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Blog · Forecast and pipeline

How to read a pipeline table: face value, weighted, and the column in between

A reading guide for a pipeline table by rep and stage: why face value is the column to distrust, why weighted by historical conversion is the one to believe, what the slip count column does to both, how to read stage distribution as a shape rather than a total, the needed multiple against coverage, and the two rows to open, the rep whose weighted coverage is lowest and the rep whose face-to-weighted ratio is highest.

The short answerFace value is the sum of open deals and the column to distrust, because it counts a discovery-stage deal at the same weight as one in negotiation. Weighted, at the team's own historical conversion by stage, is the column to believe. The ratio between them says how early the pipeline is: a rep whose face value is three times their weighted value has a pipeline of discovery deals. The slip count column marks deals whose weight should be lower still. Read weighted coverage against the needed multiple per rep, then open two rows: the lowest weighted coverage and the highest face-to-weighted ratio.

A pipeline table has a face value column that everyone reads and a weighted column that fewer do, and the distance between them is most of what the table has to say. This guide is the reading order for a pipeline table by rep and stage, the columns to trust, and the two rows to open.

The columns

Column Trust What it says
Face value Low What the CRM adds up
Weighted, historical conversion High What the team's own history says will close
Face-to-weighted ratio Context How early the pipeline is
Slip-adjusted weighted Highest Weighted, less the deals pushed repeatedly
Weighted coverage The reading Slip-adjusted weighted ÷ remaining target
Needed multiple The threshold 1 ÷ conversion at this point in the period
Stage shape Second read Share of face value by stage

The reading order

  1. Weighted coverage against the needed multiple, per rep. Below it is the finding.
  2. Face-to-weighted ratio. High means early; the coverage will not arrive this period.
  3. Slip-adjusted against weighted. A large gap is a hygiene finding.
  4. Stage shape for the rows opened.
  5. Face value, last, as the explanation of why the rep thinks they are fine.

A worked read

Needed multiple at this week: 1.4× weighted.

Rep Face Weighted Ratio Slip-adjusted Remaining target Weighted coverage Shape
R-04 $1.30m $0.42m 3.1 $0.29m $400,000 0.7× 70% discovery
R-11 $0.80m $0.51m 1.6 $0.49m $350,000 1.4× Balanced
R-17 $1.10m $0.36m 3.1 $0.35m $300,000 1.2× 65% discovery
R-22 $0.60m $0.44m 1.4 $0.30m $300,000 1.0× 60% negotiation; 4 deals slipped 3+

Weighted coverage: R-04 at 0.7 and R-22 at 1.0 are below the multiple.

Ratio: R-04 and R-17 at 3.1 have early pipelines; the face value is next quarter's, if it is anything.

Slip-adjusted: R-22 loses a third of their weighted value to deals slipped three or more times. Hygiene before coverage.

Shape: R-04 is seventy percent discovery; R-22 is sixty percent negotiation with nothing behind it.

The two rows to open

Lowest weighted coverage: R-04. The conversation is about pipeline creation, now, for the next period as much as this one.

Highest face-to-weighted ratio: R-04 and R-17 tie. R-17's coverage is nearly there; R-04's is not. R-17's conversation is about moving discovery deals forward.

And a third, from the slip column: R-22, about four deals by name.

Where it goes wrong

Face value read as the pipeline. R-04 looks best.

Weighted at CRM probabilities. Workshop numbers with decimals.

Slip column ignored. R-22 looks covered.

Shape unread. Two reps at the same coverage with opposite problems.

Every week, the same order

Covirage lays out the pipeline table in this order: weighted coverage, ratio, slip-adjusted, shape, face. The pipeline coverage guide covers how the needed multiple is derived, and the slip count guide covers the column that changes the reading most.

Questions people ask

Why is face value in the table at all?

Because it is what the CRM shows and what reps quote, and the reader needs to see it beside the weighted figure to understand why the two differ. It is context for the ratio, not a figure to act on.

What does the slip count do to the reading?

A deal that has slipped three times closes at a fraction of its stage's rate. The weighted column can be shown with and without the slip adjustment, and the difference is the value the forecast is carrying on deals that have been pushed repeatedly. A rep whose difference is large has a hygiene finding before a coverage one.

How is stage distribution read?

As a shape per rep: the share of face value in each stage. A healthy shape has most value in the middle stages with a tail at each end. A rep whose value is all in discovery has a pipeline that is a quarter away from mattering; one whose value is all in negotiation has nothing behind it.