Pipeline Hygiene Scorecard

Grade every open deal in under 2 minutes, roll it up to a per-rep score in under 10 minutes a week. Three categories, weighted, with a hard-fail list that overrides everything else.

How the score is built

Weighted Deal Score = (Completeness % × 0.4) + (Next-Step % × 0.3) + (Close-Date % × 0.3)

Bands: 85–100 Healthy · 65–84 At Risk · Below 65 Critical

Category A — Data Completeness (1 point per field present and real, 0 if blank/placeholder)

For each open deal, check:

1. Deal amount is entered and matches the actual quoted/proposed number (not a round-number placeholder like $10,000 sitting untouched since creation)
2. Close date is a specific calendar date (not "end of quarter" typed into a date field, not the untouched auto-default)
3. Stage matches buying-process reality, not aspiration (a deal sitting in "Proposal Sent" with no proposal on file fails this)
4. Economic buyer is named — full name and title, not "the decision maker"
5. Next Step field is populated with something more specific than "follow up"
6. Competitor field is filled — either a named competitor or an explicit "No competitor identified — validated with buyer," never blank
7. Source/campaign attribution is filled
8. An activity (call, email, meeting) is logged within the last 7 business days, unless the deal is in an explicit "buyer is dark, working reconnect" status

Completeness % = (fields present ÷ 8) × 100

Category B — Next-Step Clarity (score the single best-documented next step, 0–3)

• 0 — No next step, or a vague one ("check in," "follow up," "circle back")
• 1 — Next step is named but has no date, no owner, or both
• 2 — Next step has a date and an owner, but it's rep-driven only — nothing the buyer has agreed to do
• 3 — Next step is a dated, named, mutual commitment: there's a calendar invite or written confirmation, and the buyer owes an action too (send org chart, loop in security, confirm attendees)

Next-Step % = (score ÷ 3) × 100

Category C — Close-Date Realism (score 0–3)

• 0 — Close date has already passed and hasn't been updated ("zombie deal")
• 1 — Close date has been pushed 3+ times with no material change in stage or buyer engagement
• 2 — Close date has been pushed 1–2 times, OR the date doesn't match a realistic cycle length for this deal's stage/size
• 3 — Close date is stage-appropriate, has moved at most once, and is corroborated by a dated next step landing on or before it

Close-Date % = (score ÷ 3) × 100

Automatic-fail red flags (override the weighted score — deal is Critical regardless of points)

• Close date is in the past and untouched
• Deal amount is $0 or blank
• No logged activity in 21+ calendar days on a deal still marked open
• Stage says "Verbal Commit" or later with no economic buyer named anywhere on the record

Weekly manager workflow (targets under 10 minutes)

1. Pull the pipeline report filtered to: open deals, closing this quarter or next, above your minimum deal-size threshold.
2. Score the 5–8 largest or most at-risk deals using the table above (30–60 seconds per deal once the checklist is memorized).
3. Log flags in the rollup sheet below.
4. Pick the single worst-scoring deal that's still forecasted as Commit/Best Case and raise it in your next 1:1 — not as "why is this messy" but as "walk me through what you actually know here."

Per-rep weekly rollup

Track this line week over week. A rep whose score is flat or declining while their pipeline dollar value is rising is the leading indicator of a bad quarter, three to five weeks before it shows up in bookings.