How Pippin Moves a Lead Through Stages

Summary

Overview: Every lead has a stage that shows how far the conversation has gone, from New to Won or Lost. Pippin and Pippify move most leads forward on their own as replies, quotes and booking links go out. This guide lists what moves each stage and how you change a stage yourself.

Prerequisites:

• None. Stages work as soon as leads come in.

How Pippin Decides

The lead page shows these stages in order: New, Qualified, Reply Sent, Quote Requested, Quote Drafted, Quote Sent, Quote Viewed, Quote Accepted, Meeting Requested, Meeting Link Sent, Meeting Booked, Won and Lost. Workspaces without quotes (B2B - Appointment Setting) do not show the quote stages.

1. New: a lead starts here when it arrives.
2. Qualified: after Pippin reads and scores a new lead's first message.
3. Reply Drafted: with Review every reply, while Pippin's reply waits in the Review Queue. Approving it moves the lead to Reply Sent. Rejecting it moves the lead back to Reply Sent if anything was sent before, or to Qualified if not.
4. Reply Sent: after Pippin's reply goes out, unless Pippin moved the lead to a later stage in the same turn.
5. Pippin's own judgement. As the conversation goes on, Pippin can move the lead to the closest matching stage, for example Quote Requested or Meeting Requested. It can also mark a lead Won when the conversation makes that clear. It marks a lead Lost only when the customer clearly says no: they are not interested, chose someone else, or asked you to stop. A customer who puts things off ("not now", "maybe later", "we will get back to you") keeps their stage. It never sets Reply Drafted itself.
6. Quote Drafted: when Pippin drafts a quote. Quote Sent: when the quote is sent (after approval, or by your team).
7. Quote Viewed and Quote Accepted: these lead stages are not set automatically when a customer opens or accepts a quote. Pippin sets them from the conversation, or your team sets them.
8. Meeting Requested: when a booking link waits for approval. Meeting Link Sent: when the link goes out. Meeting Booked: when the customer books with the same email address.
9. Lost from a sequence: a follow-up sequence set to mark leads lost does so when every step has gone out and the lead still hasn't replied after the wait set in the sequence (2 days unless changed).
10. Stopping. At Won or Lost, Pippin stops replying and any follow-up sequence ends.

Limits

• Stages work on every plan and on the free trial.
• B2B - Appointment Setting workspaces have no quote stages.
• Moving a lead to Won or Lost stops Pippin's replies. Move it back to an open stage to let Pippin reply again.
• When your team changes a stage by hand, Pippin does not undo it, but a later event (for example a sent quote) can move the lead on again.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: See a lead's stage

1. Open Leads and open a lead. The progress bar at the top shows the current stage, with a check mark on each earlier step.
2. Or open Inbox, click a conversation and look at the Pipeline section of the lead panel.
   • Some screens use shorter names: Replied for Reply Sent and Draft Pending for Quote Drafted.

Step 2: See stages on the board

1. Open Leads and click the Kanban view button.
2. Leads are grouped into the columns New, Qualifying, Quote Sent, Meeting Booked, In Follow-Up, Won and Lost. See How to Use the Leads Table, Board and Filters.
3. To change a lead's stage, drag its card to another column. Dropping a card on Won or Lost asks you to confirm first.
4. In the table view, click Filters and choose a Stage to list only the leads at that stage.

Step 3: Change a stage yourself

1. Open the lead, click More Actions, then click Change status.
2. Choose a stage in Status.
3. If you chose Quote Sent, Quote Viewed, Quote Accepted or Meeting Booked, confirm the message This sets the lead's status directly to "…", without going through the normal flow. Continue?
4. Click Save. See How to Edit a Lead or Change Its Stage.

Step 4: Mark a lead Won or Lost

1. On the lead page, click More Actions.
2. Click Mark Won or Mark Lost, then confirm. See How to Mark a Lead Won or Lost.

Verify It Worked

Success criteria:

• After Pippin replies, the lead shows Reply Sent (or Replied).
• After a quote or booking link goes out, the lead moves to Quote Sent or Meeting Link Sent.
• A stage you set by hand shows straight away on the lead page and in the Inbox.

Troubleshooting

Common errors

• The lead stays at Meeting Link Sent after the customer booked: the customer booked with a different email address. Fix: set Meeting Booked by hand.
• The lead is stuck at Reply Drafted: a reply is waiting in the Review Queue. Fix: approve or reject it.
• Pippin stopped replying: the lead is Won or Lost. Fix: move it back to an open stage if the conversation is still active.

Limitations & considerations

• Won and Lost are not in the Change status list. Use Mark Won or Mark Lost in More Actions, or drag the card to the Won or Lost column on the board.
• With a CRM connected, many stage changes (for example a new lead being qualified, or a lead marked won or lost) are also sent to the CRM. See How to Connect Bigin by Zoho and How to Connect Monday.com.

Next Steps & Related Resources

• Next steps:
  • How to Edit a Lead or Change Its Stage
  • How to Mark a Lead Won or Lost
• Related articles:
  • How to Use the Leads Table, Board and Filters
  • How to Read a Lead's Profile
  • How Pippin Drafts a Quote
  • How Pippin Sends a Booking Link
  • How Pippin Reads and Scores a Lead
  • How to See Who Is on a Sequence and Why It Stopped

Need more help? For more information and assistance, please send an email to support@pippify.ai.

Last Updated: 10/19/2026