Definition
Pipeline velocity estimates how quickly revenue moves through a sales process, combining the number of qualified opportunities, average deal value, win rate and average cycle length into a single rate-of-revenue figure.
Its value is diagnostic. The same velocity decline can come from four different causes, and the components separate them.
It degrades badly when stage definitions are inconsistent, since both cycle length and win rate depend on what "qualified" means.
The usual error
Where this goes wrong in practice
Improving the number by tightening qualification. Fewer, better opportunities raise the rate while the business generates less revenue.
Related terms
Revenue operations (RevOps)
Revenue operations is the function that aligns marketing, sales and customer success around one set of definitions, one data model and one measurement system. Its work is mostly at the seams — handoffs, routing rules, stage definitions, field hygiene and reporting that all three teams accept.
DefinitionLead scoring
Lead scoring assigns a numeric value to a lead based on fit attributes (industry, size, role) and behaviour (pages viewed, emails opened, forms submitted), to prioritise follow-up. Its accuracy depends entirely on whether the model was built from outcomes rather than assumptions.
DefinitionLead routing
Lead routing is the logic that decides which person or team receives an inbound lead, based on territory, product, company size, source or availability. It runs automatically in most CRMs, and the rules tend to outlive the organisational structure that justified them.
DefinitionSpeed to lead
Speed to lead is the elapsed time between an inbound enquiry arriving and a human making genuine contact. It is one of the few operational metrics where the direction of the effect is not seriously disputed — contact rates fall sharply as the interval grows.
Definition