Pipeline & Forecasting

Sales Velocity: Pipeline Conversion Speed

How much revenue the sales engine generates per day, from the four core levers.

Definition

Sales velocity is the daily revenue throughput of the sales engine, expressed by combining four levers: number of opportunities, average deal size, win rate and sales cycle length. It tells you which lever to pull to lift revenue per day.

Formula

Sales Velocity = (Opportunities × Win Rate × Average Deal Size) ÷ Sales Cycle Length

Velocity = (Opportunities × Win Rate × ACV) / Cycle Length (days)

Worked example

200 qualified opps, 30% win rate, £25k average deal, 75-day cycle. Velocity = (200 × 0.3 × 25,000) / 75 = £20,000 of revenue per day. Doubling opportunities or halving cycle has the same effect.

Why it matters

Sales velocity isolates the four levers a revenue leader can pull. It tells you whether to invest in pipeline generation, sales effectiveness, deal size expansion or cycle compression — and lets you compare the ROI of those investments on a like-for-like basis.

Common mistakes

Using unqualified opportunities in the numerator
Computing velocity at the team level only (rep-level velocity exposes coaching opportunities)
Optimising for one lever and breaking another (e.g. shortening cycle by lowering price)

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Email Rachel Lunn