Pipedrive Integration

Connect Cothon with Pipedrive to sync government procurement opportunities as deals, track your public sector pipeline alongside commercial sales, and keep your entire sales organization aligned. Pipedrive's visual pipeline interface combined with Cothon's procurement intelligence creates a powerful workflow for teams who need simplicity without sacrificing capability.

This integration is perfect for small to mid-sized businesses already using Pipedrive for commercial sales. Add government opportunities to your existing pipeline, track progress through stages, and maintain all client context in one place. Unlike Salesforce's enterprise complexity, Pipedrive offers straightforward deal management that works how sales teams actually think.

Why Pipedrive + Cothon?

For Sales Teams:

• Visual pipeline shows government opportunities alongside commercial deals
• Activity tracking logs proposal generation and analysis completion automatically
• Simple interface means faster adoption across your team
• Mobile app keeps team updated on opportunities from anywhere

For Bid Managers:

• Deal value tracking includes government contract estimates
• Custom fields capture procurement-specific data (compliance scores, deadlines, department)
• Activity history provides audit trail of all bid activities
• Filters and tags organize opportunities by category, department, or stage

For Business Owners:

• Unified revenue forecasting across commercial and government streams
• Win rate analytics include public sector performance
• Team performance metrics show government pipeline health
• ROI measurement for bid/no-bid decisions

What Syncs

Cothon → Pipedrive

Pipedrive → Cothon

Prerequisites

Before connecting Pipedrive:

Pipedrive Requirements:

• Pipedrive account (Essential, Advanced, Professional, or Enterprise plan)
• Admin or "Can manage company-wide settings" permission
• API access enabled (included in all paid plans)

Cothon Requirements:

• Cothon account with "Manage Integrations" permission
• At least one saved opportunity (for testing)

Recommended Preparation:

1. Create a dedicated pipeline in Pipedrive for government opportunities (Settings > Pipelines)
2. Set up custom fields for procurement-specific data (reference number, compliance score, pursuit decision)
3. Review your stages to ensure they align with procurement workflow
4. Clean up any duplicate organizations (government departments) that might exist

Setting Up the Integration

Initial Sync: After completing setup, Cothon performs an initial sync of your existing opportunities. Depending on how many you have:

• < 50 opportunities: 1-2 minutes
• 50-500 opportunities: 5-15 minutes

• 500 opportunities: 30-60 minutes

Monitor progress in Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Sync Status.

Pipeline Configuration

Choosing a Pipeline

Option 1: Dedicated Government Pipeline (Recommended)

Pros:

• Clear separation between commercial and government sales
• Stages optimized for procurement workflow
• Easier reporting and forecasting
• No confusion with commercial deal processes

Setup:

1. In Pipedrive: Settings > Pipelines > + New Pipeline
2. Name: "Government" or "Public Sector"
3. Stages: Match Cothon default statuses (see Stage Mapping below)
4. Save pipeline
5. In Cothon: Select this pipeline during integration setup

Option 2: Shared Commercial Pipeline

Pros:

• Single unified view of all sales activity
• Team already familiar with existing stages
• Simpler for small teams juggling both

Considerations:

• May need to adjust stage names to accommodate procurement terms
• Reporting less precise (can't easily filter government vs commercial)
• Longer sales cycles for government might skew commercial metrics

Stage Mapping

Map Cothon opportunity statuses to Pipedrive deal stages:

Customizing Stage Mappings:

Creating Custom Stages

If Pipedrive's default stages don't match your procurement workflow:

Custom Field Configuration

Required Custom Fields

For full functionality, create these custom fields in Pipedrive:

Cothon Reference Number

• Type: Text (single line)
• Field name: "Cothon Reference"
• API name: cothon_reference
• Purpose: Unique identifier for deduplication (e.g., "W6369-225123/A")
• Important: Mark as "Important" field for visibility

Compliance Score

• Type: Numeric
• Field name: "Compliance Score"
• API name: cothon_compliance_score
• Purpose: 0-100 score from Cothon analysis
• Display: Percentage with custom formatting

Pursuit Decision

• Type: Single option (dropdown)
• Field name: "Pursuit Decision"
• Options: Pursue, Pass, Review Needed
• Purpose: Tracks bid/no-bid decision

Department Name

• Type: Text (single line)
• Field name: "Government Department"
• Purpose: Agency or department issuing the RFP
• Note: Also creates/links Organization record

Closing Deadline

• Type: Date
• Field name: "Submission Deadline"
• Purpose: RFP submission deadline (may differ from Expected Close Date)

Optional Custom Fields

Add these for enhanced tracking:

Procurement Method

• Type: Single option
• Options: RFP, RFQ, Standing Offer, ACAN, Task Authorization
• Purpose: Type of procurement

