Pipeline coverage and sales velocity.
Check whether your open pipeline can hit the target at your own win rate, see what each sales velocity lever is worth, and work back from a revenue target to the deals, opportunities and leads you need each month and week.
- Coverage from your win rate, not a fixed 3x
- Every formula shown and sourced
- Free CSV, live Excel model
Value of open deals with a close date in the period.
Win rate is deals won ÷ (won + lost) over a recent period. Use your own numbers: the tool opens on a worked example.
$300,000 a quarter · 25% win rate · $8,000 average deal
Coverage 3.2x. At a 25% win rate you need about 4.0x: $240,000 more pipeline, or 30 more opportunities at $8,000.
This pipeline should close about $240,000 at your win rate: 80% of the quarter’s target.
- Coverage today
- 3.2x
- $960,000 ÷ $300,000
- Coverage needed
- 4.0x
- 1 ÷ 25% win rate
- Pipeline needed
- $1,200,000
- $300,000 ÷ 25%
- Pipeline gap
- $240,000
- 30 more opportunities at $8,000
- Expected from this pipeline
- $240,000
- 80% of target
- Expected shortfall
- $60,000
- 7.5 won deals at $8,000
The formula
Coverage = open pipeline ÷ target. Coverage needed = 1 ÷ win rate. Gap = target ÷ win rate − open pipeline.
$960,000 ÷ $300,000 = 3.2x; 1 ÷ 25% = 4.0x
$300,000 ÷ 25% − $960,000 = $240,000
Coverage needed at other win rates
| Win rate | Coverage needed | At 3x coverage you’d close |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 10.0x | 30% of target |
| 20% | 5.0x | 60% of target |
| 25%Yours | 4.0x | 75% of target |
| 33% | 3.0x | 99% of target |
| 40% | 2.5x | 120% of target |
| 50% | 2.0x | 150% of target |
3x is the coverage that closes the target at a win rate of about 33%. Below that it falls short; above it, 3x is more than you need.
- Per day
- $4,000
- Per 30 days
- $120,000
- Per 90 days
- $360,000
- Won deals per cycle
- 30
- From 120 opportunities
The formula
Sales velocity = (opportunities × win rate × average deal value) ÷ sales cycle length in days.
(120 × 25% × $8,000) ÷ 60 days = $4,000 a day
What a 10% better lever does
| Lever | Per 30 days | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Today | $120,000 | – |
| Opportunities10% more: 120 → 132 | $132,000 | +10% |
| Win rate10% higher: 25% → 27.5% | $132,000 | +10% |
| Average deal value10% larger: $8,000 → $8,800 | $132,000 | +10% |
| Sales cycle10% shorter: 60 days → 54 days | $133,333 | +11.1% |
| All four togetherEach 10% better | $177,467 | +47.9% |
In the formula, 10% more opportunities, win rate or deal value each add 10%. A 10% shorter cycle adds a little more, +11.1%, because it divides. The levers multiply, so small gains on all four add up to +47.9%. Which one matters most for you is the one you can move most cheaply.
Velocity is a rate, not a forecast. It assumes about 120 new opportunities keep arriving every 60 days. Coverage counts only the pipeline open today, so the two can tell different stories.
| Stage | Per month | Per week | Per quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (USD) | $100,000 | $23,077 | $300,000 |
| Won deals | 12.5 | 2.9 | 37.5 |
| Opportunities | 50 | 11.5 | 150 |
| Leads | 250 | 57.7 | 750 |
The formula
Won deals = revenue ÷ average deal. Opportunities = deals ÷ win rate. Leads = opportunities ÷ lead to opportunity rate. A week is 12/52 of a month.
$100,000 ÷ $8,000 = 12.5 deals; ÷ 25% = 50 opportunities; ÷ 20% = 250 leads a month
LiftUp plans by monthly leads
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$49 a month
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10,000 leads a month
$149 a month
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No monthly lead cap
Custom price
Every lead captured in a month counts toward the allowance, per organisation, not only the ones that become opportunities. Plans are flat prices, not per seat.
Leads that arrive this month mostly close about one sales cycle (60 days) later, so start the funnel that far ahead of the month you need the revenue in.
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A workbook with an Inputs sheet you edit and Coverage, Velocity and Reverse funnel sheets that recalculate from it. Works in Excel and Google Sheets, with every source listed.
The short answer
What is a good pipeline coverage ratio?
It depends on your win rate. Pipeline coverage is open pipeline for the period divided by the target for that period, and the coverage you need is roughly 1 ÷ your win rate: 4x at a 25% win rate, about 3x at 33%, 2x at 50%. The well-known “3x rule” is a rule of thumb that only fits a win rate near 33%. Work out your win rate from deals won ÷ (won + lost) over a recent period, then add a buffer if deals often slip into the next period.
How it works
The formulas, and where they come from.
01
Sales velocity is four numbers in one formula
Salesforce defines it as (opportunities × deal value × win rate) ÷ length of sales cycle. Its example: 150 opportunities × $1,000 × 25% ÷ 30 days = $1,250 a day. The tool uses days, so the result is revenue per day.
Source: Salesforce: sales velocity (March 2024), checked 18 Oct 2026
02
Count qualified opportunities, not every lead
Pipedrive gives the same formula and says it is good practice to use qualified leads rather than all leads. It also notes that sales velocity and pipeline velocity are the same metric.
