Pipeline Glossary

Browse 23 pipeline terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

23 Pipeline Terms

Backfill
Re-processing historical data through a pipeline to fill gaps caused by bugs, schema changes, new features, or late-arriving data. Requires idempotent...
CI/CD
CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (or Continuous Delivery). Continuous Integration is the practice of automatically building...
Deal Size
The monetary value of a specific sale or contract, often used in averages to describe commercial motion. Deal size shapes sales process, staffing, and pricing...
Demand Generation
Marketing work aimed at creating awareness, interest, and qualified pipeline for the sales process rather than just collecting raw leads. Strong demand...
ETL
Extract, Transform, Load — the three steps of moving data between systems. Extract from sources, transform into the desired format, load into the destination....
Lead Generation
The process of attracting and capturing potential customer interest so prospects can enter the sales pipeline. Lead generation can come from content, events,...
Lead Qualification
The process of determining whether a lead is a real fit based on criteria such as need, budget, authority, timing, and problem urgency. Good qualification...
Marketing Qualified Lead
A lead that marketing has determined meets the threshold for handoff to sales based on fit and engagement criteria. The usefulness of MQLs depends entirely on...
MQL
Short for marketing qualified lead, a prospect marketing believes is ready enough to pass to sales based on fit and engagement criteria. The quality of MQLs...
New Logo
A newly won customer account, especially in B2B sales where company logos stand in for account names and references. Teams distinguish new-logo growth from...
Pipeline Coverage
The ratio between current pipeline value and future quota or revenue targets, used to judge whether enough opportunity volume exists to support the plan....
Pipeline Value
The total potential dollar value of opportunities currently in the sales pipeline, sometimes weighted by stage probability and sometimes not. It is a...
Prospect
A potential customer who may be a fit for the product but has not yet become a qualified opportunity or paying account. Prospect quality matters because...
Qualified Lead
A prospective customer judged likely enough to become a real opportunity based on fit, interest, timing, or need. Qualification standards vary widely, which is...
Sales Cycle
The time and stages required to move a prospect from first contact to closed deal. Sales cycle length shapes hiring plans, cash forecasting, and which market...
Sales Development
The part of the sales organization focused on generating and qualifying early pipeline through outreach, follow-up, and account research. Sales development...
Sales Funnel
The staged path by which prospects move from awareness or qualification toward closed business, typically narrowing at each step. Sales funnel analysis helps...
Sales Pipeline
The collection of active sales opportunities at various stages before closing. A healthy sales pipeline has enough volume, quality, and progression to support...
Sales Qualified Lead
A lead that sales has reviewed and judged ready enough to enter active pursuit as a real opportunity. SQL criteria usually sit downstream of marketing...
SAO
Often short for sales accepted opportunity, a pipeline stage where sales formally accepts a lead or account as a legitimate opportunity worth pursuing....
SQL Lead
A lead that has been qualified by sales and is considered ready for active pursuit as a real opportunity, effectively another way of saying sales qualified...
Weighted Pipeline
Sales pipeline value adjusted by estimated probability of closing at each stage rather than simply summed at face value. Weighted pipeline is useful for...
Win Rate
The percentage of opportunities or proposals that convert into closed deals. Win rate is meaningful only when qualification is disciplined enough that the...

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