UNSPSC Code

• Type: Text
• Purpose: Commodity classification code

Opportunity Category

• Type: Single option
• Options: Services, Goods, Construction
• Purpose: High-level category

Analysis Status

• Type: Single option
• Options: Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Skipped
• Purpose: Track analysis progress independently of deal stage

Creating Custom Fields in Pipedrive

Field Mapping Configuration

Map Cothon data to Pipedrive fields:

Core Mappings (Automatic):

Custom Mappings (Configure in Cothon):

Value Conversion: Government opportunities often show value ranges. Configure how Cothon converts to Pipedrive's single value:

• Midpoint (Default): ($500K - $1M) → $750K
• Conservative (Low): ($500K - $1M) → $500K
• Optimistic (High): ($500K - $1M) → $1M
• Custom Formula: Weighted based on opportunity type

Set in Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Value Conversion.

Sync Behavior

Automatic Sync Triggers

Cothon syncs to Pipedrive when these events occur:

Sync Frequency Options

Configure how often Cothon syncs:

Real-time (Default):

• Events trigger immediate sync
• Latency: 30 seconds to 2 minutes
• Best for: Active teams making frequent changes

Periodic:

• Batch sync at intervals
• Options: Every 15 min, 30 min, hourly
• Best for: Reducing API load

Manual Only:

• No automatic sync
• Manually trigger via "Sync Now" button
• Best for: Testing or controlled rollouts

Set in Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Sync Frequency.

Conflict Resolution

When data changes in both systems, Cothon resolves conflicts based on these rules:

Default: Cothon Wins (One-Way)

• Changes in Cothon overwrite Pipedrive
• Changes in Pipedrive are preserved but don't sync back
• Prevents accidental corruption of government data

Bidirectional (Optional):

• Last write wins (most recent change takes precedence)
• Timestamps compared to determine winner
• Can cause unexpected updates if teams edit in both systems

Field-Level Control: Configure per-field sync direction:

Configure in Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Conflict Resolution > Advanced.

Deduplication

Cothon prevents duplicate deals using:

Primary: Reference Number

• Checks Pipedrive for existing deal with matching cothon_reference field
• If found → updates existing deal
• If not found → creates new deal

Fallback: Title + Organization

• If reference number not available, matches on exact title AND organization
• Prevents duplicates when syncing legacy opportunities

Handling Duplicates:

If duplicates exist (from pre-integration data):

Deal Creation Process

When you save an opportunity in Cothon, this sequence occurs:

Deal Data Populated:

Title: "IT Security Assessment Services - Shared Services Canada"
Value: $750,000 (midpoint of $500K-$1M range)
Expected Close Date: January 30, 2025
Stage: Lead In (mapped from "Identified" status)
Organization: Shared Services Canada (auto-created if new)
Owner: John Smith (default owner or assigned team member)

Custom Fields:
- Cothon Reference: W6369-225123/A
- Compliance Score: 85%
- Pursuit Decision: Pursue
- Government Department: Shared Services Canada
- Submission Deadline: January 30, 2025

Notes:
"Government opportunity imported from Cothon

The Department requires IT security assessment services for their cloud infrastructure migration. Key requirements include ITSG-33 compliance, experience with GC cloud environments, and bilingual reporting capabilities.

View full details in Cothon: [link]"

Activity Tracking

Cothon logs key actions as Pipedrive activities:

Activity Types Created

Bid Analysis Completed:

Activity Type: Task (custom type "Bid Analysis" if created)
Subject: Bid Analysis Complete - [Opportunity Title]
Due Date: Analysis completion date (past due, marked done)
Note:
"Compliance Score: 85%
Pursuit Recommendation: Pursue

Key Findings:
✓ Strong technical capability match
✓ Team available for timeline
⚠ Pricing may be competitive
✗ No prior experience with this department

Requirement Summary:
- 12 mandatory requirements: 11 meet, 1 partially meet
- 8 rated requirements: Average score 4.2/5

Full analysis: [Cothon link]"

Proposal Generated:

Activity Type: Email (or custom "Proposal")
Subject: Proposal Generated - [Opportunity Title]
Due Date: Proposal creation date
Note:
"Proposal document generated and ready for review.

Sections: Executive Summary, Technical Approach, Project Team, Pricing, Past Performance

Status: Draft - Internal Review

Document attached and available in Cothon: [link]"

File Attachment: Proposal_SSC_IT_Security_Assessment.pdf

Deadline Reminder:

Activity Type: Deadline
Subject: Submission Deadline - [Opportunity Title]
Due Date: 3 days before deadline
Note:
"This RFP closes in 3 days on January 30, 2025 at 2:00 PM EST.

