The total value and set of open sales opportunities a business is currently working, typically organized by stage (e.g., qualified, proposal sent, negotiation) and often measured in dollar value.
Why it matters
Pipeline is the forward-looking counterpart to closed revenue — a business can have strong trailing revenue and a dangerously thin pipeline, which is often the earliest warning sign of a coming revenue slowdown, well before it shows up in actual bookings.
In a sentence
"We track pipeline generated per month as a leading indicator, since it takes a while for that pipeline to actually convert into closed revenue."
Related terms
- Often confused with: Pipeline coverage (pipeline is the raw dollar value of open opportunities; pipeline coverage is a ratio comparing that pipeline value to a revenue target, used to judge whether there's enough in the pipeline to hit the goal).
- Synonyms: Sales pipeline, deal pipeline.