Pipeline stages
Add, rename, reorder and delete stages, choose the entry stage, and tell the bot what to do in each one
Path: Communication > Leads → Board → the menu of a stage column
A stage is one step of a pipeline. There are three kinds:
- Open stages — the columns of the Board, where leads are being worked.
- Won and Lost — closed stages, shown in the Closings area.
A pipeline can have up to 15 stages, Won and Lost included.
Add a stage
Select Add stage at the top of the Board, type the name (up to 64 characters) and save. The new stage is always an open stage and is added after the existing ones. At 15 stages the button reads Stage limit reached.
The dashboard cannot add a Won or Lost stage, and cannot turn an open stage into one. A pipeline has the Won and Lost stages it was created with. See Lead pipelines.
The menu of a stage
Each open column has a menu with:
- Rename.
- Make this the entry stage — Administrators, on any open stage that is not the entry stage already.
- Send message — Administrators, when WhatsApp campaigns are available to your account.
- Configure stage — Administrators.
- Move left and Move right. You can also drag a column by its handle.
- Color — eight colors, or no color.
- Delete.
Delete a stage
An empty stage is deleted after you confirm; this cannot be undone. A stage with contacts asks you to choose Move contacts to another stage first. If there is no other stage to move them to, create one first.
Deleting the entry stage is allowed: the next open stage becomes the entry stage. Always keep at least one open stage: if you delete the last one, the pipeline has no entry stage and new leads cannot land on it until you add a stage and make it the entry.
The entry stage
New leads land on the entry stage. It carries the Entry badge on the Board.
- Each pipeline has exactly one.
- It is always an open stage.
- An Administrator can move the role to any other open stage with Make this the entry stage, from the column's menu or from inside Configure stage. Reordering columns does not change which stage is the entry.
- Cards on the entry stage are the only ones with Decline lead. See The Leads board.
In a pipeline created with the default stages, the entry stage is New lead. In a pipeline created from a template or from a single first stage, it is the first open stage.
Configure stage: what the bot does here
Configure stage opens the bot's settings for one open stage. Won and Lost stages have no bot settings.
What the bot does in this stage
Up to 1,000 characters. The job the bot has while a lead is in this stage: what to ask, what to explain, what to offer. If it conflicts with your Custom Bot Instructions, the bot follows this text for the leads in this stage.
When it leaves this stage
Up to 400 characters. What must have happened for the lead to move on. The bot uses it to decide when to suggest or make the move to the next stage.
If you leave it empty, the bot never moves or suggests moving leads out of this stage by itself. The stage still works as a column you move cards through by hand.
More options
Where it can go next. The open stages the bot may move a lead to from here. Leave them all unticked and the bot uses the next open stage on the Board. Tick one or more to allow a jump or a choice between paths. The panel shows the result as Effective next stages. This limits only the bot: you can move a lead to any stage yourself. Won and Lost are never offered, because the bot does not close leads.
Who handles it.
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Only the bot | The bot follows the stage's instruction and can move the lead on. This is the default. |
| Bot and a person | The bot does the same, and the stage is marked as one where a team member also acts. |
| Only a person | The bot keeps answering the customer's messages, but does not pursue this stage's goal and never suggests or makes the move out of it. Someone on your team does. |
Automatic event. When the event happens, the lead moves to this stage by itself, without waiting for the bot:
| Event | When it fires |
|---|---|
| Order confirmed | An order of this contact is confirmed. |
| Appointment booked | An appointment of this contact is confirmed. |
| Trial started | An integration connected to your account reports that the contact started a trial. Nothing inside ReadyChatAI fires it. |
Only one stage of a pipeline can carry each event. Choose None to remove it. How the bot works a pipeline explains exactly when an event moves a lead.
Select Save stage to apply the changes, or Cancel to discard them.
Start from a suggestion (entry stage)
When you configure the entry stage, the panel offers three ready-made starting points under Start from a suggestion. Use copies one into the fields as a draft; nothing is saved until you select Save stage.
| Suggestion | What the bot does | The lead leaves when |
|---|---|---|
| Understand the need | Finds out what the person is looking for and why, one question at a time, before offering anything | The person explained what they need or want to solve |
| Confirm we can help | Confirms the request is something the business offers and gathers the details needed to serve them | It is clear the business can serve what the person needs |
| Hand over to the team | Answers questions and gathers contact details and the need, so a team member continues | The person left their contact details and what they need |
The first two are handled by Only the bot; the third by Bot and a person.
A new entry stage has no instruction and no exit condition. Until you write them, the bot does not move leads out of it and has no stage instruction to follow; it still follows the pipeline's Goal if you wrote one.
Send a WhatsApp message to everyone in a stage
Send message in a column's menu prepares a WhatsApp campaign for the leads of that stage. It appears for Administrators when WhatsApp campaigns are available to your account, and it needs an approved WhatsApp template.
- Give the campaign a name and choose the template.
- Under Who receives it, choose Only those who haven't written in the last 24 hours or Everyone in this stage.
- Select Review and send.
Nothing is sent at this point: you review the campaign on the next screen before it starts.