Expert knowledge for digital decisions

What is a sales pipeline?

Short answer

A pipeline maps the path from the first contact to the order in fixed stages – such as inquiry, qualified, offer, negotiation, won. Each sales opportunity is in exactly one stage. This makes visible how much business is in progress and where it is getting stuck.

Purpose of the stages

Without a pipeline, the answer to "how is sales going?" – "quite well". With pipeline: "18 opportunities, 6 in offer, total value €240,000, average age 34 days."

The benefit lies not in the number, but in what stands out: If twelve opportunities have been stuck in the same stage for weeks, there is a problem there.

How to define stages correctly

Based on verifiable events, not on feeling:

Poor	Good
Interest	Need and budget confirmed
Running well	Offer sent
Almost certain	Verbal commitment, contract under review

The transition to the next stage must be tied to something that has happened – otherwise opportunities move based on optimism rather than progress.

How many stages

Four to six. More than that is not maintained, less than that says nothing.

The two most useful metrics

Average stage duration. Where does it get stuck?

Transition rate. Out of ten offers, how many become orders? This number makes planning possible at all.

The most common error

Deleting lost opportunities. Exactly these contain the most valuable information: why. Without knowing the reason for loss, nothing can be improved.

Key facts

Number of stages: Four to six
Stage transition: Tied to verifiable events
Never delete: Lost opportunities including reason

What we offer on this topic

CRM systems that bring contacts, leads, quotes and service cases together in one place – built around your processes.

CRM systems and CRM development

Sources

All external claims are backed by traceable sources.

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Ouhud CRM Ouhud GmbH