GuideThe numbers leadership asks about
Pipeline coverage
Definition
Open pipeline for a period divided by the revenue target for the same period. It measures whether the target is arithmetically reachable from what is currently in play.
How it’s calculated
Sum the open opportunities that can still close inside the period; divide by the period’s target. The required level derives from your own win rate: required coverage is one divided by the win rate. At a 25% win rate the target needs four times its value in open pipeline; at a 33% win rate, three times. The derivation holds only if the win rate was measured on the same segment, deal size, motion and period as the pipeline being counted. A win rate from smaller deals, applied to a pipeline of larger ones, produces a requirement the arithmetic no longer supports.
What to watch for
Sort the pipeline by last activity date. Opportunities that have been silent for longer than your sales cycle still sit in the numerator and are no longer in play; ask what coverage remains without them. Check close dates, since a deal that cannot close inside the period covers nothing in it. Ask which deals the win rate was measured on, and when. And note when the pipeline itself was created; a jump in the days before a coverage review is worth reading next to the created-by field before it is counted.
The question you ask
“Which win rate says this much coverage is enough?”