Selling & running a business
Sales pipeline coverage without guesswork
Translate a revenue target into deals, opportunities, leads, qualified pipeline, and a measurable gap.
The useful formula
Required deals equal the revenue target divided by average deal value. Divide again by the win rate for required opportunities, then by lead-to-opportunity conversion for required leads.
What belongs in the inputs
Use one consistent period and only qualified pipeline. Separate new business from renewals when their deal size or close rate differs.
How to use the result
Coverage is a planning buffer, not a universal constant. Compare required pipeline with current qualified value and improve the weakest conversion stage before simply adding more leads.
Make the right call
Turn a target into work your team can review
For a fictional quarter, use a 100,000 revenue target, 5,000 average deal, 25% win rate and 20% lead-to-opportunity conversion. Use one currency and one comparable sales cohort; mixing renewals with new customers can conceal very different conversion rates.
| Check | Example or action | How to judge the result |
|---|---|---|
| Wins, opportunities and leads | 100,000 ÷ 5,000 = 20 wins; 20 ÷ 25% = 80 opportunities; 80 ÷ 20% = 400 leads. | Round activity targets up when needed. These are planning quantities, not a promise that every group of 400 leads produces 20 wins. |
| Coverage and current pipeline | Choose coverage 4× and current pipeline 250,000: required 400,000; gap 150,000. | Coverage is a separate input in this tool. Changing win rate does not automatically change it. The 4× choice is a scenario, not a universal rule. |
| Deals cannot close this quarter | Exclude or move deals whose realistic close dates fall outside the target period. | A large total pipeline does not solve a timing gap. Review stage, next action, owner and expected close date. |