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Setting up Products, Product Line Items and Pricing for use in Opportunities
Setting up Products, Product Line Items and Pricing for use in Opportunities

How to set up Products and Pricing in the Admin Module and how to use them when working on an Opportunity.

Updated over a week ago

Overview

The Products/Services offered by your company, and pricing for those Products/Services, can be added to Pipeliner allowing your team to select the products, quantities, and pricing for their prospective sales (Opportunities) and even add specific custom information against each selected Product. Pipeliner can then sum the value of the Products selected and update the total value of the Opportunity in question (if you choose to).

In most businesses, the pricing of products will change from one period to another (e.g. from one year to the next). So, although you may have won deals where the pricing was set at a specific amount last year, during this year, the pricing for the same product on your new Opportunities may be different. You may also sell your Products directly and via Distributors. Pipeliner allows you to set up multiple different price lists to accommodate these modifications.

As an Administrator, you can now define different types of Products and create a corresponding Custom Form for each Product. These Custom Forms can also include Custom Fields (just like when setting up different Opportunity Forms for each Pipeline). The custom fields that you place on each Product Form will capture static information for each product. An example of this might be where you use the SKU to hold your own product code but also need to add a custom field to hold the manufacturer’s code.

When you add Products to the Products & Prices section in the Administration Module, you can now fill in those Custom Fields with additional Product details.

You can also create custom fields that users will fill in when adding individual Products to their Opportunities in the App.

These fields are added to Product Line Items. These Product Line Item fields allow your users to select information to “customise” each line item that they add to their Opportunities.

You can add your Products manually or by importing from a CSV file. You can import additional Products on an ongoing basis and Pipeliner will warn you if your data contains duplicates and allow you to select what to do.

Once your Products are created, you can then add your standard pricing. As well as doing this manually, you can now also import your price lists from a CSV file.

When your users choose the Products to add to their Opportunities, they can add the custom Product and/or Product Line Item fields in the list view when searching for Products and also see the extra information by clicking in the Product Grid within an Opportunity.

Customising Product and Product Line Item Fields and Forms

Enter the Admin Module — from the Pipeliner CRM Application, click on the "App Switcher" in the top left corner ⤵

NOTE: Only Administrators will see the Administration menu

Creating Custom Product Forms

Select the "Fields & Forms" Menu and then click on the "Products Tab" ⤵

In the "Forms" section, you’ll see "Default Product" ⤵

If all your Products are similar in terms of the information you need to enter about them, you’ll just use the Default Product Form and add any required Custom Fields to it.

If, however, you have different types of Products that need different Custom Fields, you can add new Product Forms. 

How would I use Product Forms?

Let’s say that you’re a company that sells machines. You may sell brand new machines and also reconditioned machines — in this example, the fields you’d create would be very similar and you wouldn’t need separate Product Types — both new and reconditioned machines would have, perhaps, “year of manufacture”, “power rating”, “size”, “type of fuel” which would all be Custom Fields added to the same Product Form.

Now let’s say that you also sell warranties for your machines — warranties would need “length” and, “type of cover”. These fields are very different from the ones you need for machines so you would create a new Product Type of "Warranties" and could then set up a Form with just the warranty-specific fields on it.

Adding new Product Forms

Click on "Create New" to add a custom Product Form, add your "Form Name" and then click on "Save" ⤵

Now you can add the "Custom Fields" and then place them on the Form you just created.

Creating Custom Product Fields

In the Fields section, click on the "Create New" button to add a new field ⤵

Select your "Field Type" from the dropdown list and then enter your "Field Name". Depending on the type of field you choose, you can select or enter a default value if appropriate. Click on "Save" ⤵

Repeat until you’ve added all the fields you need.

Editing the Product Form

Select the Form you want to update the "Date" and then click "Edit Form" in the right-hand panel ⤵

The system fields that are already placed on the form are displayed on the left-hand side whereas fields not on the form are shown in a list in the right-hand panel in the "Fields" tab. 

NOTE: Some of the system fields are mandatory for all Products and cannot be removed from the Form. These include Product Name and Product Pipelines

First, decide on the layout of your Form using "Web Elements" ⤵

Each element represents the number of columns that will show in a fully maximised browser window on the web app (subject to the browser used and monitor resolution).

Drag and drop your chosen Web Element(s) onto the Form and then arrange your Fields inside them. 

Add new Fields to the Form by dragging from the right-hand panel. As you drop each new Field onto the Form, you’ll be able to select "Field Form Properties" which include making the field mandatory (on that form only) or changing the field label for that form ⤵

When you’re finished, click on “Save” to add your field to the form.

