Pipeline Management Operating System

PIPELINE ARCHITECTURE

PIPELINE STAGES

STAGE 1: DISCOVERY (0%)
Entry: First meeting completed
Exit criteria:
☐ Pain identified
☐ Stakeholder mapped
☐ Timeline understood
☐ Budget range discussed
Expected duration: 7-14 days

STAGE 2: QUALIFIED (20%)
Entry: BANT confirmed
Exit criteria:
☐ Economic buyer identified
☐ Decision process documented
☐ Technical fit confirmed
☐ Business case started
Expected duration: 14-21 days

STAGE 3: EVALUATION (40%)
Entry: Active evaluation
Exit criteria:
☐ Demo completed
☐ References provided
☐ Technical validation done
☐ Champion confirmed
Expected duration: 14-30 days

STAGE 4: PROPOSAL (60%)
Entry: Proposal requested
Exit criteria:
☐ Proposal delivered
☐ Pricing discussed
☐ Objections addressed
☐ Decision timeline confirmed
Expected duration: 7-14 days

STAGE 5: NEGOTIATION (80%)
Entry: Verbal commitment
Exit criteria:
☐ Terms agreed
☐ Legal complete
☐ Procurement cleared
☐ Signature pending
Expected duration: 7-21 days

STAGE 6: CLOSED WON (100%)
Entry: Contract signed

Conversion Benchmarks

Stage	Target Conversion	Benchmark	Your Actual
Discovery → Qualified	60-70%	65%	____%
Qualified → Evaluation	50-60%	55%	____%
Evaluation → Proposal	60-70%	65%	____%
Proposal → Negotiation	50-60%	55%	____%
Negotiation → Closed	70-80%	75%	____%
Overall Win Rate	15-25%	20%	____%

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MANAGEMENT CADENCE

Pipeline Review Cadence

Review	Frequency	Participants	Focus
Daily standup	Daily	AEs, manager	Activity, blockers
Pipeline review	Weekly	AEs, manager	Stage progression
Forecast call	Weekly	Managers, director	Commit/best case
Deal inspection	Bi-weekly	AE, SE, manager	Top deals deep dive
Exec pipeline	Monthly	VPs, CRO	Coverage, trends

Weekly Pipeline Review Agenda

WEEKLY PIPELINE REVIEW (60 min)

PRE-MEETING (Reps submit):
☐ Updated pipeline in CRM
☐ Movement notes
☐ Blockers identified

MEETING STRUCTURE:
1. Pipeline snapshot (5 min)
   - Total pipeline
   - Week-over-week change
   - Coverage ratio

2. Stage progression (15 min)
   - Deals that moved forward
   - Deals that slipped
   - New pipeline added

3. Deal inspection (30 min)
   - Top 5 deals by value
   - At-risk deals
   - Stalled deals

4. Actions (10 min)
   - Blockers to resolve
   - Support needed
   - Next steps

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OPTIMIZATION FRAMEWORK

Pipeline Health Metrics

PIPELINE HEALTH SCORECARD

COVERAGE:
Pipeline: $_____
Target: $_____
Coverage ratio: ___:1
Health: Green/Yellow/Red (Target: 3:1+)

VELOCITY:
Avg deal size: $_____
Win rate: ____%
Sales cycle: _____ days
Velocity: $_____/month

QUALITY:
ICP fit %: ____%
Multi-threaded %: ____%
Executive engaged %: ____%
Overall quality score: ___/10

CONVERSION:
Discovery→Qualified: ____%
Qualified→Proposal: ____%
Proposal→Closed: ____%

Bottleneck Analysis

Stage	Conversion	vs. Target	Root Cause	Action
	%	+/-%
	%	+/-%
	%	+/-%

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