Your Pipeline Problem Is a Discipline Problem

Most companies under $50M don't have a pipeline problem. They have a pipeline discipline problem.

Opportunities live in inboxes, in memories, and in a CRM nobody trusts. The forecast becomes a negotiation. And the same question gets asked every month: what is actually going to close?

I put the discipline I've used for four decades, from carrying a bag to owning the P&L, onto one page.

Five moves. Three rules. Every action with a name and a date attached.

The five moves are on the page:

1. Enter. One row per opportunity, per product. Dropdowns keep it clean.
2. Work. Update status, probability, and next contact as things happen.
3. Log. Every conversation, one dated row. Nothing lost.
4. Review. The 1:1. Red flags, owners, due dates. What must happen, by whom, by when.
5. Close. Converted or lost. Never deleted. Lost deals teach.

Every move answers the same four questions: who owns it, what happens next, when it is due, and where it stands.

The three rules are where most organizations break:

• No weighted math. A $500K deal at 50% is not $250K. Orders happen or they don't.
• Nothing deleted. Lost deals stay, with the reason. That's where the lessons live.
• Everything owned. Every action has an owner and a due date, or it isn't an action.

If your pipeline reviews feel like status meetings instead of decision meetings, the summary below is for you.

Want to put this into practice on your own opportunities, starting today? Download Pipeline Lite™, the free Excel tool built on the same discipline, available in English or Spanish. No login, no catch.

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