---
title: "Sales Pipeline: Definition and Examples"
description: "A sales pipeline is the set of open deals a sales team is working, organized by stage from first qualified conversation to closed won or lost."
path: /glossary/sales-pipeline
family: glossary
updated: 2026-10-17
html: /glossary/sales-pipeline
sources:
  - "https://www.salesforce.com/sales/pipeline/"
  - "https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-pipeline"
  - "https://outreach.ai/resources/blog/sales-pipeline-coverage-ratio"
facts:
  term: "Sales pipeline"
  also_called: "pipeline, deal pipeline, opportunity pipeline, pipeline coverage"
  category: "Sales"
  formula: "Pipeline coverage = open pipeline value for the period / sales target for the period"
---

# Sales pipeline

A sales pipeline is the set of open deals a sales team is working, organized by stage from first qualified conversation to closed won or lost. It shows how much revenue could close and what has to happen next.

## What Is Sales Pipeline?

**In short:** Each deal sits in a stage, and each stage has a clear exit rule.

A typical B2B set is qualified, discovery done, demo or solution presented, proposal sent, negotiation, then closed won or closed lost. The CRM holds the stage, amount, owner and expected close date for every deal.

Leaders read the pipeline to forecast and to spot problems early. Weighted pipeline multiplies each deal by its stage's historical win rate. Pipeline coverage compares open pipeline to the target; 3x is a common rule of thumb, but your own win rate sets the real number: at a 25% win rate you need about 4x.

## Sales Pipeline Example

Formula

```text
Pipeline coverage = open pipeline value for the period / sales target for the period
```

Example: an account executive with a $300,000 quarterly quota has $750,000 in open pipeline, which is 2.5x coverage. At a 25% win rate that pipeline should close about $187,500, so the rep needs about $450,000 more in new pipeline to reach 4x.

## Sales Pipeline in Practice

A pipeline is not the same as a funnel. The funnel shows conversion rates from lead to customer across all buyers; the pipeline is the list of specific deals in front of the team right now. Outbound is a main source of new early-stage deals, so pipeline reviews often start with how many meetings outbound booked last week.

## FAQ

### What are the stages of a sales pipeline?

Names vary, but most B2B pipelines run from prospecting and qualification through a meeting or demo, proposal and negotiation to closed won or lost. Each company defines its own exit rules for each stage.

### What is a good pipeline coverage ratio?

3x the target is a common rule of thumb, but it only works if it matches your win rate. Divide 1 by your win rate to get the coverage you need: a 20% win rate needs about 5x.

### What is the difference between a sales pipeline and a sales funnel?

A pipeline tracks where each specific deal sits in the seller's process. A funnel shows how buyers narrow from leads to customers, as conversion rates across the whole market.

### How do you calculate pipeline coverage?

Divide the total value of open pipeline expected to close in the period by the sales target for that period. $900,000 of pipeline against a $300,000 target is 3x coverage.

## Do this in Ken

### Do This in Ken

Campaigns starts the conversations that become new deals, and Inbox collects every reply in one place so you can answer interested prospects fast.

- Link: [Do This in Ken](/how-it-works)

## Related

- [GTM Glossary](/glossary): Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- [Sales funnel](/glossary/sales-funnel)
- [Pipeline generation](/glossary/pipeline-generation)
- [CRM](/glossary/crm)
- [Sales cycle](/glossary/sales-cycle)
- [Discovery call](/glossary/discovery-call)
- [Account executive](/glossary/account-executive)
- [How Ken works](/how-it-works)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Salesforce: What is a sales pipeline | https://www.salesforce.com/sales/pipeline/ | 2026-10-17 |
| HubSpot: Sales pipelines guide | https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-pipeline | 2026-10-17 |
| Outreach: Pipeline coverage calculation and benchmarks | https://outreach.ai/resources/blog/sales-pipeline-coverage-ratio | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published.