Why early pipeline visibility is the new must-have for modern sales orgs
There’s a moment every sales manager dreads.If you missed your Q1 number, you’re not alone. But you can’t afford to miss Q2. Now you can track what matters most—pipeline creation—before it’s too late.
“Are we doing enough to hit our number?”
You know the deals in flight. You know what's committed. But what you don’t know—what most teams can’t answer—is this:
“Are our reps even doing the right work to generate pipeline in the first place?”
That question is what sparked our latest product addition. Today, we’re rolling out new pipeline creation analytics, built to shine a light on the most important (and often ignored) part of your pipeline: the beginning.
The pipeline before the pipeline
Most sales tools are built for deals already in motion. That’s fine—once things are moving. But let’s be honest, many teams aren’t even giving themselves a shot at a good quarter because they don’t know what’s happening upstream.
Are reps spending time on the right accounts? Are they engaging deeply enough? Are those activities converting into opps?
With our new pipeline creation analytics, Gradient Works now answers all of that in one place—no more duct-taping Salesforce reports or bouncing between dashboards.
Early access insights: What we learned from one mid-market team
Before we go full product hype mode, let’s talk about what happens in the real world.
One mid-market sales org we work with was missing pipeline goals, and morale was shaky. On paper, reps had thousands of accounts each. In reality, a ton of those accounts were untouched, and nobody knew what was actually being worked.
Here’s what happened when they implemented Gradient Works:
- They shrank rep books from thousands to ~300 accounts.
Reps finally had manageable, focused books and could engage meaningfully. - They discovered that one high-potential account had been buried.
It surfaced in the new, smaller book. The rep reached out and closed it in a week. - Their win rate jumped from 13% to over 20% by year’s end.
Biggest quarter ever. Not bad.
What the new pipeline analytics actually show you
1. Rep-level activity insights:
See what reps are doing day-to-day. Who’s generating pipeline? Who’s spraying and praying? Who’s coasting?
2. Team and segment-level coverage
Understand how your team is covering key segments or verticals. Spot gaps before they hit your forecast.
3. Conversion metrics that matter
Track opportunity creation rate—not just the number of opps, but how efficiently reps are converting worked accounts into real pipeline.
4. Flag coaching opportunities automatically
Identify reps who are working a ton of accounts with no opps to show for it. Or those engaging only one contact per account. Time to coach.
Here's a quick overview of how it works:
Sales managers, this is your new one-on-one weapon
One of the coolest parts? You can walk into a 1:1 and instantly pull up a rep’s activity, engagement, opp creation, and account coverage—all in one view.
No more guessing. No more digging. Just coaching that actually helps reps win.
RevOps and sales ops: Welcome to the metrics you've ben waiting for
If you’re running GTM operations, this is where things get exciting:
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Tighter feedback loops between account strategy and actual rep behavior
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More efficient account distribution using real-time data
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Cleaner attribution on what’s driving pipeline—activities, segments, reps
It's not just another report. It's your new operating model.
The bottom line
If you want to build consistent pipeline, you have to manage the top of the funnel with the same intensity you bring to forecasting. That means tracking the right inputs, keeping reps focused on the right accounts, and measuring what works—not just what closes.
Give us 3 months. We’ll give you more pipeline. Gradient Works customers see 3–4x increase in outbound results, 20%+ win rates, and new reps hitting quota within 4 months.
