CRM Pipeline
Reading pipeline value and the funnel
What open pipeline value counts, what the funnel is showing, and the shapes that tell you something is wrong.
Last updated September 2, 2026
Open pipeline value is the total amount on opportunities that are still open. Won and lost deals are excluded — it is what is still to play for, not what you have achieved.
What it is not
- Not a forecast. It does not weight anything by probability — a deal at 10% counts the same as one at 90%.
- Not revenue. Nothing here has been sold. The Sales tab on an account is what actually happened.
- Not filtered by date. A deal with a close date two years out is in the number.
The funnel
The funnel splits those open deals across your stages. Read the shape rather than the numbers.
| Shape | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Narrows steadily | Healthy. Deals are progressing and being closed out. |
| Bulges in the middle | A step nobody owns — quotes that never go out, approvals nobody chases. |
| Thin at the top | Nothing new coming in. Today looks fine; in two months it will not. |
| Everything at the first stage | Nobody is updating stages, rather than nobody selling. |
Making the number trustworthy
- Close the dead deals as lost. Half of an inflated pipeline is usually deals nobody has touched in six months.
- Keep close dates current, so period views mean something.
- Agree what each stage requires, so two reps mean the same thing by it.
A GROWING PIPELINE IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY GOOD NEWS
It grows just as fast when nobody closes anything. Watch it next to what is being won, not on its own.