Efficient sales pipeline management is critical for any business aiming to grow revenue and maintain a healthy customer acquisition funnel. With the 2025 release, Dolibarr ERP/CRM introduces enhancements to its sales pipeline functionalities, making it a powerful tool for tracking, analyzing, and optimizing your sales process from lead to deal. This article provides a comprehensive guide on how to activate, configure, and make the most of the new sales pipeline tools in Dolibarr, ensuring your sales team can work smarter, not harder.

1. Understanding the Role of a Sales Pipeline

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of your sales process, showing each stage a prospect goes through before becoming a customer. It allows you to:

• Track leads and opportunities by status

• Forecast revenue

• Prioritize follow-ups

• Identify bottlenecks

• Evaluate sales performance

Dolibarr’s pipeline provides a dynamic and customizable interface for managing all these elements in one place.

2. What’s New in Dolibarr 2025 for Sales Pipeline

The 2025 version of Dolibarr introduces significant improvements:

• Drag-and-drop kanban view for opportunities

• Custom pipeline stages per user or department

• Improved reporting and KPI dashboards

• Automation triggers based on stage changes

• Native integration with proposals and orders

These upgrades align Dolibarr more closely with modern CRM platforms while retaining its flexibility and open-source advantages.

3. Activating the Sales Pipeline Module

Before using the sales pipeline, you must ensure the relevant modules are enabled:

• Go to Home > Setup > Modules

• Enable the following:

  • Commercial Proposals

  • Opportunities / Pipeline

  • Third Parties

  • Contacts/Addresses

  • Agenda (for activity tracking)

Once activated, new menus will appear under Sales > Opportunities and within each third-party profile.

4. Setting Up Pipeline Stages

To reflect your sales methodology, customize the pipeline stages:

• Navigate to Setup > Dictionaries > Opportunity Statuses

• Add, edit, or reorder stages such as:

  • New Lead

  • Contacted

  • Qualification

  • Proposal Sent

  • Negotiation

  • Closed Won / Closed Lost

Each stage can be associated with a probability percentage to help with forecasting.

5. Creating and Managing Opportunities

Opportunities can be added manually or automatically when creating proposals:

• Go to Sales > Opportunities > New Opportunity

• Link to a third party (client or prospect)

• Assign a title, amount, and expected closing date

• Choose the current stage and responsible user

The opportunity will appear in the pipeline view and reports.

6. Using the Kanban Pipeline View

The new Kanban interface allows for visual drag-and-drop management:

• Access from Sales > Opportunities > Pipeline View

• Each column represents a stage

• Cards show opportunity title, amount, client, and expected date

• Drag cards between stages to update progress

This view helps sales teams quickly understand priorities and workload.

7. Linking Opportunities with Proposals and Orders

A key strength of Dolibarr is how tightly it integrates commercial elements:

• From an opportunity, generate a proposal with one click

• Once accepted, convert to an order and link back to the opportunity

• All related documents and communications remain connected

This creates a seamless workflow from lead to revenue.

8. Assigning Opportunities to Users or Teams

To ensure accountability:

• Set ownership of each opportunity by user

• Define visibility rules by sales region or team

• Use filters and views to track per user/team performance

Administrators can view all data, while users see only what’s relevant.

9. Automating Workflow Actions

Dolibarr 2025 includes automation features via triggers:

• Send email notifications when an opportunity moves to a new stage

• Automatically schedule tasks or meetings when status changes

• Trigger reminders for follow-ups based on inactivity

These save time and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

10. Tracking KPIs and Forecasting Revenue

The sales dashboard now includes:

• Pipeline value by stage

• Win rate and average sales cycle

• Forecasted vs. actual revenue

• Individual performance metrics

You can filter by period, user, product line, and more to gain deep insights.

11. Customizing Opportunity Fields

To capture the data that matters to your business:

• Use Setup > Extra Fields to add custom fields to opportunities

• Examples: lead source, competitor, margin estimate, etc.

• Fields can be shown in list view or used in filters

This makes the pipeline fit your unique sales process.

12. Managing Lost Opportunities

Understanding why deals are lost is crucial for improvement:

• When marking an opportunity as Lost, require a reason

• Use a predefined list or free text entry

• Report on loss reasons to identify trends and training needs

These insights help improve future win rates.

13. Integrating with External Tools

You can expand pipeline capabilities by integrating with:

• Email (via IMAP/SMTP for synced communication logs)

• Calendars (Google, Outlook)

• Marketing tools (Mailchimp, Sendinblue)

• Accounting platforms (QuickBooks, Sage)

Use Dolibarr’s REST API or available connector modules.

14. Security and Access Management

Protect sensitive sales data with role-based access:

• Define who can view, edit, or delete opportunities

• Restrict by user group or opportunity ownership

• Enable audit trails to log all changes

Proper access ensures data integrity and compliance.

15. Best Practices for Sales Pipeline Success

• Define clear entry and exit criteria for each stage

• Train sales teams on consistent usage

• Review the pipeline in weekly meetings

• Use color coding or alerts for overdue opportunities

• Clean up inactive leads monthly

Consistency is key to accurate forecasting and efficient sales operations.

Conclusion

Dolibarr 2025 makes managing your sales pipeline easier and more effective than ever. With its upgraded visual interface, deeper automation, and tighter document integration, sales teams can confidently manage every opportunity from prospecting to closing.

By fully activating and configuring the pipeline features, companies gain a powerful CRM capability within their ERP – one that’s flexible, scalable, and cost-effective. Whether you're a solo entrepreneur or leading a sales team across multiple regions, Dolibarr gives you the tools to visualize progress, stay organized, and grow revenue with confidence.