Sales velocity (also called pipeline velocity) combines four numbers into one: how many deals you're working, how often you win, how big the wins are, and how long they take. The result is revenue per day. Its real value is that it shows which of the four levers is worth pulling first.
Worked example
A team has 200 open, qualified opportunities. Over the last quarter it won 20% of its closed deals by count, its average won deal was $15,000, and won deals took 60 days on average from creation to close.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Expected wins | 200 × 20% | 40 deals |
| Expected revenue | 40 × $15,000 | $600,000 |
| Velocity | $600,000 ÷ 60 days | $10,000 per day |
| Per 90-day quarter | $10,000 × 90 | about $900,000 |
To try your own numbers, use the sales velocity calculator.
Define the four inputs
Velocity is only as good as its inputs, so write a definition for each one and use the same segment and time window for all four.
- Opportunities: open and qualified (past your entry criteria; see stage exit criteria), with no close date in the past and not stale (no buyer activity for more than 30 days).
- Win rate: closed-won ÷ all closed opportunities, by count.
- Average deal size: total value of won deals ÷ number of won deals, using one definition of value, usually annual contract value. Open amounts are estimates and tend to run high.
- Sales cycle: average days from opportunity created to closed-won.
Why win rate by count? The formula multiplies a number of deals by the chance of winning each one, then by the dollar size of a win. Win rate by value (dollars won ÷ dollars closed) already has deal size baked into it, so using it here mixes units and counts deal size twice. Keep win rate by value for dollar-based measures such as pipeline coverage.
Pulling the levers
Change one input at a time and recalculate:
| Lever | Calculation | Velocity | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | (200 × 20% × $15,000) ÷ 60 | $10,000/day | – |
| Win rate 20% → 25% | (200 × 25% × $15,000) ÷ 60 | $12,500/day | +25% |
| Cycle 60 → 50 days | (200 × 20% × $15,000) ÷ 50 | $12,000/day | +20% |
Two cautions. The levers aren't independent: rushing deals can lower win rate, and discounting to win more lowers deal size. And if deal creation stays steady, a shorter cycle mostly pulls revenue forward once. It only lifts bookings every quarter if it also reduces the deals you lose to delay.
Velocity by segment
Suppose those 200 opportunities are 150 small-business deals and 50 mid-market deals, each with a 20% win rate:
| Segment | Calculation | Velocity |
|---|---|---|
| Small business | (150 × 20% × $8,000) ÷ 40 | $6,000/day |
| Mid-market | (50 × 20% × $36,000) ÷ 120 | $3,000/day |
| Sum of segments | $6,000 + $3,000 | $9,000/day |
The blended figure above was $10,000 a day, built from blended averages ($15,000 deal size, 60-day cycle). The sum of the segments, $9,000, is the better number, because each segment is divided by its own cycle. The two usually differ; they only match when the segment mixes happen to line up.
Common mistakes
- Running it on a dirty pipeline. Velocity moves in direct proportion to the opportunity count, so stale and past-due deals inflate it one for one.
- Mixing time windows. Win rate from last year, deal size from last quarter and cycle from an old report describe a company that never existed.
- Using open deal amounts. Average deal size comes from won deals.
- Using win rate by value. See above: it double-counts deal size.
- Comparing teams with different start points. If one team creates opportunities at the first call and another after a demo, their cycles aren't comparable.
The free RevOps Foundations course covers pipeline velocity and its four levers in Lesson 3, "The metrics that matter".