When this topic matters
You have enough leads, but few deals. Somewhere in pipeline contacts are getting lost. Where?
Diagnosing pipeline losses helps identify what to fix: is problem in qualification? In handover? In closing?
What happens in practice
Typical bottlenecks: 1) Contact → Qualified meeting (messaging, targeting). 2) Meeting → Proposal (discovery, fit). 3) Proposal → Close (pricing, urgency). 4) Handover SDR → AE (context loss).
Each leak has different root cause and requires different solution.
Why it fails
Contact → Meeting: bad targeting, bad messaging, bad timing.
Meeting → Proposal: bad discovery (did not identify need), or no fit.
Proposal → Close: wrong price, missing urgency, or decision process takes longer.
Handover: context loss, customer feels "handed off", or SDR promised more than AE can deliver.
How to think about it
Measure conversion rate between each two stages. Compare with history and find where biggest drop is.
For each leak analyze: 1) What is normal loss? 2) What causes excessive loss? 3) What can be fixed?
- Contact → Meeting: targeting + messaging
- Meeting → Proposal: discovery + fit
- Proposal → Close: pricing + urgency
- Handover: context + expectations
What you gain and what you lose
Focus on one leak: deep fix, measurable improvement. But other leaks remain.
Fixing multiple leaks at once: broader impact, but harder to measure what worked.
When to apply
Analyze pipeline regularly — monthly or when performance changes substantially.
Focus on biggest leak: 10% improvement where you lose 80% of contacts has bigger impact than 50% improvement where you lose 10%.
Measure conversion between each two stages. Identify biggest leak and solve that first. Each leak type has different root cause and requires different solution.