How to Build Your Sales Pipeline in PAX
A customer asks for pricing. You send a quote, answer a few questions, then get pulled into purchasing or a production problem. Two weeks later, you realize nobody followed up.
For a small manufacturer, a useful sales pipeline makes that unfinished work easy to find. In PAX, you can keep prospect and customer records, track individual opportunities, add dated follow-up tasks and convert accepted quotes into sales orders. Here is a practical way to set it up, whether you handle sales yourself or share it with a team.
Start with the companies you want to sell to
A target list and a pipeline serve different purposes. The target list identifies companies worth approaching. The pipeline tracks specific potential sales.
Sales author Mike Weinberg recommends a deliberate, manageable target account list that includes both suitable new prospects and existing customers with room to grow. That is a useful starting point for a manufacturer: which companies buy the products you make well, and which current customers could need something else you already offer?
Consider a small manufacturer of electrical assemblies. A company using similar assemblies may belong on its target list. A request for a first batch of 200 units is a specific opportunity. Recording every company as a large potential deal would make the pipeline less useful.
In PAX, open Dashboard → CRM → Prospects → Add New Prospect for a company that is not yet a customer. Add its name, available contact details, lead source and relevant notes. Existing customers can have new opportunities too; they do not need duplicate prospect records. Prospect setup guide
Give each opportunity a clear name and owner
Open Dashboard → CRM → Pipeline → Add New Opportunity. The prospect or customer must already exist in PAX. Select that company, choose a stage and assign the person responsible for the sale. Add estimated value and an expected close date when you have a reasonable basis for them. Opportunity setup guide
For our illustrative assembly order, the record might look like this:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Opportunity name | First batch of 200 control assemblies |
| Stage | Connect |
| Estimated value | $6,000, based on 200 units at an estimated $30 each |
| Expected close date | The buyer's stated decision date |
| Assigned to | The person handling the quote and follow-up |
| Description | Buyer is confirming the connector specification before requesting final pricing. |
The value is an estimate, not a booked order. If the quantity or price is still unknown, leave the estimate open rather than treating a guess as firm demand.
The description should help the next conversation. A note such as “Needs confirmation of connector specification before Friday” gives the person following up something useful to act on.
Use stages to reflect what the buyer has done
PAX has four active pipeline stages: Prospect, Connect, Present and Closing, followed by Closed Won or Closed Lost. List View shows the records in a table; Pipeline View shows active opportunities in columns. Pipeline guide
Decide what those stages mean for your business. These are suggested working definitions, not rules imposed by PAX:
| Stage | A practical meaning for a small manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Prospect | A specific potential sale is worth pursuing, but the requirement is not confirmed. |
| Connect | You have spoken with the buyer and understand the basic requirement. |
| Present | You have presented the relevant product, sample or quote for review. |
| Closing | The buyer is resolving the remaining commercial or approval details. |
Sending an email alone is not evidence that a buyer is close to ordering. Move the opportunity when the conversation supports it. If the buyer says the project has been canceled, close it as lost rather than leaving it in next month's expected sales.
When reviewing a team pipeline, check the assigned-user filter. PAX initially filters to the current user, so another person's opportunities may simply be hidden from your view.
Schedule the next useful conversation
A stage tells you where a sale stands. A task tells you what to do next.
Open Dashboard → CRM → Tasks → + New Activity. Choose Task, enter a subject, select the related company and opportunity, and set the date. Leave Completed unchecked for future work; that date becomes the due date. Task setup guide
For the assembly example, a useful subject would be:
Call about connector specification before revising quote.
The notes can hold the question you need answered and what the buyer agreed to provide. After the conversation, open the task, check Completed, record the outcome in its notes and save. Create the next task if further work is agreed. Task completion guide
Weinberg's advice on customer-focused sales messaging also applies here. Lead with the customer's issue and the outcome they need, rather than a general explanation of everything your company makes.
For example: “You mentioned that the assembly team is waiting for the connector decision. Would it help to review the two options before we update the quote?” That is a reason to talk. It is more useful than another message asking whether they saw your last email.
Keep the quote and the order distinct
When the requirement is clear enough to price, open CRM → Quotes → New Quote. Choose the prospect or customer, confirm addresses and terms, and add the parts, quantities and prices. PAX generates the quote PDF; emailing it uses your configured email service. Quote creation guide
Once accepted, go to CRM → Quotes → Open Quotes, expand the quote and select Convert to Order. Review the details first. PAX carries the quote information into the sales order. If the quote is for a prospect, PAX prompts you to convert that prospect into a customer first. Enter a unique customer code, review the defaults and confirm. Existing company details and CRM history carry forward, then PAX continues creating the order from the quote. You do not need to rebuild the customer record or reenter the quote lines. Quote management guide · Prospect conversion guide
Marking an opportunity Closed Won does not create that order. Update the opportunity and convert the accepted quote as separate steps. Production, shipping and invoicing then follow their normal ERP workflows.
This is where CRM built into PAX ERP becomes useful to both sales and the office: the accepted quote can become an operational order without rebuilding its line items.
Review the open work each week
A short review can focus on decisions rather than reading every record aloud:
- Which follow-ups are due or overdue?
- Which quotes need a customer decision, revised information or an internal answer?
- Have quantities, expected decision dates or stages changed?
- Which opportunities should be closed instead of carried forward?
- Which suitable new or existing customers deserve selling time next week?
For each active opportunity, you should be able to explain the customer's need, who is responsible and what happens next. If you cannot, that is the gap to address before adding more pipeline value.
The reports under CRM → Reports can help summarize your active sales work alongside this review.
Start with the opportunities you are already working on. Add the missing follow-ups, review the open quotes and make the next week of sales work visible. If you are evaluating PAX, request a walkthrough using an example from your own sales process.