Also called: Pipeline, Deal pipeline
TL;DR
The set of qualified opportunities currently moving through the sales cycle, segmented by stage and weighted by probability.
Pipeline is the inventory of in-flight deals. It's stage-segmented (discovery, demo, proposal, negotiation, closed-won/lost) and usually probability-weighted by stage. Pipeline coverage, total weighted pipeline divided by quarterly target, is the standard early-warning indicator for hitting a sales number.
The rule of thumb is 3 to 4× pipeline coverage entering a quarter. Below that, the team will miss; above 6× usually means deals aren't progressing and pipeline is stale.
Q4 pipeline: 84 deals worth $11.2M unweighted, weighted by stage = $4.3M. Quota is $2.0M. Pipeline coverage = $4.3M / $2.0M = 2.15×, at the low end of healthy 3 to 4× coverage, so the team adds an SDR sprint.
Series A+ sales-led decks show pipeline coverage and average sales cycle length on the GTM slide.
A composite measure of how quickly a sales team converts pipeline into closed revenue, derived from deals × win rate × ACV ÷ cycle length.
The percentage of qualified sales opportunities that result in closed-won deals over a given period.
The sales rep who owns the deal cycle from qualified opportunity to signed contract, carrying revenue quota.
A sales rep responsible for outbound prospecting and inbound qualification, handing qualified opportunities to Account Executives.
The total value of a customer contract over its full term, including recurring fees, one-time fees, and committed expansion.
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