific performance indicators
2. Analyze pipeline health:
   
   • Monitor deal movement between stages
   • Track average time spent in each stage
   • Identify bottlenecks in your sales process
3. Sales forecasting:
   
   • Use weighted forecasting based on deal probabilities
   • Track expected close dates and values
   • Analyze historical conversion rates to improve predictions

3. Integrate with other tools

Extend Pipedrive's functionality by connecting it with other software in your stack through Pipedrive integrations:

1. Essential integrations:
   
   • Email marketing platforms (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign)
   • Communication tools (Slack, Teams)
   • Document signing services (DocuSign, PandaDoc)
2. Data enrichment:
   
   • Connect with prospecting tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator
   • Implement web forms for Pipedrive to capture leads automatically
   • Use data enrichment services to fill in missing contact information
3. Advanced analytics connections:
   
   • Export Pipedrive data to Google Sheets or Excel for custom analysis
   • Connect to business intelligence tools through Pipedrive's API
   • Set up automated data pipelines for comprehensive reporting

By implementing these advanced features, you can transform Pipedrive from a simple CRM into a sales acceleration platform.

How to use Pipedrive beyond sales

While Pipedrive is designed primarily as a sales CRM, its flexible structure allows it to be adapted for various business functions. Here are five specialized applications of Pipedrive beyond traditional sales:

Using Pipedrive for recruiting

Many companies have discovered that Pipedrive's pipeline view works perfectly for recruitment processes. You can create a recruiting pipeline with stages that mirror your hiring workflow, such as Application Received, Initial Screening, First Interview, Assessment/Task, Final Interview, Offer Made, and Onboarding.

When tracking candidates as deals, you can store resumes and portfolios as attachments, record interview notes and assessments, and schedule follow-up interviews as activities. For recruitment-specific customizations, consider adding custom fields for skills, experience level, and salary expectations. You might also want to create separate pipelines for different positions and use lost reasons to track why candidates withdraw or are rejected. This gives recruiting teams a visual overview of their talent pipeline and helps manage the entire hiring process efficiently.

Project management with Pipedrive

Pipedrive can also serve as a lightweight project management tool. To structure your project pipeline, create stages representing project phases such as Planning, In Progress, Review, and Completed. You can add projects as deals with deadlines and budgets, then assign team members as contacts.

For tracking deliverables and milestones, use activities to schedule key checkpoints, attach relevant files and documents to project deals, and monitor progress through stage transitions. Client communication management becomes easier when you document interactions through notes and emails, schedule regular check-ins as activities, and share project updates via Pipedrive's email integration. This setup is especially valuable for service-based businesses that need to manage multiple client projects simultaneously.

Customer success and account management

You can extend Pipedrive beyond the initial sale to manage ongoing customer relationships. Consider creating a customer success pipeline with stages like Onboarding, Implementation, Regular Review, Expansion Opportunity, and Renewal.

To monitor customer health, track usage metrics as custom fields, schedule regular check-ins as activities, and document feedback and concerns in notes. When managing renewals and upsells, set up deals for renewal opportunities, track contract end dates with activities, and identify expansion opportunities based on customer interactions. This approach creates a seamless handoff from sales to customer success and helps prevent churn by maintaining ongoing engagement.

Event planning and management

Pipedrive's structure works well for coordinating events and managing attendees. For event pipeline organization, create stages for planning phases such as Venue Selection, Vendor Booking, Promotion, and Execution. You can track individual events as deals with budgets and expected attendees, while storing venue and vendor information as organizations.

When it comes to attendee management, track registrants as contacts, schedule follow-up communications as activities, and monitor payment status with custom fields. Event logistics coordination becomes more manageable when you attach floor plans, schedules, and contracts to deals, create activities for key planning milestones, and track vendor communications and requirements. This system helps event planners maintain an overview of multiple events while managing all the intricate details.

Partnership and channel management

Tracking and nurturing business partnerships is another one. For partner pipeline development, structure stages from prospect to active partner, track partnership agreements as deals, and store partner company and contact information.

Partner performance monitoring is simplified when you create custom fields for tracking referrals and generated revenue, schedule regular review meetings as activities, and document training and enablement in notes. Co-marketing initiative management works well in Pipedrive as you plan joint marketing activities in the pipeline, track shared resources and assets, and monitor results of co-marketing efforts. This application helps businesses systematically grow and manage their partner ecosystem, ensuring mutual value creation.

By adapting Pipedrive for these specialized functions, organizations can leverage a single platform across multiple departments, creating consistency in processes and data management while maximizing their investment in the tool.

How to use Pipedrive: Troubleshooting common issues

Even seasoned Pipedrive users encounter challenges. Here's how to address common issues:

Dealing with data overload

As your Pipedrive account grows, managing large amounts of data can become challenging:

1. Implement archiving strategies:
   
   • Regularly archive won and lost deals older than a certain period
   • Use bulk selection to archive multiple items at once
   • Create an archiving schedule based on deal inactivity
2. Effective filtering techniques:
   
   • Build detailed filters to focus on specific segments
   • Save frequently used filters as favorites
   • Use the search function with specific terms
3. View optimization:
   
   • Reduce visible columns in list views to essential information
   • Use condensed view options for dense data
   • Leverage the "focus" feature to highlight specific deals

Sync and integration issues

Problems with email, calendar, or third-party integrations can disrupt your workflow:

