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Most small businesses lose sales the same way: a promising lead sends a message, the owner means to follow up, and a week later the moment has passed. A CRM fixes that by putting every lead and deal in one place with a clear next step. Pipedrive is one of the easiest to learn, because it shows your sales as a simple board you move deals across.
This guide walks through setting it up in seven steps, with the plan prices from our Pipedrive review so you know what each feature costs. You can finish the basics in an afternoon.
Before You Start: Pick the Right Plan
Pipedrive plans are priced per user per month, and which one you need depends on a few features. Here is how the two entry plans compare:
| Plan | Price | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $14/user/month | Lead, calendar and pipeline management, AI-powered report creation |
| Growth | $39/user/month | Email sync and tracking, automations, forecast reports, meeting scheduler |
Lite is enough to run a clean pipeline. Choose Growth if you want email tracking and automations, which steps 5 and 6 below use. Premium and Ultimate plans also exist for larger teams, so see our review for the full list. Prices come from our 2026 review and can change, so confirm on Pipedrive’s pricing page. Pipedrive also offers a free trial, so check the current terms there.
Step 1: Map Your Sales Stages
Before you touch the software, write down the steps a customer goes through on the way to buying. Keep it to four to seven stages, using words your business already uses. A typical service business might use:
- New lead
- Contacted
- Quote or proposal sent
- Negotiating
- Won
Each stage becomes a column on your Pipedrive board. Fewer stages are easier to keep up to date, so resist the urge to add one for every small task.
Step 2: Set Up Your Pipeline
Create your pipeline and add the stages from step 1 in order. The visual board is the heart of Pipedrive: every deal is a card, and you drag it to the next column as it progresses. Our review rated the pipeline view five out of five. Name the pipeline after what you sell, such as “Website projects” or “Catering orders”, especially if you plan to add a second pipeline for a different offer later.
Step 3: Import Your Contacts
Next, bring in the people you already talk to. Most owners have contacts in a spreadsheet, an email account or a phone, so gather them into one file with names, email addresses, companies and phone numbers. Then use Pipedrive’s import options to upload the file, or add the handful of live leads by hand. Check the file for duplicates first, so you do not end up with the same person twice.
Step 4: Add Deals and Give Each One a Next Step
Create a deal for every opportunity you are working on, with the value, the contact and the right stage. Pipedrive is built around activities, so every deal should always have a next step with a date, such as a call, an email or a meeting. This is what stops leads from going quiet. If a deal has no planned activity, it is at risk of being forgotten.
Step 5: Connect Your Email
Email sync lets you see conversations with each contact inside their record, so you do not have to hunt through your inbox. In our review, email sync and tracking are part of the Growth plan, not Lite. If most of your sales happen over email, this alone can justify the higher plan. Set up templates for your most common messages, such as a first reply and a quote follow-up, so you can respond in seconds.
Step 6: Automate the Repetitive Follow-Ups
Automations handle the small tasks you would otherwise forget. Start with one simple rule, for example: when a deal moves to “Quote sent”, create a task to follow up in three days. Automations are included in the Growth plan. Begin with one or two, and add more only when you are sure they work the way you expect.
Step 7: Check Your Pipeline Every Week
Set a weekly time to review the board. Look for deals that have not moved, make sure each has a next step, and close out lost deals so the board stays honest. If you are on Growth, forecast reports show the expected value of your pipeline, which helps with planning. The mobile app is useful for updating deals right after a meeting, while the details are fresh.
Connect Pipedrive to the Rest of Your Business
A CRM is one piece of a small business setup. When a deal is won, the work starts, and that is where a project tool helps: a monday.com board can track delivery, with a free plan for up to 2 seats (read our monday.com review). After the job, keep in touch with customers using MailerLite, which has a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers (see our MailerLite review). Check each tool’s integrations page for ways to connect them. For the full picture, see our small business software stack guide.
Common Setup Mistakes to Avoid
- Too many stages. A long pipeline is hard to maintain. Start simple.
- Importing messy data. Clean duplicates and blanks before you upload.
- Deals with no next step. An undated deal is the easiest one to lose.
- Paying for features you do not use. Start on Lite and upgrade only when you need email tracking or automations.
How Much Will It Cost?
| Setup | Plan | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| Solo owner (1 user) | Lite: 1 x $14 | $14 |
| Small team (3 users) | Lite: 3 x $14 | $42 |
| Small team with email and automations (3 users) | Growth: 3 x $39 | $117 |
Start on Lite and move to Growth when email sync or automations would save you real time. If you are still choosing a CRM, compare it with Zoho in our Pipedrive vs Zoho CRM guide or see our best CRM for small business roundup.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to set up Pipedrive?
Most small businesses can set up the pipeline, import contacts and add their first deals in an afternoon. Email sync and automations take a little longer to tune.
Do I need the Growth plan?
Not at first. Lite covers lead, calendar and pipeline management. Move to Growth when you want email sync and tracking, automations or forecast reports.
Can I try Pipedrive before paying?
Pipedrive offers a free trial. Check its site for the current length and terms, and use that time to build your pipeline with real deals.
Final Verdict
A CRM only works if you use it, so the best setup is the simplest one you will keep up. Map a few clear stages, import your contacts, give every deal a next step and review the board weekly. Pipedrive makes that easy, and you can start on the lower plan and grow into the extras.
Ready to set up your pipeline? (Affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.)
