What a pipeline is
It is a way to see every possible job and how far along it is. Without one, the only pipeline is in your head, and it resets every time the phone rings.
Five stages
- New. They reached out. Nobody has spoken to them yet.
- Talked. You know what they want.
- Estimate sent. They have a number and are deciding.
- Scheduled. They said yes and it is on the calendar.
- Done. The work is finished and paid.
Resist adding more. Every extra stage is another thing to update, and stages nobody updates make the whole list wrong.
The one rule
Nothing sits in a stage without a date for its next step. A lead in "Estimate sent" with no follow-up date is not in your pipeline. It is in a waiting room nobody checks.
Look at it once a week
Ten minutes on Monday. What is new, what has been waiting too long and what is due this week. That one look catches most of what would otherwise slip.
How Venture IQ helps
Venture IQ sets up these stages in a CRM built around your work, drafts the follow-up for anything that is waiting and sends you a Monday briefing of what needs attention. You approve every message. See how it is described for HVAC and plumbing.
How many jobs are sitting in "estimate sent" right now?