1. Email sync troubleshooting:
   
   • Verify your email connection settings
   • Check for filtering rules that might affect synchronization
   • Reconnect your email account if persistent issues occur
2. Calendar integration fixes:
   
   • Make sure you've granted necessary permissions
   • Check for conflicts between multiple calendar integrations
   • Try removing and re-adding the integration if issues persist
3. Third-party app connection problems:
   
   • Update API keys and authentication tokens
   • Verify compatibility with your Pipedrive plan
   • Contact the integration provider for specialized support

Performance optimization

Maximize Pipedrive's speed and responsiveness:

1. Browser considerations:
   
   • Use recommended browsers like Chrome or Firefox
   • Clear your cache regularly
   • Limit the number of open tabs while using Pipedrive
2. Mobile app tips:
   
   • Keep the app updated to the latest version
   • Use offline mode when connectivity is limited
   • Sync periodically rather than continuously to save battery
3. Data entry efficiency:
   
   • Utilize bulk import/export for large data sets
   • Use templates for recurring data patterns
   • Implement web forms for external data collection

By addressing these common challenges proactively, you can maintain a smooth and efficient Pipedrive experience.

Integrate Pipedrive with Zeeg and generate more leads through scheduling

For small and medium businesses looking to enhance their lead generation and simplify the appointment scheduling process, Zeeg offers a powerful complement to Pipedrive. While Pipedrive excels at managing your sales pipeline, Zeeg specializes in the critical scheduling aspect that often comes before and during the sales process.

How Zeeg improves your Pipedrive experience

Zeeg is a dedicated scheduling solution that focuses on making the appointment booking process frictionless for both you and your prospects. When integrated with Pipedrive through Zapier, this combination creates a seamless flow of information between your scheduling system and your CRM.

The key advantage of this integration is automation – when a prospect books a meeting through your Zeeg scheduling page, their information and appointment details can automatically flow into Pipedrive as a new lead or activity. This eliminates manual data entry and makes sure no potential opportunity gets lost in transition.

Sure, you have Pipedrive meeting scheduler tool. But that might not fit all your needs, as it's not a dedicated platform to scheduling like Zeeg is.

Plus, connecting Zeeg with Pipedrive is straightforward through Zapier's integration platform, and a better (and more cost-effective) solution than a Calendly-Pipedrive integration (as Zeeg offers similar functionality). You can create custom workflows (called Zaps) that trigger specific actions when events happen in either system.

For example, you can set up workflows where:

• When someone books a meeting in Zeeg → Create a new contact in Pipedrive
• When someone books a meeting in Zeeg → Create a new deal in Pipedrive
• When someone books a meeting in Zeeg → Add an activity to an existing contact in Pipedrive
• When a deal moves to a specific stage in Pipedrive → Send a Zeeg booking link

This bidirectional connection makes your scheduling and CRM systems work in harmony, creating a more efficient sales process from initial contact through closing.

For businesses already using Pipedrive, adding Zeeg can significantly enhance lead capture and meeting efficiency while maintaining a central source of truth in your CRM. The combined power of these tools helps eliminate scheduling friction, capture more leads, and move deals through your pipeline in a better way.

Turning scheduling into lead generation/nurturing

With Zeeg, your calendar becomes a lead generation tool that feeds directly into your Pipedrive pipeline. You can create custom scheduling pages that match your brand identity and embed them on your website, landing pages, or share them via email.

Each time someone books a meeting, Zeeg captures their contact information and any qualifying questions you've set up. This data can then flow automatically into Pipedrive, creating new contacts and deals based on your specified triggers and conditions.

What makes this especially valuable is the elimination of the traditional back-and-forth that happens when scheduling meetings. Your prospects can see your real-time availability and book instantly, significantly reducing the friction that often causes potential leads to drop off during the scheduling process.

Advanced scheduling features with full GDPR compliance

Zeeg has advanced scheduling capabilities that complement Pipedrive's functionality:

• Smart routing forms that direct prospects to the right team member based on their needs
• Round-robin distribution to balance meetings across your sales team
• Automated reminders and follow-ups to reduce no-shows
• Multiple integrations with many other tools (besides Pipedrive)
• Meeting analytics to understand scheduling patterns and optimize availability

Also, as a European-developed solution, Zeeg offers strong GDPR compliance, which is vital for businesses that handle sensitive customer information. This compliance extends to the data that gets transferred to Pipedrive, keeping your entire lead management process secure and compliant.

Bottom line: If you’re using Pipedrive, make it work for you

Pipedrive is a great tool that can improve your sales process when used well. By implementing the strategies and best practices outlined in this guide, you'll be well on your way to mastering Pipedrive and reaping its benefits.

Remember these key takeaways:

1. Start with a well-structured Pipedrive pipeline that accurately reflects your sales process
2. Make activity management the cornerstone of your daily workflow
3. Maintain data hygiene through consistent practices and regular cleanup
4. Leverage automation to handle repetitive tasks and increase efficiency
5. Use reporting and analytics to gain insights and continuously improve

The most successful Pipedrive users are those who adapt the platform to their specific needs while following proven best practices. Whether you're tracking sales opportunities, managing recruitment, or coordinating projects, Pipedrive's flexible structure can accommodate your workflow.

As you continue to use and explore Pipedrive, you'll discover additional techniques and optimizations that work for your unique situation. The key is to start with a solid foundation and continuously refine your methods based on experience and results.

By investing time in learning how to use Pipedrive now, you're setting yourself up for increased productivity, better organization, and ultimately more successful outcomes in your sales efforts and beyond.