Sales Pipeline
A visual representation of where prospects are in the sales process and the expected revenue from each stage.
Also known as: Deal pipeline, Opportunity pipeline, Sales stages
Category: Concepts
Tags: sales, processes, management, metrics, businesses
Explanation
A sales pipeline organizes prospects by their stage in the buying journey, typically: lead, qualified lead, meeting scheduled, proposal sent, negotiation, and closed. Pipeline management involves tracking conversion rates between stages, average deal size, sales cycle length, and pipeline velocity. A healthy pipeline has sufficient volume at each stage to meet targets, accounting for expected drop-off. Pipeline reviews help identify bottlenecks, coach on stuck deals, and forecast revenue. For creators and knowledge workers, a simplified pipeline might track: subscriber, engaged reader, sales page visitor, checkout initiated, and customer. Understanding your pipeline reveals where to focus optimization efforts.
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