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Common pipeline mistakes

Twelve mistakes that make a pipeline stall or mislead the bot, and a quick check before you save a stage​

Use this list to review a pipeline you built or one that is not behaving as expected. The method is in Design a pipeline that fits your business.

Common mistakes​

  1. Empty exit conditions. The stage looks configured, but the bot never moves anyone out of it.
  2. The same instruction in two stages. They are one stage.
  3. Stages for your tasks, not the lead's state. "Call", "Send quote" describe your to-do list. "Quote sent" describes the lead.
  4. Too many stages. Each one needs an owner and an exit. More than five or six open stages usually means some are not real.
  5. Exit conditions about things outside the chat on a stage handled by the bot.
  6. Asking the bot to sell when a person closes. With A person closes the sale or The team contacts the customer, the bot does not take orders or book; an instruction that says "book the appointment" contradicts the setting.
  7. Facts in instructions. Prices, stock, hours and addresses belong in the catalog, services and Knowledge Base.
  8. Starting on "Move them automatically". Start with Suggest a move and read the bot's reasons first.
  9. Expecting the bot to close leads. It never moves a lead to Won or Lost. A person drags the card, or an automatic event does it.
  10. A pipeline with no Won or Lost stage, created from a single first stage. Start from the default stages or a template.
  11. Routing by a filled-in category too many. Under Which new contacts come here, every category you fill in must match; ticking an account and an ad means "from that account and from that ad".
  12. Testing in the Playground. Stage instructions do not apply there. Test with a real conversation on a connected channel.

A quick check before saving​

Read each open stage and answer:

  • Could a new employee do this task from the instruction alone?
  • Could two people reading the same conversation agree on whether the exit condition is met?
  • Is there exactly one obvious next stage, or did you tick the alternatives?
  • If this step happens outside the chat, is it handled by Only a person?