> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pipeline model

**Published:** 2026-09-12 · **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-12 · **Reading edit:** 2026-09-12

The sales dashboard shows a large amount of open business. You still need to know what changed this month, which deals might close, and whether the team can support them. A pipeline model keeps those questions separate and makes the assumptions behind a plan visible.

## Establish the opportunity contract

Define what qualifies as an opportunity, which amount is recorded, and what each stage means. Choose annual recurring revenue, contract value, or another consistent measure; do not sum incompatible amount types without conversion rules.

## Build the operating model

1. **Define stages through buyer evidence.** State the completed decision work required to enter each stage. Seller activities alone, such as sending a proposal, may not show buyer progression.
2. **Keep stock and flow separate.** Open pipeline is a snapshot. Created, won, lost, and amount changes are movements. Preserve dated snapshots and movement history so the opening balance can reconcile to the closing balance.
3. **Model cohorts and timing.** Compare opportunities created in the same period through a consistent observation window. Segment by motion or deal type where economics and sales cycles differ.
4. **Use assumptions transparently.** A planning model can estimate required opportunities from a target and an assumed win rate, but label the assumption and test sensitivity. Historical win rates are not guaranteed future probabilities.
5. **Connect capacity.** Check whether sellers, specialists, implementation, and customer success can support the modeled volume. More pipeline is not useful if the organization cannot serve it.
6. **Review quality and slippage.** Inspect stale stages, missing next steps, unsupported close dates, and concentration in a few large deals. Keep marketing source and influence definitions separate from the opportunity's commercial state.

## Worked example

A fictional team opens a month with \$500,000 in pipeline, creates \$200,000, wins \$100,000, loses \$50,000, and makes net downward amount revisions of \$20,000. Closing open pipeline is \$530,000, assuming no other movements.

For a separate planning exercise, a \$300,000 target at an assumed 25% value-weighted win rate suggests \$1.2 million of eligible pipeline. That arithmetic does not guarantee the target: timing, deal mix, amount changes, and capacity still matter.

## Pipeline definition sheet

| Item                                       | Definition |
| ------------------------------------------ | ---------- |
| Opportunity qualification and amount basis |            |
| Stage evidence and owner                   |            |
| Snapshot and movement rules                |            |
| Cohort window and segmentation             |            |
| Planning assumptions and sensitivities     |            |
| Capacity and review cadence                |            |

## Review with actual deals

Use the model to identify questions, then inspect the relevant opportunities. A weighted pipeline total is not a forecast guarantee. Report uncertainty and concentration rather than hiding them behind precise-looking expected values.

## Try it with your own work

Reconcile one month: start with opening pipeline, add new opportunities and amount changes, then remove wins and losses. Investigate any difference from the closing balance.

## Sources and scope

* [Salesforce: sales pipeline](https://www.salesforce.com/sales/pipeline/?ref=b2b-playbook) provides a general pipeline reference; definitions, formulas, and examples below are explicit operating choices.

The example is fictional; any numbers illustrate the method rather than a benchmark. Adapt the worksheet to your own situation.

## What to read next

[Forecasting](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/forecasting) · [Funnel model](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/funnel-model) · [GTM planning](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement/gtm-planning)

[Chapter guide](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/09-operations-pipeline-and-measurement) · [All playbooks](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks)

***

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