Glossary
What is a sales pipeline?
A stage-by-stage view of every open deal, showing what each is worth and where it's stuck, from first contact to closed.
Definition
A sales pipeline is a stage-by-stage view of every open deal a sales team is working, from first contact to closed won or lost. It shows how many deals sit at each step, what they're worth and which ones need action, so a team can forecast revenue and see where deals stall.
How a sales pipeline works
Each deal moves left to right through a series of stages. A stage should describe something the buyer has done or agreed to, not just something the seller did. When a deal moves, the pipeline updates the total value at each stage, which gives you a rough forecast and a list of deals that need attention.
Most teams run their pipeline inside a CRM, usually as a board with one column per stage.
Example pipeline stages
There is no universal standard. Stages should match how your buyers actually decide. A common starting point for a B2B team:
- Qualified. The lead fits your ICP and agreed to talk.
- Discovery done. You understand the problem and who decides.
- Proposal sent. Pricing and scope are in their hands.
- Negotiation. Terms, legal or procurement are in progress.
- Closed won or closed lost.
Sales pipeline vs sales funnel
The two terms get mixed up. A pipeline tracks deals and what the seller must do to move each one. A funnel tracks buyers and conversion rates, from many visitors or leads at the top to fewer customers at the bottom. The pipeline answers "what do I work on today?" The funnel answers "where are we losing people?"
An example
Say a founder selling scheduling software has 30 open deals: 12 qualified, 9 after discovery, 6 with proposals and 3 in negotiation. On a weekly review, she notices the 6 proposals have sat for three weeks with no reply. That's the bottleneck, so she spends the week on proposal follow-ups instead of finding new leads. A clear pipeline makes that call obvious. See how to run a weekly pipeline review.
How Siela AI uses it
Siela's built-in CRM includes a visual pipeline, and leads found by the AI SDR are saved to the CRM with a hot, warm or cold score and a one-line reason.
Questions
How many stages should a sales pipeline have?
Most teams do well with five to seven stages, including closed won and closed lost. Fewer stages hide where deals stall, and too many make updating the pipeline a chore. Each stage should have a clear exit rule based on what the buyer has done.
What is pipeline coverage?
Pipeline coverage compares the total value of open deals to a sales target for the same period. If your quarterly target is $100,000 and you have $300,000 in pipeline, coverage is 3x. The right ratio depends on your own historical win rate.
What is the difference between a pipeline and a forecast?
A pipeline is every open deal by stage. A forecast is a prediction of how much of that pipeline will close in a given period, usually weighted by stage, deal age or the rep's judgment. The pipeline is the input; the forecast is the estimate.
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