Drag and drop existing fields from one web element to another and then remove any elements that are not needed.

NOTE: You can only delete a web element when you have removed all fields and it is empty.

NOTE: When moving a field within the form, the “Field Settings (for this Particular Form)” dialogue box will not open automatically. You can open it to make changes by clicking on the single gear icon that appears when you hover over a field. Select Modify Field Form Settings to open the settings ⤵

Using Custom Product Line Item Forms

Select the "Fields & Forms" Menu and then click on the "Product Line Items" Tab ⤵

In the "Forms" section, you’ll see "Product Line Item Forms" for all of the "Product Types" that you have created.

NOTE: If you haven’t added any Custom Product Types, you’ll only see a single form for Default Product

How would I use Product Line Items?

When individual Products are added to Opportunities by your users, they often need to customise the information about each Line Item. Let’s use our Warranty example again — each Warranty will have its own individual Start Date so users would need to fill in the Start Date field as they add the Warranty to their Opportunity. This is where you need to add a custom Product Line Item field.

Going back to the machine example, perhaps your customers can choose from a range of colors for a machine they are buying — everything else about the machine is fixed but the color is variable. Again, you’d add a Product Line Item field with the available color options and your users would select the customer’s preferred color when adding that machine to their Opportunities.

Adding new Product Line Item Forms

You need to first create your Product Forms. An associated Product Line Item form will be automatically added.

NOTE: If you click on Create New in the Product Line Items tab, you’ll get a message that you need to first add a custom Product Form and be prompted to add a new Product Form. ⤵

Creating Custom Product Line Item Fields

In the Fields section, click on the "Create New" button to add a new field ⤵

Select your "Field Type" from the dropdown list and then enter your "Field Name". Depending on the type of field you choose, you can select or enter a default value if appropriate. Click on "Save".

Repeat until you’ve added all the fields you need.

Editing the Product Line Item Form

Working with Line Item Forms is the same as working with any other type of Form. Select the Form you want to update and then click "Edit Form" in the right-hand panel.

The system fields that are already placed on the form are displayed on the left-hand side whereas fields not on the form are shown in a list in the right-hand panel in the Fields tab.

NOTE: Some of the system fields are mandatory for all Products and cannot be removed from the Form. These include Product Names and Product Pipelines.

Drag and drop your fields onto the Form, modify their "Form Properties" as needed and when finished, Save your Form and "Publish" your changes ⤵

Adding the Products grid to Opportunities

Once you’ve set up your custom Product Forms and added the custom fields required, you need to add the Products grid to the Opportunities forms so that your users will be able to select Products for their Opportunities. 

In Fields & Forms, select the "Opportunities" Tab ⤵

NOTE: If you have multiple Pipelines, there will be a different Opportunity Form available for each Pipeline. First, select the Pipeline you want to work with.

Select the "Edit Form" button ⤵

Find the Product field in the Fields Tab on the right and drag it onto the form ⤵

NOTE: You wouldn't normally set this field as required as it's unlikely for your users to have all this information when an Opportunity is created ⤵

Click "Save" and then "Save" again to complete your Form changes.


Confirm and click "Publish" ⤵

Products & Prices Menu

Adding Product Categories

Now you need to finish adding the actual Products for your users to work with. Start by deciding on whether you want to group Products together using Categories. A Category represents a “family” of Products. Categories can be useful for searching for Products when adding them to an Opportunity as well as for Reporting.

In the Admin, module selects the "Products & Prices" Menu. Click on the "Categories" Tab ⤵

Create a "New Category" by clicking on "Create New" or modifying one that you already have. To modify a category, click on the category name and make your changes.

To add a category, click the "Create New" button. Complete the fields. Click "Create" ⤵

You can create a hierarchy of Categories by selecting an existing Category as the “parent” of the one you are creating or modifying ⤵

Drilldown from Categories

From the Categories tab, once you’ve added your "Categories" and "Products", there’s an easy drill-down to display all Products assigned to the selected Category or all Products assigned to the selected Category or any sub Categories

The Bulk update feature is also available from the drill-down list.

Creating Products

Select the "Products" Tab ⤵

Click the "Create New" button. The Default Product form will be selected. If you have not created any Custom Product Forms, complete the fields for your new Product (required fields have an “*” asterisk)

  • Product Name (required).

  • Product Unit is the Unit of Measure (UOM or default “quantity”) for that product. Some examples include Each, Lb, Box, Kg, Pallet.

