Marketing says pipeline is up. Sales says the leads are junk. The board wants one number. Usually everyone is reporting accurately against a different definition, and nobody wrote down the one that counts.
This page is the fix I'd put in place in the first two weeks of an engagement: a one-page definition of qualified pipeline, the rules for who gets credit, and the service-level agreement that keeps both teams honest. Copy it, change the brackets, and get your CRO and head of marketing to sign it.
The one-sentence definition
Start here. Everything else is detail.
A qualified opportunity is a [best-fit] account with a confirmed problem we solve, a buyer involved, and a scheduled next step, accepted by sales within [2] business days.
Four tests: fit, problem, buyer, next step. Plus one rule: sales has to accept it. If an opportunity can't pass all four, it isn't pipeline yet, however warm it feels.
Stage entry criteria
Put these in your CRM as required fields on the stage where an opportunity becomes "qualified." If the fields aren't filled, the stage can't be entered.
| Test | Required to enter the stage | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Account matches the ICP: [industry], [employee or ARR band], [region]; not on the disqualifier list | Marketing (pre-fill), sales (confirm) |
| Problem | A specific problem we solve, written in the buyer's words in the opportunity notes | Sales |
| Buyer | A named person who owns the problem or the budget is in the conversation | Sales |
| Next step | A dated next meeting (discovery, demo, technical review) is on the calendar | Sales |
| Acceptance | Sales accepts or rejects within [2] business days, with a reason code if rejected | Sales |
Write the disqualifiers down too: segments that look like a fit but historically stall, churn or never close. Pull them from closed-lost data, not opinion.
Who gets credit: sourced vs. influenced
Credit fights are where definitions go to die. Agree on these two numbers and report both.
- Marketing-sourced pipeline: qualified opportunities where the first known touch before the opportunity was created was a marketing program: a demo request, a content or event registration, a paid campaign response, an inbound from search or AI search.
- Marketing-influenced pipeline: qualified opportunities where marketing touched any contact on the account before or during the deal, whatever created it.
Then settle the edge cases in writing:
| Situation | Our rule |
|---|---|
| SDR outbound to an account already engaging with marketing in the last [90] days | [Sourced: marketing / Sourced: sales] |
| Customer or partner referral | Sourced: [partner / customer success]; influenced if marketing touched it |
| "How did you hear about us?" says LinkedIn, CRM says direct | Self-reported answer wins for channel; CRM rule wins for sourced credit |
| Opportunity re-opened after 6+ months closed-lost | New opportunity; credit follows the touch that re-opened it |
There's no universally right answer on these. There is a wrong one: not deciding.
The marketing-sales SLA
The definition says what counts. The SLA says what each team commits to.
| Commitment | Owner | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified opportunities delivered per month | Marketing | [number], reviewed quarterly |
| Inbound demo requests contacted | Sales | Within [1] business hour |
| Accept or reject new opportunities | Sales | Within [2] business days, with reason code |
| Rejected-opportunity review | Both | Weekly, 15 minutes |
| Definition changes | CRO + head of marketing | In writing, dated, logged |
How to settle disputes
Disagreements will happen. Decide in advance how they end.
- Every rejected opportunity gets a reason code: no fit, no problem, no buyer, no next step, duplicate, other.
- In the weekly review, marketing can challenge up to [3] rejections. Both leads look at the notes together.
- If they still disagree, the CRO decides. The decision is logged with the date and reason.
- If one reason code dominates for a month, the fix is upstream: targeting, offer or handoff. Change the program, not the definition.
How to roll it out in two weeks
- Days 1–3: Pull 18 months of closed-won and closed-lost. Draft the ICP and disqualifiers from the data.
- Days 4–5: Draft this page with your numbers in the brackets. Share it with the CRO and head of marketing separately.
- Day 6: One meeting to agree it. Sign it. Date it.
- Days 7–10: Add the required fields and stage rules in the CRM. Add a required "How did you hear about us?" field to the demo form.
- Days 11–14: Restate the last two quarters of pipeline against the new definition so the trend line is honest, and footnote the change in the board deck.
Expect the number to drop when you do this. That's the point. A smaller number everyone believes is worth more than a bigger one nobody does, especially if a raise or an exit is coming.
Frequently asked questions
What is a qualified pipeline in B2B SaaS?
Qualified pipeline is the total value of opportunities that meet a written, agreed set of criteria, typically account fit, a confirmed problem, an involved buyer and a scheduled next step, and that sales has accepted. Anything that hasn't passed those tests is a lead, not pipeline.
What's the difference between marketing-sourced and marketing-influenced pipeline?
Marketing-sourced pipeline counts opportunities where a marketing program was the first known touch before the opportunity was created. Marketing-influenced pipeline counts any opportunity where marketing touched the account during the buying journey, whoever created it. Report both, and write down the rules for edge cases like SDR outbound and referrals.
Should marketing be measured on MQLs or pipeline?
Pipeline. MQLs measure activity and are easy to inflate. Qualified pipeline, accepted by sales against a written definition, measures whether marketing is producing deals the company can close.
How often should we change the pipeline definition?
Rarely, and only in writing. Review it quarterly. When it changes, date the change and restate recent history so the trend stays comparable. Silent definition changes are the fastest way to lose a board's trust.
What if sales rejects most of marketing's opportunities?
Look at the reason codes. If most rejections are "no fit," fix targeting. If they're "no problem" or "no buyer," fix the offer and the qualification questions on the form. If rejections look unjustified, use the weekly review and let the CRO decide. This is often the first thing the Fear Audit untangles.