Sales Pipeline
A sales pipeline is a visual representation of every active deal, organized by the stages a prospect moves through from first contact to closed-won. It gives reps and managers a structured view of where each opportunity stands, helping teams track progress, forecast revenue, and identify exactly where deals stall.
Each stage (qualification, demo, proposal, negotiation) usually carries an expected probability of closing, so multiplying open deal values by those probabilities produces a weighted pipeline forecast. Pipeline value, deal count, average deal size, and velocity are the metrics ops teams watch to judge whether enough is in flight to hit a target.
A common pitfall is confusing the pipeline with a sales funnel: the pipeline reflects seller actions on specific deals, while the funnel describes aggregate buyer conversion. Stale deals that never advance also inflate pipeline and distort forecasts, so regular hygiene reviews are essential.
Last updated: 14 June 2026