--- title: "Sales pipeline: what it is and why it misleads | attendo" description: "What a sales pipeline is, why stages should be defined by what the customer does, three signs of a misleading pipeline and what to do with the deals you lose." url: "https://attendo.me/en/glossary/sales-pipeline" lang: "en" --- # Sales pipeline: what it measures and why it often misleads Also known as: Pipeline The sales pipeline is the set of open sales opportunities, organized by the stage each one is in. ## Stages defined by what the customer does It is the change that does the most for a pipeline’s reliability. “Proposal sent” describes what you did and says nothing about the customer. “Proposal reviewed by the customer, with a follow-up meeting booked” describes a fact you can check. ## Three signs of a misleading pipeline 1. **Opportunities with no dated next step.** If nobody knows what happens next, it is not alive. 2. **Close dates that move every month.** An opportunity that has been “closing next month” for five months is lost, and nobody has said so. 3. **Probabilities set by gut feeling.** If nearly all your opportunities sit at 70%, the probability means nothing. ## The usual mistake Not closing lost deals. A pipeline full of dead opportunities makes a [forecast](https://attendo.me/en/glossary/weighted-forecast) impossible and demoralizes the team. Closing them as lost, with the reason, is information; leaving them open is noise. ## In attendo In [attendo CRM](https://attendo.me/en/crm), every opportunity has a dated next step, and every lost deal, its reason and its competitor. The won and lost report shows why you win and who you lose to. There is a single Sales pipeline, by opportunity stage: moving a card changes the document’s stage. - [attendo CRM](https://attendo.me/en/crm) ## Where it is used in attendo ### Modules - [Sales AI](https://attendo.me/en/modules/ai-crm): The AI in attendo CRM: clean, scored leads with a draft reply - [Kanban](https://attendo.me/en/modules/kanban): Boards by status for any document type - [Web quotes](https://attendo.me/en/modules/quotes-and-web-offers): Quotes with options that the customer opens, picks and accepts - [AI Autopilot (Multiple AI Agents)](https://attendo.me/en/modules/ai-autopilot): Micro-agents that score and prioritize. You take the wheel. - [attendo Forms](https://attendo.me/en/modules/forms): Public and QR forms that create the document, no account needed - [Marketing and prospecting](https://attendo.me/en/modules/marketing-and-prospecting): Campaigns, prospecting and leads that flow straight into the CRM ### Industries that use these modules - [Equipment manufacturers and distributors](https://attendo.me/en/industries/equipment-manufacturers) - [Contractors, construction and engineering](https://attendo.me/en/industries/contractors) - [Consulting and professional services](https://attendo.me/en/industries/professional-services) - [Hospitality, retail and multi-site](https://attendo.me/en/industries/multi-site-operations) - [And any other business](https://attendo.me/en/industries) ## Related terms Sales and customers ### Weighted forecast Weighted pipeline A weighted forecast is the sum of open opportunities, each multiplied by its probability of closing. Sales and customers ### Customer profitability Account profitability Customer profitability is the difference between what you bill an account and what it costs you to serve it. Sales and customers ### Churn Customer churn · churn rate Churn is the loss of existing customers, usually because they do not renew their contract. ### On the blog #### How to build a sales forecast you can defend Everyone has a pipeline. Few have a forecast they trust. The difference is not the tool: it is how the stages are defined. 3 min read [See all 53 glossary terms](https://attendo.me/en/glossary) ## Shall we look at it with your data? We will show you how what you just read works in attendo, with your own assets, tickets and customers. If it is not a fit, we will tell you. - With your operation, not a generic demo - A real person from our team replies - No cold calls afterwards Would you rather talk first? - Phone [+34 910 053 530](tel:+34910053530) - Email [sales@attendo.me](mailto:sales@attendo.me) - Monday to Thursday 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Friday 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM (Spain time)