How to Set Up CRM and Sales Pipeline in Odoo

Odoo CRM gives you a visual pipeline for tracking deals from first contact through to close. Setting it up correctly means your sales team spends time selling, not wrestling with the system. Here's how to configure it.

Install and configure CRM

• Go to Apps and install CRM if not already installed.
• Navigate to CRM → Configuration → Settings.
• Enable Lead Mining if you want Odoo to enrich lead data from external sources.
• Enable Predictive Lead Scoring to let Odoo rank leads by likelihood to close (requires historical data to be accurate).
• Configure your default sales team and pipeline.

Set up pipeline stages

Pipeline stages represent where each deal is in your sales process. Go to CRM → Configuration → Stages or edit them directly on the pipeline view:

• Default stages include New, Qualified, Proposition, and Won. Customise these to match your actual sales process.
• A typical B2B pipeline: New Lead → Qualified → Discovery Meeting → Proposal Sent → Negotiation → Won.
• A typical B2C pipeline: New Enquiry → Contacted → Quote Sent → Won.
• Keep stages to 5–7 maximum. Too many stages slow down the pipeline without adding clarity.
• Each stage can have a probability percentage — the likelihood of closing at that stage. This drives your weighted pipeline forecast.

Configure sales teams

• Go to CRM → Configuration → Sales Teams.
• Create teams based on how your business is organised — by region, product line, or customer segment.
• Assign team members and a team leader to each team.
• Each team can have its own pipeline stages if your sales processes differ.
• Set a monthly revenue target per team for dashboard reporting.
• Configure lead assignment rules — round-robin, manual, or by territory/domain.

Lead capture and sources

• Website forms — If you use Odoo Website, form submissions can automatically create leads in CRM.
• Email alias — Set up a catchall email (e.g., sales@yourcompany.com.au) that creates leads from incoming emails.
• Manual entry — Sales reps create leads directly from the CRM interface.
• Import — Bulk import leads from spreadsheets or other CRM systems.
• Live chat — Odoo Live Chat conversations can be converted to leads.
• Tag leads with a Source (website, referral, trade show, cold call) to track which channels produce the best results.

Email integration

• Configure your outgoing email server under Settings → Technical → Email → Outgoing Mail Servers.
• Enable email logging so that emails sent to and from contacts are recorded on the lead/opportunity.
• Set up email templates for common communications — introduction emails, follow-ups, meeting confirmations.
• Use scheduled activities to remind salespeople to follow up at specific intervals.

Activities and follow-ups

• Activities are the to-do system in Odoo CRM. Schedule calls, meetings, emails, and tasks against opportunities.
• Set default next activities per pipeline stage. Example: when a lead enters "Qualified," automatically schedule a "Discovery Call" activity.
• Overdue activities show up prominently in the pipeline — red indicators make it obvious when follow-ups are late.
• Managers can see activity summaries per salesperson to identify bottlenecks.

Quotations from CRM

• When an opportunity reaches the proposal stage, click New Quotation directly from the opportunity.
• The quotation is linked to the opportunity — you can track how many quotes were sent and which one was accepted.
• When a quotation is confirmed (sale order), the opportunity can automatically move to "Won."
• This CRM-to-Sales connection gives you full visibility from first contact to invoice.

Reporting and dashboard

• Pipeline Analysis — Revenue by stage, expected revenue, win rates, and average deal cycle time.
• Activity Analysis — Activities completed per salesperson, overdue activities, and response times.
• Forecasting — Weighted pipeline value based on stage probabilities.
• Custom dashboards — Build dashboards combining CRM metrics with sales data for a complete picture.

A well-configured CRM makes your sales process visible, consistent, and measurable. If you need help tailoring Odoo CRM to your sales workflow, get in touch.