In HoneyBook, your pipeline is a tool that lets you view and organize your projects by where they are in their lifecycle (their “stage”).
Your full pipeline is visible in the Projects tab of your HoneyBook account. From there, you can:
Click on Active Projects to view everything that's currently in the works*
Click on an individual stage to see all projects in that stage
Click on Completed to see the total number of projects that have been wrapped up*
Click on Archived to view projects you've archived
*HoneyBook Tip: Completed projects appear in the Active Projects list. If you'd like to remove any project from your Active Projects list, you can use the archive tool!
Locked stages
With so many balls in the air, it can be hard to keep track of where your projects all stand—that's why HoneyBook has project pipeline stages, which help you get a bird's eye view.
Some pipeline stages are built into your HoneyBook account and cannot be moved or deleted, because certain actions that your clients take on files will automatically trigger movement between these stages. These stages are indicated by a lock icon in the customization screen.
The locked stages in the pipeline include:
Inquiry: A client who has expressed interest, but to whom you haven't yet reached out. New inquiries via your contact form will automatically enter your pipeline in this stage, and projects that you add yourself will start here as well.
Follow Up: Once you have engaged with your client via email, the project will enter this stage, where you can manage early communications and discover your client's needs.
Proposal Sent: When you send a bookable file (file contains an invoice and/or contract), the project will move to this sent stage.
Proposal Signed: Once your client signs the contract, the project will move to this stage and hold there until you've received a payment.
Retainer Paid: Projects will move to this stage when you receive your first payment or manually mark the first payment as paid.
Planning: Your client is booked! Projects will move to this stage when a second payment is made, and will stay in this stage until the project date.
Completed: Put a bow on it—you are DONE. You can manually move projects into the Completed stage when you're ready. We’d recommend moving projects here once all payments and signatures have been collected and after the project date has passed.
HoneyBook Tip: Any tile with the green Booked flag indicates a stage of the pipeline in which the project is officially considered booked—i.e., the client has made a payment, signed a contract, or both!
Customizing your pipeline
You can also add your own stages to really customize your workflow!
To add a pipeline stage:
1. From your HoneyBook home page, click the Projects tab.
2. Click the Customize button above your pipeline.
3. Click an Add Stage tile to create your new stage.
4. Enter the name of your stage.
5. Use the 6-dot icon to drag the stage to the appropriate position in the pipeline.
6. Click Save and Exit when you're done.
Your new custom stage will now appear on your pipeline! Because it’s a custom pipeline stage, you will need to manually move projects there—projects won’t be added to any custom stages automatically.
Viewing your team members' pipelines
If you have team members that are part of your company in HoneyBook, you'll see some additional details in your pipeline to help with project management! This feature is available for account owners and admins.
To view a team member's pipeline:
From the top of your pipeline, just click the drop-down and select the team member's pipeline you'd like to view, or select View all to view all projects under the company.
🚀 Want to level-up your workflow? HoneyBook Pros are pipeline experts that can simplify and streamline your process.
Want to learn more?
Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!