This week we are going to take a deeper look at my favorite metric: next quarter’s weighted pipeline.
Weighted pipeline takes into account deal size + likelihood to win. A $100,000 deal, forecasted at 50% likely to close, contributes $50,000 to weighted pipeline.*
I love this metric for a few reasons:
– It’s controllable 100% of the time. Revenue focus can be paralyzing, especially towards the end of a quarter. There’s not much you can do in the last month of the quarter to increase short-term revenue closed with a complex sales cycle. But, if the next quarter’s weighted pipeline is the focus, you always have a goal to progress, regardless of your success to quota in the current period.
– It blends pipeline generation, pipeline health, and personal development. You can improve this metric by creating more opportunities, strengthening current opportunities, and improving skills that lead to larger average deal size.
– It forces reps and teams to look beyond the current quarter, which I’ve seen significantly improve billing pace and consistency of quota attainment.
Good luck to all sellers closing out your month/Q1. If you find yourself spending too much time refreshing your inbox for signed contracts, consider setting a goal for next quarter’s weighted that you can work towards while your contracts work through procurement this week!
*Tools like Clari have “Weighted Pipeline” as an option you can toggle into your Forecast view. In Salesforce, you can view “Weighted Pipeline” by going to the “Forecasts” tab, click on the gear in the top right, and toggle to “Forecast Type = Forecast Amount.” Once this is selected, the value under “Best Case Forecast” is your weighted pipeline for the selected quarter.
