Pipeline Management
Companies with effective pipeline management achieve 28% higher revenue growth. 44% of executives say their pipeline is not accurate.
💡TL;DR
Pipeline management tracks deals from opportunity to close. For SMBs, the challenge isn't visibility—it's action. Most CRMs show a nice pipeline chart but don't tell you which deal needs attention today. Effective management means: accurate stage definitions, regular hygiene (removing dead deals), and triggered alerts when deals stall. The goal is predictable revenue, not just a pretty dashboard.
Definition
The process of tracking and managing sales opportunities as they move through stages, including forecasting, prioritization, and identifying at-risk deals.
🏢What This Means for SMB Teams
Pipeline rot is the silent killer. Deals sit in "Proposal" for 60 days with no activity. SMBs need automatic alerts when deals stall, not manual pipeline reviews.
📋Practical Example
A 25-person manufacturing sales team had $2.1M in pipeline but only closed $400K per quarter (19% conversion). Analysis showed: 45% of "active" deals had no activity in 30+ days. They implemented: auto-alert at 14 days no activity, auto-move to "stalled" at 30 days. Reps either re-engaged or closed out dead deals. Real pipeline dropped to $1.4M but conversion rose to 31% ($434K).
🔧Implementation Steps
- 1
Define clear stage criteria: What action moves a deal from one stage to the next?
- 2
Set stall thresholds: How long can a deal sit in each stage before alert?
- 3
Automate hygiene: Auto-flag deals with no activity, auto-move to stalled
- 4
Weekly pipeline review: Focus on stalled deals and next actions, not just totals
- 5
Measure: Conversion rate by stage, average time in stage, pipeline accuracy
❓Frequently Asked Questions
How do we improve pipeline accuracy?
Three practices: (1) Strict stage definitions (not gut feeling), (2) Regular hygiene (remove dead deals), (3) Verification (compare forecast to actual). Most inaccuracy comes from deals that should have been closed-lost months ago.
What's the right amount of pipeline coverage?
3-4x quota is standard guidance, but it depends on your conversion rate. If you close at 25%, you need 4x. If you close at 33%, you need 3x. Calculate: Quota / historical close rate = required pipeline.
⚡How Optifai Uses This
Pipeline dashboard shows real-time deal health. Auto-alerts for stalled deals; AI suggests next actions to move deals forward.
Pipeline Dashboard📚References
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Related Terms
Sales Funnel
A visual representation of the customer journey from initial awareness through purchase, divided into stages (typically: Awareness, Interest, Decision, Action) that help sales teams track and optimize conversion at each step.
Pipeline Coverage
The ratio of total pipeline value to sales quota, indicating whether there are enough opportunities to meet revenue targets given historical conversion rates.
Sales Velocity
A metric measuring how quickly deals move through the pipeline and generate revenue, calculated as: (Number of Opportunities × Win Rate × Average Deal Size) / Sales Cycle Length.
Revenue Lift
The incremental revenue increase attributed to AI actions, measured against a holdout control group that received no AI intervention.
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