If the way your business works means that the sales process differs based on the product, service, or client, then you need to use multiple pipelines to monitor your sales processes.
For example, consider the sales process in a real estate business that varies based on the property location. The stages are different and have more intermediary steps for properties that are in the northern region. In this case, it would be beneficial to create a separate pipeline for properties from the northern region so that you can track the deal and prepare the list of follow-up activities based on the deal's progress throughout the process.
Similarly, if the real estate business handles different projects like:
- Upcoming properties
- Properties that are ready to move in to
- Resale
It is likely that the sales stages for each of these projects will differ, so instead of accommodating them in a single sales pipeline, it is best to create three pipelines, one for each project type with the relevant stages.
By creating multiple pipelines, you will be able to monitor the stages and identify the root cause of delays or stagnation, keep track of the number of deals that are likely to close or churn, or amend the follow-up activities if needed.
Another benefit of creating separate pipelines is if a particular stage is removed from only one of your project types, you can remove the stage for the relevant pipeline without affecting the other pipelines.