Definition
A sales pipeline is the set of open sales opportunities, grouped by how far each has progressed from first contact to won or lost.
What is a sales pipeline used for?
A sales pipeline is usually shown as a board with a column per deal stage, so managers can see how many deals sit in each stage, their total value and where deals stall. A healthy pipeline has enough value in the early stages to replace what closes.
Example: an HVAC supplier has 14 open deals worth USD 570,000: 6 in Lead, 5 in Quoted and 3 in Negotiation.
Some teams weight each deal by a win probability; others track the unweighted total. A pipeline isn’t a cash forecast: a won deal still has to be delivered, invoiced and collected.