Pipeline (Sales Pipeline)
The total value of open sales opportunities at each stage of the sales process.
Pipeline is the total value (and count) of open sales opportunities at each stage of the sales process, from early-stage prospecting through advanced evaluation to proposal and close. Pipeline volume and velocity are primary indicators of future revenue.
Context
Pipeline coverage is the ratio of pipeline value to target revenue for a period. Healthy SaaS coverage for a quarter is typically 3–5x: $3M–$5M of pipeline to reliably close $1M in revenue, accounting for typical win rates and slippage.
Marketing's responsibility in B2B is usually defined in pipeline-created or pipeline-sourced terms — not closed revenue, because sales execution is outside marketing's control. The metric that matters is 'did marketing create enough qualified pipeline to support the revenue target.'
A B2B SaaS with a $2M quarterly revenue target and a 25% average win rate needs approximately $8M in qualified pipeline entering the quarter to hit target — 4x coverage.
Pipeline that's inflated with stale deals that won't close looks healthy on a coverage ratio but misses the target. Pipeline hygiene (regularly closing lost or dead deals) matters as much as pipeline generation.
Related terms
Services that apply this
More B2B & SaaS terms
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
A description of the best-fit customer for a B2B product.
ABM (Account-Based Marketing)
Targeting specific named accounts with coordinated multi-channel programs.
Intent Data
Signals indicating a company is actively researching products like yours.
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)
The normalized annual value of all recurring subscription revenue.