What is Pipeline Velocity?
A metric that measures how fast revenue moves through your sales pipeline, calculated as (opportunities × win rate × average deal size) / sales cycle length.
Definition
Pipeline velocity combines four factors into one number: the number of qualified opportunities in your pipeline, your win rate, your average deal size, and the average length of your sales cycle. The formula is (Opportunities × Win Rate × Avg Deal Size) / Sales Cycle Days. It gives you a dollar-per-day figure that represents how much revenue your pipeline generates daily.
Why It Matters
Pipeline velocity is one of the best single metrics for sales performance. It accounts for both volume (how many deals) and efficiency (how fast they close). Improving any of the four inputs increases velocity. It's more useful than pipeline coverage alone because it factors in speed and conversion, not just total dollar amount sitting in the funnel.
Example
Your team has 50 qualified opportunities, a 25% win rate, $40K average deal size, and 60-day sales cycle. Pipeline velocity = (50 × 0.25 × $40,000) / 60 = $8,333/day. If you shorten the sales cycle to 45 days without changing anything else, velocity jumps to $11,111/day.