Current Status: Proposal Draft
Action Required: Finalize and submit proposal

Submission Portal: [government portal link]"

Status Change:

Activity Type: Call/Meeting (or custom "Status Update")
Subject: Status Changed to Submitted
Due Date: Status change date
Note:
"Opportunity status updated: Analyzing → Submitted

Proposal submitted via Government portal on January 28, 2025.

Next Steps: Await evaluation results (estimated 45-60 days)"

Customizing Activity Logging

Control which activities are logged:

Working with Synced Deals

In Cothon

Synced opportunities show Pipedrive integration status:

Indicators:

• Pipedrive icon badge on opportunity card
• "Synced to Pipedrive" status indicator
• Last sync timestamp
• Link to open deal in Pipedrive

Actions:

• View in Pipedrive: Opens deal in new tab
• Sync Now: Forces immediate sync (useful if automatic sync delayed)
• Unsync: Removes Pipedrive association (deal remains in Pipedrive but stops syncing)
• Sync History: View log of all sync events for this opportunity

Access:

• Opportunity detail page > Integration section
• Or click Pipedrive icon on opportunity card

In Pipedrive

Deals synced from Cothon are marked:

Visual Indicators:

• Label: "Cothon" (auto-added)
• Custom field: Cothon Reference populated
• Link in notes back to Cothon

Recommended Views:

Government Pipeline View:

Filter:
- Pipeline: Government (or your chosen pipeline)
- Stage: Any except Won/Lost
- Custom Field: Cothon Reference is not empty

Sort: Expected Close Date (ascending)

Columns:
- Deal Title
- Organization
- Value
- Compliance Score (custom field)
- Expected Close Date
- Pursuit Decision (custom field)

High-Compliance Opportunities:

Filter:
- Compliance Score > 80%
- Pursuit Decision: Pursue OR Review Needed
- Stage: Not Won/Lost

Sort: Compliance Score (descending)

Use for: Prioritizing where to focus bid efforts

Closing This Month:

Filter:
- Expected Close Date: This month
- Stage: Any except Won/Lost

Sort: Expected Close Date

Use for: Weekly bid team meetings

Creating Pipedrive Filters

Reporting and Analytics

Pipedrive Reports Using Cothon Data

Government Pipeline Forecast:

Report Type: Deals Forecast
Filter:
- Pipeline: Government
- Stage: Not Lost

Grouping: Stage
Visualization: Funnel chart

Shows: Total value and count of opportunities by stage

Compliance Score Distribution:

Report Type: Deals Performance
Filter:
- Cothon Reference: Is not empty

Grouping: Compliance Score (buckets: 0-50%, 51-70%, 71-85%, 86-100%)
Visualization: Bar chart

Shows: How many opportunities fall into each compliance range

Win Rate by Department:

Report Type: Deals Won/Lost
Filter:
- Cothon Reference: Is not empty
- Status: Won or Lost

Grouping: Organization (Department)
Visualization: Table with percentages

Shows: Which government departments you win most often

Average Deal Size:

Report Type: Deals Performance
Filter:
- Pipeline: Government
- Status: Won

Metrics:
- Average deal value
- Total won value
- Count of wins

Period: Last 12 months

Pursuit Decision Effectiveness:

Report Type: Custom
Filter:
- Pursuit Decision: Pursue

Metrics:
- Win rate of "Pursue" decisions
- Average time to close
- Average compliance score of wins vs. losses

Use for: Validating bid/no-bid criteria

Dashboards

Government Sales Dashboard:

Create a custom dashboard with these widgets:

1. Pipeline Value (Metric)

   • Total value of government opportunities by stage

2. Deals Closing This Quarter (List)

   • Upcoming submission deadlines

3. High-Compliance Opportunities (List)

   • Deals with compliance score > 80%

4. Win Rate (Chart)

   • Government win rate trend over time

5. Average Time to Close (Metric)

   • From Identified to Won

6. Top Departments (Chart)

   • By opportunity count and value

Creating the Dashboard:

Automations

Pipedrive's workflow automation can trigger on Cothon-synced deals:

Example Automations

Auto-Assign High-Value Opportunities:

Trigger: Deal created
Conditions:
- Deal Value > $1,000,000
- Label: Cothon

Actions:
- Assign to: Senior Bid Manager
- Send email notification to: VP Sales
- Create Activity: "Review high-value opportunity"

Compliance Review Reminder:

Trigger: Deal custom field updated
Conditions:
- Compliance Score < 70%
- Stage: Not Lost
- Label: Cothon

Actions:
- Create Activity: "Compliance review required" (due in 2 days)
- Assign to: Deal Owner
- Update field: Pursuit Decision = "Review Needed"

Deadline Alert:

Trigger: Date field approaching
Conditions:
- Expected Close Date in next 7 days
- Stage: Not in Submitted, Won, Lost

