> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/inbox/hosted-inbox/playbooks/run-a-sales-pipeline-with-tags.md).
# Run a sales pipeline with tags
Turn the Inbox into a lightweight pipeline so you always know which deal is waiting on what.
If you sell or take orders over WhatsApp, the hard part is not replying — it is remembering which of forty conversations is waiting on a quote, which on a payment, and which you have not touched in a week.
Tags fix that. You label each conversation with the stage it is at, and the inbox becomes a pipeline you can filter.
#### 1. Write down your stages
Before touching the Inbox, write down the steps a customer actually goes through with you. Keep it to five or six. A few real examples:
| Business | Stages |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Made-to-order retail | New lead → Awaiting approval → In production → Quote sent → Awaiting payment → Delivered |
| Clinic | Enquiry → Booked → Attended → Follow-up due |
| Bookings and events | First enquiry → Call scheduled → Proposal sent → Confirmed |
Name them after what *you* are waiting for, not how the customer feels. *Awaiting payment* is useful. *Interested* is not.
#### 2. Create them as tags
Create one tag per stage in the Inbox.
#### 3. Tag every conversation, once
Go through your open chats and give each one a stage. It takes ten minutes the first time and then it is a habit: when something moves, change the tag.
One tag per conversation. If a chat has three stage tags, the pipeline stops telling you anything.
#### 4. Work from the filter, not the list
{% columns %}
{% column %}
This is the point of the whole thing. Instead of scrolling the inbox, filter to one stage and clear it:
* *Quote sent* — who needs chasing today
* *Awaiting payment* — who to remind
* *New lead* — who has not had a first reply
{% endcolumn %}
{% column %}
{% endcolumn %}
{% endcolumns %}
#### 5. Prepare templates for the chases
Most pipeline work is following up on conversations that have gone quiet — and a quiet conversation usually means a closed window, so you need a template. Get one approved per stage you chase: a quote reminder, a payment reminder, a delivery update.
See [Starting and reopening conversations](/docs/inbox/hosted-inbox/starting-and-reopening-conversations.md).
#### If you work with other people
Combine stages with assignment: the tag says what the deal needs, the assignee says who is doing it. See [Set up a shared front desk](/docs/inbox/hosted-inbox/playbooks/set-up-a-shared-front-desk.md).
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