Pipeline settings explained: stage gates, parallel pipelines, stale alerts and automations

What every section of the pipeline editor does, with real estate examples: stage gates, parallel pipelines, stale alerts, rules for a pipeline and lifecycle automations.

Updated Oct 28, 2026opportunitiespipelinesautomation

Pipeline settings explained

Open a pipeline's settings from Opportunities → Manage, then click the pipeline. The editor has a section list on the left. This article explains each one in plain terms, with real estate examples.

Stage gates

A stage gate stops an opportunity from moving forward into a stage until something is done. Moving an opportunity back is always allowed.

There are two kinds of gate:

Required fields. The stage can't be entered until certain fields are filled in. On the stage card it reads, for example: "Can't move here until: EMD Confirmed On is filled in."
Waits for another pipeline. The stage can't be entered until the same opportunity has reached a stage in another pipeline (or any later stage). For example: "Waits for: Dispositions at Working BC Escrow."

A field that is hidden in a stage (by its visibility rule) isn't required there, even if it's listed as a gate. The editor marks those fields in yellow.

Example. "Under Contract" requires EMD Confirmed On, so nobody moves a deal to Under Contract without recording when the earnest money arrived.

How to add one. Open Stage gates. On the stage you want to protect, pick a field under Require a field, or click Wait for another pipeline, choose the pipeline, then the stage. A preview shows the sentence before you add it. Click Save.

Parallel pipelines

Some deals need two teams at once. Parallel pipelines let the same opportunity sit in two pipelines at the same time, each with its own stage.

At a stage you choose (or as soon as it enters), the opportunity is also added to a second pipeline, at a starting stage you choose.
It stays one opportunity: same contact, same fields, same notes.
Won or lost is decided on the first pipeline. Closing it there closes it everywhere.
Removing a pairing doesn't remove opportunities that were already added.

The editor draws each pairing as two lanes. A solid line shows where the second pipeline starts. Dashed lines show stages that wait on the other side.

Example. When a property in Dispositions reaches "Under Contract", it also starts in Transaction Coordination at "Set Up Escrow". Over in Transaction Coordination, "Clear to Close" waits until Dispositions reaches "Working BC Escrow".

How to set one up. Open Parallel pipelines and click Pair with another pipeline. Pick the direction, the other pipeline, the starting stage and when to add it. To make a stage wait for the other side, use Waiting on the other pipeline. These changes save straight away.

Stale alerts

Stale alerts flag opportunities that stop moving, so nothing goes quiet unnoticed.

Set a number of days for the pipeline. An open opportunity that hasn't been updated for longer than that gets a colored border on the board.
Each stage can use its own number of days, for example longer for escrow.
Each stage can also be switched off. Turn alerts off for stages like "Dropped" or "Dead Lead", which should never go stale.
A daily check also starts any Workflow that uses the "opportunity stale" trigger. Nothing is moved or closed automatically.

Example. Flag anything in "Offer Sent" after 3 days, give "In Escrow" 30 days, and switch "Dropped" off.

Rules for this pipeline

Rules move an opportunity, change its status or assign it when something happens. They only affect opportunities in this pipeline.

Won / Lost rules act on the opportunity that was won or lost.
Contact events (estimate accepted, invoice paid or sent, appointment completed, form submitted, tag added) act on the contact's open opportunities in this pipeline, plus an invoice's or estimate's linked opportunity.
Moves follow stage gates. If a gate blocks a move, the opportunity stays put and the reason is logged on it.
Each event is applied once, so a repeated payment notice never moves a deal twice.
A rule that marks an opportunity Won runs the same follow-ups as marking it Won on the board (scoring, lifecycle, review request).

Each rule reads as a sentence, for example: "When an opportunity in this pipeline is marked Lost, move it to Dead Leads." For anything more involved, such as texts, emails or waits, use Workflows.

Lifecycle automations

Lifecycle automations keep each contact's lifecycle stage (Lead, Qualified, Customer, Repeat, Inactive) up to date. They change the contact, not the opportunity, and they're shared by every pipeline in the account. You can also manage them, or pick a ready-made preset, under Contacts → Lifecycle.

Rule	What it does
Form submitted	When a form, survey or quiz is submitted, a Lead becomes Qualified.
Opportunity created	When an opportunity is created for the contact, a Lead becomes Qualified. It doesn't create anything itself. Off by default.
Opportunity won	When an opportunity is marked Won, the contact becomes a Customer.
Opportunity reopened	When a won, lost or abandoned opportunity is set back to Open, a Lead or Inactive contact becomes Qualified.
Invoice paid	When an invoice is paid in full, the contact becomes a Customer.

A Customer is never moved back down by these rules.

Narrow a rule. Click Edit on a rule to make it run only for specific forms, pipelines, starting stages or invoice products. For example, only the "Sell My House" form qualifies a seller, and the newsletter sign-up doesn't.

If Lifecycle automation is switched off for the whole account (in Contacts → Lifecycle), none of these rules run.

For anything other than setting a contact's lifecycle stage, use Workflows.

Next step

Build your first workflow for follow-ups that go beyond these settings.

Was this article helpful?

Your answer helps us improve this article.