Actions:
- Send email: "Deadline approaching - [Deal Title]"
- Create Activity: "Final review before submission"
- Update Deal label: Add "Urgent"

Won Deal Follow-Up:

Trigger: Deal won
Conditions:
- Label: Cothon

Actions:
- Create Activity: "Contract kickoff" (due in 14 days)
- Send email template: "Congratulations on government win"
- Rotting time: 90 days (to review performance)

Setting Up Automations

Advanced Configuration

Organization Mapping

Government departments sync as Organizations in Pipedrive:

Automatic Creation:

• Cothon checks if organization exists (by name match)
• If not found, creates new organization
• Links deal to organization

Preventing Duplicates:

• Enable "Fuzzy Matching" to handle slight name variations
  • "Department of National Defence" vs "DND" vs "Dept of National Defence"
• Configure in Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Organization Matching

Enriching Organizations:

• Add organization-level custom fields:
  • Department Type (Federal, Provincial, Municipal)
  • Region (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Western, Territories)
  • Historical Win Rate
  • Total Contract Value (all-time)

Multi-Pipeline Setup

For complex workflows, use multiple Pipelines:

Scenario 1: By Opportunity Size

• Pipeline 1: "Government < $100K" (simplified stages)
• Pipeline 2: "Government $100K-$1M" (standard stages)
• Pipeline 3: "Government > $1M" (extended stages with approvals)

Routing Rules: Set in Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Pipeline Routing:

• If Opportunity Value < $100,000 → Pipeline 1
• If Opportunity Value $100,000-$1,000,000 → Pipeline 2
• If Opportunity Value > $1,000,000 → Pipeline 3

Scenario 2: By Procurement Type

• Pipeline A: "Services RFPs"
• Pipeline B: "Goods/Supply"
• Pipeline C: "Standing Offers"

Route based on Opportunity Category field.

Person (Contact) Syncing

Optionally sync contacts from Pipedrive to Cothon:

Use Cases:

• Track procurement officers you've worked with
• Associate internal team members with opportunities
• Link past relationships to new opportunities from same department

Configuration:

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Deals Not Syncing

Symptoms:

• Save opportunity in Cothon but no deal appears in Pipedrive
• Sync status shows "Pending" for extended period

Solutions:

Custom Fields Not Populating

Symptoms:

• Deal created but custom fields (Compliance Score, Reference Number) are blank
• Standard fields sync but custom fields don't

Causes:

• Custom field not created in Pipedrive
• API name mismatch between Cothon mapping and Pipedrive field
• Field permissions restrict integration user access

Solutions:

1. Verify Field Exists:

   • Pipedrive Settings > Data Fields > Deal Fields
   • Confirm field name and API key

2. Check API Name:

   • In Cothon field mapping, API name must match exactly (case-sensitive)
   • Pipedrive API names are usually lowercase with underscores: cothon_compliance_score

3. Update Mapping:

   • Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Field Mappings
   • Re-map the field using correct API name
   • Click Test Mapping to validate

4. Refresh Field List:

   • Click Refresh Pipedrive Fields in Cothon settings to pull latest field definitions

Duplicate Deals Created

Symptoms:

• Same government opportunity appears multiple times
• Different reference numbers or slightly different titles

Causes:

• Reference number field not populated
• Deduplication disabled
• Existing deals created before integration without reference numbers

Solutions:

Stage Not Updating

Symptoms:

• Change opportunity status in Cothon but deal stage doesn't update in Pipedrive
• Or vice versa if bidirectional sync enabled

Solutions:

1. Verify Stage Mapping:

   • Settings > Integrations > Pipedrive > Stage Mapping
   • Ensure every Cothon status maps to a valid Pipedrive stage

2. Check Sync Direction:

   • If sync direction is "Push Only", Pipedrive stages won't sync back to Cothon
   • If sync direction is "Disabled for Stages", changes won't sync either way

3. Test Manual Sync:

   • Open opportunity, change status, click Sync Now
   • Check for error message

4. Review Pipedrive Permissions:

   • Ensure integration user can edit deals and change stages
   • Check workflow automations aren't overriding stage changes

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps

Complete Setup:

• Connect your Pipedrive account following the setup steps
• Configure stage mappings and custom fields
• Test with a few sample opportunities
• Train team on the new workflow

Explore Related Integrations:

• Salesforce Integration - Alternative CRM (more enterprise-focused)
• Slack Integration - Add team notifications
• Google Integration - Calendar and Drive sync

Learn More:

• Opportunities - Managing opportunities in Cothon
• Bid Analysis - Using Cothon's analysis features
• Settings - Other configuration options

Get Help:

• Email: pipedrive-integration@cothon.io
• In-app chat: Support team (bottom right)
• Video tutorial: Pipedrive Integration Walkthrough