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Add, modify and delete stages in an existing pipeline

Evolve an existing pipeline by adding, renaming, reorganizing, coloring or deleting stages without losing your opportunities.

Written By Baptiste Lorreyte

Last updated 6 months ago

A pipeline evolves with your business. Your processes change—you might add a qualification step, remove one that’s no longer needed, or want to better visualize your stages. The good news is that you can update an existing pipeline without starting from scratch and without losing your current opportunities.

Here’s how to do it, step by step.

Access the pipeline settings

  1. Go to Opportunities from the side menu

  2. Click the pipeline menu in the top bar

  3. Select the pipeline you want to edit and click the “…”

  4. Click Edit

Add a new stage

  1. Click on + Add a step at the bottom of the list

  2. Give it a short, clear name (for example: “Follow-up,” “Negotiation,” “Signature”)

  3. Place it in the correct position in the list

  4. Click Save

💡 TIP: Keep names short. In Kanban view, long titles get cut off and become unreadable.

🟢 Important: Stage names must be unique within the same pipeline. You cannot have two "Follow-up" stages in the same pipeline, but you can reuse this name in another pipeline.

⚠️ Note: The "Won" and "Lost" stages are automatically created in every pipeline. You don’t need to add them manually.

Renaming a stage

Click directly on the stage name in the settings, edit the text, then save. All opportunities already in this stage retain their position; only the label changes.

Reorder stages

Two methods depending on your preference:

  • Drag and drop: use the handle to the left of each stage to move it up or down in the list

  • Up/Down arrows: Click the arrows next to each stage to move it up or down one position

Opportunities follow the movement: they remain in the stage where you placed them, even if its position in the pipeline changes.

Customize stage colors

Coloring your stages makes your pipeline much easier to read, especially in Kanban view. For each stage, you can choose:

  • No color (default view)

  • Colored dot: a small colored circle next to the stage name, discreet but effective

  • Background color: the entire stage column takes on the chosen color, ideal for distinguishing hot and cold phases at a glance

The chosen colors are visible wherever the stage appears: Kanban view, List view, opportunity card, contact card.

💡 A simple color code that works well: gray for entry stages, orange for negotiation stages, green for closing stages. Your sales team can spot hot deals in a second.

Control visibility in reports

Not all your stages need to appear in your dashboards. A "Cold Prospect" or "Follow up in 6 months" stage can skew your conversion statistics.

Next to each stage, two icons let you control its visibility in reports:

  • The funnel icon enables or disables the stage in conversion charts (sales funnel)

  • The pie chart icon enables or disables the stage in percentage breakdowns (pie charts)

Simply disable the stage from reports if it shouldn’t be included in your KPIs, without deleting it from the pipeline.

Delete a stage

  1. Click the trash can icon to the right of the stage you want to delete

  2. If there are still opportunities in this stage, CrocoClick will ask you to select a destination stage

  3. Confirm the deletion

All opportunities from the deleted stage are automatically moved to the selected destination stage. No data is lost.

⚠️ Note: Deleting a stage is permanent. However, the opportunities that were in it remain intact (they are simply moved). If you’re unsure, rename the stage instead of deleting it.

FAQ

Yes. Stage names must be unique within the same pipeline. Two different pipelines can each have a "Follow-up" stage without any issues.

They are never lost. When you delete a stage, CrocoClick asks you which stage to move them to. All opportunities from the deleted stage are transferred at once.

No. These two stages are automatic and essential for the proper functioning of opportunities (particularly for forecasting and statistics). They cannot be deleted.

No. CrocoClick identifies stages by an internal ID, not by their name. Your automations and triggers continue to work even after a renaming.

Learn more

  • Understanding pipelines: an overview of how they work

  • Create your first pipeline in 5 minutes: start from scratch the right way

  • Forecasting revenue: turn your stages into a forecasting tool

  • Using custom fields on opportunities: to enrich each deal beyond the stages

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