Pipeline coverage
How many times your target is currently sitting in open, qualified pipeline.
01 What it is
Why anyone looks at this number
How many times your target is currently sitting in open, qualified pipeline.
It is the earliest warning you get. By the time revenue misses, the coverage gap was visible a cycle earlier — if anyone was looking.
02 The formula
How it is worked out
Pipeline coverage = open_pipeline_value ÷ target_for_the_period grain : quarter × segment × team unit : multiple source : CRM plus the plan
Coverage only means something against your own win rate. At a 30% win rate you need roughly 3.3x just to break even, so a "3x rule" borrowed from another company can quietly guarantee a miss.
03 Worked example
The same number, with real inputs
| Open pipeline closing this quarter | €9.0m |
| Target | €3.0m |
| Win rate | 30% |
| Calculation | 9.0 ÷ 3.0, against a break-even need of 1 ÷ 0.30 |
| Result | 3.0x, against 3.3x needed |
Slightly short before you allow for slippage. This is a demand generation decision to take now, not a forecast conversation to have in week eleven.
04 What moves it
Four things that actually change this number
Demand generation
What went in at the top, one cycle ago.
Win rate
The conversion assumption underneath the multiple.
Cycle length
Whether what is open can actually close inside the period.
Hygiene
Dead deals left open inflate coverage and hide the problem.
05 Where the number lives
The system, the record and the fields
| System of record | Key record | Fields you need |
|---|---|---|
| CRM plus the plan | Opportunity and Quota / Plan | amount, stage, close_date, probability, quota |
Coverage only means something against your own win rate. At a 30% win rate you need roughly 3.3x just to break even, so a "3x rule" borrowed from another company can quietly guarantee a miss.
06 How it goes wrong
Three ways this metric misleads people
Counting unqualified pipeline
Everything ever created stays open, and coverage looks comfortable while nothing closes.
Fix: Enforce a close-date hygiene rule and count only stages past qualification.Borrowing someone else's multiple
A 3x rule from a business with a 45% win rate will underfund yours.
Fix: Derive the required multiple from your own win rate and slippage.Ignoring close dates
Pipeline that cannot physically close in the period still counts towards it.
Fix: Filter to deals whose close date sits inside the period, allowing for cycle length.08 Questions
Frequently asked
What coverage should we aim for?
Start from 1 ÷ win rate, then add for slippage. A 30% win rate implies 3.3x before slippage, so most teams in that position work to 4x.
Does weighted pipeline replace coverage?
They answer different questions. Weighted pipeline estimates what will land; coverage tells you whether there is enough raw material for it to land at all.
One definition, everywhere it is used
SCIKIQ stores this metric once and serves it to every dashboard, board pack and agent that asks.