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Pipeline Qualification Health Calculator

A worksheet-based calculator: score every open deal against 6 qualification criteria, weight it by dollar value, and get an instant health score showing what percentage of your pipeline is actually qualified versus hope-funded.

What's inside

  • The 6-criterion qualification checklist used to score each deal
  • The weighting formula (criteria weighted by forecast impact, not equal weight)
  • Step-by-step calculation method with the exact formula
  • 3 health bands: Healthy (>65%), At Risk (40–65%), Critical (<40%)
  • A fill-in worksheet table for your own pipeline
  • A fully worked example with real numbers
  • Guidance on how often to run it and who should own the number

What % of Your Pipeline Is Actually Qualified vs. Hope-Funded

Most pipeline reviews look at stage and dollar value. Neither tells you if the money is real. This calculator scores every open deal against 6 objective qualification criteria and produces a single number: your Qualified Pipeline Ratio (QPR).


Step 1 — The 6 Qualification Criteria

For each open deal, score 1 point per criterion that is verifiably true (not "probably true," not "rep believes it's true"):

  1. Quantified pain — a specific $ / time / risk figure has been stated by the prospect, not estimated by the rep
  2. Confirmed budget — a number or range has been discussed, and a funding source identified
  3. Verified authority — the rep has directly spoken with, or been named by, the actual approver
  4. Dated timeline — a specific decision date exists, tied to a real business event
  5. Known process — the rep can describe the prospect's evaluation/procurement steps
  6. Active champion — someone internally has taken an unprompted action in the last 14 days (per the Champion Identification Checklist)

Deal Qualification Score = criteria met ÷ 6 (e.g., 4 of 6 = 0.67)


Step 2 — Weight by Dollar Value

Qualification that isn't weighted by deal size hides your real exposure. For each deal:

Weighted Qualified Value = Deal Value × Deal Qualification Score


Step 3 — Calculate the Qualified Pipeline Ratio (QPR)

`` QPR = ( Σ Weighted Qualified Value ÷ Σ Total Open Pipeline Value ) × 100 ``


Worksheet

DealValue ($)PainBudgetAuthorityTimelineProcessChampionScore (/6)Weighted Value
Totals

QPR = (Total Weighted Value ÷ Total Deal Value) × 100 = ____%


Health Bands

QPRStatusWhat it means
65–100%HealthyForecast is defensible; standard cadence
40–64%At RiskA significant chunk of "pipeline" is hope; run the Bad-Fit Deal Red Flags Checklist against your lowest-scoring deals this week
0–39%CriticalForecast is not trustworthy; freeze new pipeline reporting until top 10 deals by value are re-qualified individually

Worked Example

DealValuePainBudgetAuthorityTimelineProcessChampionScoreWeighted
Acme Corp$80,0006/6 = 1.00$80,000
Northwind$50,0003/6 = 0.50$25,000
Kingsley$30,0001/6 = 0.17$5,100
Total$160,000$110,100

QPR = ($110,100 ÷ $160,000) × 100 = 68.8% — Healthy, but Kingsley's $30,000 is almost entirely hope-funded and should be downgraded or disqualified regardless of its stage in the CRM.


Cadence

Run this monthly at minimum, weekly during forecast-critical weeks (end of quarter). The number should be owned by the sales manager or RevOps, not self-reported by individual reps, to avoid score inflation.

How to use it

Export your open pipeline, score each deal against the 6 criteria in the worksheet, apply the formula to get your QPR, and use the health band to decide whether your forecast needs a re-qualification push before it's presented upward.

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