  • If your company does not use SKU numbers or Product Codes, skip this field.

  • Use the drop-down list to select the Category this product belongs in.

  • Add a description of the product to help your users.

  • Lastly, select if this product will only be available in Opportunities for a specific Pipeline, selected Pipelines, or all Pipelines.

Click on "Create".

If you’re using a Custom Product Form, select it from the dropdown ⤵

Complete the fields and click "Save".
Repeat this process for all your "Products".

NOTE: You can also import Products from a CSV file. Please see this article for details.

Bulk Update for Existing Products

You have access to the "Bulk" update function with the "Products" tab when you need to change existing Products. This will be extremely useful when moving Products from one Category to another, for example ⤵

Note that it’s not possible to bulk update product images.

Using Price Lists

Adding Price Lists to Pipeliner enables the end-user to select Products and have the list price also added to an Opportunity they are working on in the App.

Prices often change, and therefore Pipeliner allows you to create multiple Price Lists for different date ranges. The name identifies each price list and the dates represent the period through which those prices are correct. All Products added to Opportunities will use that pricing when a Price List is applied.

A user can choose to use a previous price list. Also, a user can manually modify the pricing of products when adding them to an Opportunity.

NOTE: Price lists are not required. If pricing is not entered, then the user will still be able to use Products and can manually enter a price for each of them.

Creating a Price List

Select the "Price Lists" Tab and click on the “Create New” button ⤵

Add the Price List name and then click on the calendar icons to select the start date from which this price list will be valid. Then select the end date for this pricelist. Click on "Next" and add in the prices for your products. When it’s completed, click on "Create".

NOTE: You can go "Back" and change the date range and name if necessary ⤵

Editing an Existing Price List

Edit an existing Price List by selecting and then clicking on "Edit Price List" ⤵

NOTE: You can increase or reduce all prices in your list by a percentage using the Update Prices button. Type in your percentage and then select “Discount” to reduce all prices by that percentage or “Surcharge” to increase the prices ⤵

When your changes are complete, click on "Save" ⤵

Copying an existing Price List

You can copy an existing price list and then easily update it. Select your price list and click on the "Copy" button ⤵

Change the name, valid from date and valid to date, and then select "Next". Update your pricing (remember the helpful "Update Prices" button!) and then click on "Create".

NOTE: Changing prices within a current Price List will update pricing on all Opportunities using that list.

NOTE: You can also import Pricing from a CSV file. Please see this article for details.

NOTE: Products and Pricing fields are available only in the Enterprise Tier.

How to use your Products in Opportunities

Once your products are created, your Users will be able to access them when creating a new Opportunity. Once the Products Grid has been added to the Opportunity Form, you will be able to select from your entire Products catalog. The first step is to select the correct price list in the Products section ⤵

In our case, we are going to use “Wholesale 2020” as our price list. Then, select the “Click here to add” button to select from your created products ⤵

This will open a window so you can select all of your appropriate products for use with this particular Opportunity. In addition, search for specific products or select a certain category if you have many products to choose from. When I am done I will click “Add” ⤵

Now, all Products with the relevant Pricing are added straight into the Opportunity. Adjust all Quantities as necessary. For our example, if this User purchased 13 hours of training I would add it manually to the Quantity ⤵

If the Products associated with an Opportunity change, you can click on the dropdown on the right of each product line item in the grid to "Copy" the entire line item, "Replace" the product with a new product but retain all the additional line item information you have entered or "Remove" the product from the Opportunity ⤵

Additionally, I can Automatically calculate the Opportunity Value by selecting this option within the Products section. Then, no matter how many products I continue to add, the Opportunity Value will automatically update for this Opportunity ⤵

Now, the Opportunity Value is updated based on my Products!

Finally, add Product Section Headers that can be output to a quote template using Google Sheets/Excel, Word/Google Docs, or using Pandadoc. To add a section header, select one or more Products that have been added to the Opportunity and then click on the “Actions” button. Click on “Group to new section” and then edit your section name using the pencil icon ⤵

Then, reorganize all of your Products into sections ⤵

Now, your Quotes will contain the Product Sections you added ⤵

You can select specific Products from those linked to Opportunities by ticking each one. When you choose “Use Template” from the Actions dropdown, only the selected Products will be output from your Opportunity to your template ⤵

Also, when you’re setting up your template, you can include a field named “Product No.” in your Product Table and each row will then be given a number based on the order of Products added to the Opportunity. This is ideal if your customers want to be able to tell you “we want lines 1,3 and 7” for example ⤵

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