TutorialMay 5, 20268 min read

Building an effective sales pipeline in Dolibarr

Stop ghost opportunities and CRMs used half the time. Here is the method to build a pipeline that actually runs in Dolibarr.

Why your Dolibarr CRM doesn't work (yet)

If your sales reps don't enter their opportunities in Dolibarr, it's not a tool problem: it's a design problem. Three causes recur consistently. The pipeline has too many stages (8, 10, sometimes 12) and nobody remembers the progression rules. Required fields are poorly calibrated: too many, so reps work around them. And there's no incentive to keep the CRM up to date: no automatic reminder, no manager dashboard, so input effort feels useless to the rep. Before touching tech, fix these three.

A pipeline beyond 6 stages becomes unusable
Too many required fields = systematic workaround
Without reminders or dashboards, input feels valueless
Reps enter what helps them, not what helps the manager
First job: simplify; second job: automate

Define 5 or 6 stages max

A good pipeline fits in 5 clear stages: Lead, Qualified, Proposal, Negotiation, Won/Lost. Each stage must have an objective gate criterion — not intuition but a fact: 'the decision maker confirmed budget and timing' to move from Qualified to Proposal, for example. In standard Dolibarr you configure these via the Lead/Opportunity module. With DolicraftCRM you also get a draggable kanban view where reps move opportunities by mouse, removing entry friction. This visual interface is what flips CRM usage from 'chore' to 'reflex'.

5-6 stages maximum, not one more
Objective gate criterion between each stage
DolicraftCRM kanban view for intuitive drag-and-drop
Color codes per stage for fast visual scan
Short internal doc defining each stage

Lead scoring: prioritise without spreading thin

Not all leads are equal, and a rep handling everything FIFO wastes huge time. Scoring lets you rank: a lead with confirmed budget, in target geo, with two whitepapers downloaded scores 90/100, while an isolated visitor with no budget scores 20/100. DolicraftCRM ships a configurable rules-based scoring engine: field X = value Y gives Z points. Reps sort their list by descending score and start with the best. The score auto-recomputes on every interaction.

Automatic ranking via configurable rules
Criteria: budget, industry, size, source, behaviour
Auto recompute on each new interaction
Sort by score to hit the right leads first
Avoids FIFO work = time wasted on cold leads

Email sequences and automatic follow-ups

80% of opportunities are lost from lack of follow-up, not from a clear no. Scheduled email sequences solve this: D+0 send quote, D+3 short follow-up, D+7 case study, D+14 final outreach with limited offer. All of this runs without human intervention, and the sequence stops as soon as the prospect replies or clicks. DolicraftCRM lets you build these sequences visually and trigger them by opportunity status. This is the highest-impact improvement you can apply to your sales cycle.

3-5 email sequences over 2 weeks
Auto-stop on prospect reply or click
Customisable templates with Dolibarr variables
Open and click stats per sequence
Combinable with DolicraftAI for assisted writing

The dashboard that actually motivates

For a CRM to stick, reps must see their activity valued. The right monthly dashboard shows: opportunities created, per-stage conversion, average won deal size, average cycle time, top 3 in-flight deals above 10 k€. The manager also gets an aggregated team view with ranking and gap to target. These data are native in Dolibarr; DolicraftCRM adds dynamic charts and M-1, M-2 comparisons that make sales steering truly visual.