Source: Pipedrive: sales velocity (September 2026), checked 18 Oct 2026
03
Coverage is pipeline ÷ target for the same period
HubSpot: divide your total pipeline value by your revenue target for the period, so $500,000 of pipeline against a $100,000 quarterly target is 5:1. HubSpot says most teams aim for 3:1 to 5:1, without naming a source, and that lower win rates need more.
Source: HubSpot: sales pipeline coverage, checked 18 Oct 2026
04
3x only fits a win rate of about 33%
Writing for Salesforce, Jason Jordan says “the 3x pipeline coverage ratio works only when your win rate is exactly 33% and your sales cycle is exactly one year”, and that a 10% win rate needs 10x coverage and a 50% win rate 2x. So the tool sets coverage needed to 1 ÷ your win rate.
Source: Salesforce: pipeline coverage (April 2023), checked 18 Oct 2026
05
A reverse funnel divides back up from the target
Insight Partners starts from the bookings goal and divides by the historical conversion rate to set the pipeline needed ($2.5M ÷ 25% = $10M), then works back through each stage’s conversion rate to weekly targets. The tool does the same from revenue to deals, opportunities and leads.
Source: Insight Partners: reverse funnel math (July 2020), checked 18 Oct 2026
06
Where LiftUp’s numbers come from
LiftUp’s CRM reports show win rate as won out of closed leads on every plan. Open pipeline value and average won deal size come from deal values, which are on Growth and up. Plans include 100, 1,000 or 10,000 leads a month per organisation; Enterprise has no cap.
Source: LiftUp plans, checked 18 Oct 2026
Worked example
A $300,000 quarter at a 25% win rate.
- Coverage today
- 3.2x ($960,000 ÷ $300,000)
- Coverage needed at 25%
- 4.0x, or $1,200,000
- Pipeline gap
- $240,000, or 30 opportunities at $8,000
- Sales velocity
- $4,000 a day, $120,000 every 30 days
- 10% better on one lever
- +10% each; a 10% shorter cycle +11.1%
- Needed each month
- 12.5 deals, 50 opportunities, 250 leads
- Needed each week
- 2.9 deals, 11.5 opportunities, 57.7 leads
- LiftUp plan by monthly leads
- Starter (up to 1,000)
The team has 120 open opportunities worth $960,000, an $8,000 average won deal, a 60-day cycle and a 20% lead to opportunity rate. At 25% the pipeline should close $240,000, 80% of the target, so it needs $1,200,000 to cover it. Velocity is 120 × 25% × $8,000 ÷ 60 = $4,000 a day. The target is $100,000 a month: ÷ $8,000 = 12.5 deals, ÷ 25% = 50 opportunities, ÷ 20% = 250 leads.
Good to know
What the calculator can’t tell you.
- Whether your win rate will hold. It is an average of past deals, and it moves with season, deal size, source and who is selling. Work out coverage per segment if they differ a lot.
- Slippage. Coverage assumes the pipeline you count closes, won or lost, inside the period. If deals often move to the next period, use the share of pipeline value won by the end of past periods instead of your win rate.
- A forecast. Sales velocity is an average rate that assumes opportunities keep arriving at the same pace; it says nothing about which deals close this month.
- Timing in the reverse funnel. It uses one rate per stage and no lag, while leads that arrive today close about a sales cycle later.
- Your real numbers. It doesn’t connect to a CRM; type in the figures from your reports.
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FAQ
Pipeline coverage and velocity questions, answered.
Something the tool gets wrong? Tell us and we fix it.
How do you calculate pipeline coverage?
Add up the value of open deals expected to close in the period and divide by the target for that period. $960,000 of pipeline against a $300,000 quarterly target is 3.2x. Count only deals with a close date in the period, and compare the result with 1 ÷ your win rate: at 25% you need 4x, so 3.2x leaves a $240,000 gap.
What is the sales velocity formula?
Sales velocity = (number of opportunities × win rate × average deal value) ÷ sales cycle length in days. It gives revenue per day. 120 opportunities × 25% × $8,000 ÷ 60 days = $4,000 a day, or $120,000 every 30 days. Use qualified opportunities and measure all four numbers over the same recent period.
Which sales velocity lever matters most?
In the formula they are almost equal. 10% more opportunities, a 10% higher win rate or a 10% larger deal each raise velocity by 10%; a 10% shorter cycle raises it by 11.1% because it divides. The levers multiply, so 10% on all four adds about 48%. In practice the lever that matters most is the one you can move most cheaply.
How many leads do I need to hit my revenue target?
Work backwards. Divide the monthly target by the average deal to get won deals, divide by your win rate to get opportunities, then divide by your lead to opportunity rate to get leads. For $100,000 a month at $8,000 a deal, a 25% win rate and 20% of leads becoming opportunities, that is 12.5 deals, 50 opportunities and 250 leads a month, about 58 a week.
Does LiftUp calculate pipeline coverage or sales velocity?
Not as a single report. LiftUp’s CRM reports show your win rate (won out of closed leads) on every plan, plus open pipeline value, average won deal size and revenue won this quarter once deals carry values, which is Growth and up. The stage report shows how many days leads spend in each stage. Take those numbers into this calculator for coverage and velocity.
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