Review the pipeline by movement, not by size
Review the pipeline by movement, not by size
The standard pipeline review asks the wrong question. "How much is in the pipeline" tells you almost nothing, because a large pipeline full of stuck deals is slower than a small one that moves. The number that predicts revenue is not pipeline value, it is pipeline velocity: how fast deals move from stage to stage and how reliably they convert at each step.
Track the four levers of velocity directly. The number of qualified deals, the average deal size, the conversion rate from stage to stage, and the length of the sales cycle. Acceleration is mathematical: shorten the cycle or lift the conversion rate, and revenue rises without adding a single new lead. Most founders reach for more leads when the cheaper win is unsticking the deals they already have.
Run the review around aging. Sort deals by how long they have sat in their current stage and put the oldest at the top, because age is the strongest early warning of a dead deal. A deal that has not moved in three weeks is not "still in play," it is a question you are avoiding. Force the question: what is the single thing blocking this, and what is the next step that resolves it, with a date.
The review should produce decisions, not status updates. Every stuck deal leaves the meeting with one of three verdicts: a concrete next action with an owner and a date, a downgrade to reflect reality, or a kill. "Let's keep an eye on it" is not a verdict, it is how deals rot in plain sight while everyone agrees not to look.
Done weekly, this turns pipeline review from a reporting ritual into the engine of acceleration. You stop admiring the pipeline and start moving it.
INTERVIEW EWOUD: Which velocity metric do you watch most closely for your clients, and what is a realistic sales-cycle length you have helped a client achieve?
INTERVIEW EWOUD: Describe how you run a pipeline review. What is the question you ask about every stuck deal that gets people to stop kidding themselves?