How to run a small trades sales pipeline

A small trades sales pipeline is a list of enquiries and quotations organised by the decision needed next. It should show who is responsible and when to act. Keep it separate from the schedule of work already agreed.

Explore the wider leads and customer records guides for the steps around this decision.

Suggested stages

Stage	Meaning	Exit condition
New request	Work has been requested	Someone acknowledges and qualifies it
Information or survey	Scope is incomplete	Enough detail exists to price the work
Quote sent	A stated version is with the customer	Customer decision or revision
Accepted, awaiting arrangements	Scope accepted	Booking details confirmed
Closed	Declined, unsuitable or no longer active	Reopen only after a new decision

These are suggested business stages, not exact JobDiary screen labels. Use the app’s supported states without forcing an unsupported automatic process onto them.

Run a useful weekly review

Review the exceptions: no owner, overdue next action, quotes needing revision and accepted work with no booking. Give each record one clear next step. Avoid keeping unsuccessful quotes active simply to make the pipeline look larger.

An illustrative clearance enquiry may need a survey before it can be quoted. A repeat customer requesting an already priced service may need only confirmation. Both belong in the pipeline, but their next actions are different.

Do not confuse pipeline value with sales

Quoted work is not necessarily accepted work, invoiced revenue or money collected. If you total open quotations, label the number accurately and do not treat it as guaranteed future cash. Separate accepted scope from informal expressions of interest.

Keep a reference between the enquiry, quote and resulting work. JobDiary’s broader lead-to-payment record is useful when those stages need to stay connected. A spreadsheet can still serve a small business if it consistently records ownership and decisions; switch because shared visibility is needed, not because a pipeline must look like a corporate sales dashboard.

Connect this to the next step

Continue with Customer spreadsheet vs a trades CRM. If the next issue is elsewhere in the workflow, use How to send a quote from your phone before leaving site.

See JobDiary customer and lead records to check how the product supports this work. Use the current product description and a trial to verify the fit for your business.