—Glossary
Sales pipeline
A sales pipeline is the series of stages a potential deal moves through, from first inquiry to won or lost, used to track opportunities and forecast revenue.
A sales pipeline shows every open opportunity and where it stands. Each deal sits in one stage at a time, and moving it forward requires a defined event, such as a booked appointment or a sent quote.
Typical stages
Stages vary by business. A service business might use:
- New inquiry
- Contacted
- Qualified
- Appointment or estimate booked
- Quote sent
- Won or lost
Each stage needs clear entry and exit rules. "Quote sent" should mean a quote was actually delivered, not that one is being prepared. Clear rules make the pipeline reliable enough to forecast from.
What to measure
- Stage conversion rate: the share of deals that move from one stage to the next.
- Time in stage: how long deals wait. Long waits usually mean missing follow-up.
- Pipeline value: the total value of open deals, often weighted by stage.
- Win rate: deals won divided by all deals closed, won or lost.
How it works in a business
Most pipeline leaks happen between stages, when nobody owns the next step. Automation helps by moving deals when events happen, for example a new booking moves a deal to "Appointment booked", and by creating a task or starting a follow-up sequence when a deal sits too long.
How it relates to Worcia
Cadenza, Worcia's lead follow-up system, builds and automates the pipeline inside your CRM. See the use case Quote follow-up.