Opportunity pipeline

Each opportunity is a fee pursuit with a record number, subject, owner and client counterparty. Its expected close date and expected value give the practice a current planning picture. Probability can be recorded when the team has a useful basis for it. The status tells the principal whether the work is new, qualified, in proposal, in negotiation, won or lost. The owner keeps the pursuit current; the principal uses the same record for a pipeline review.

The qualification step is guarded. A new opportunity is qualified only when its current status and revision still match what the actor saw. That check matters when two people review the same pursuit at once. The customer outcome uses the same principle: Won or Lost is recorded for an open pursuit at the expected revision, with the previous value preserved and an operation receipt written. A lost pursuit can hold a loss reason; a win can hold the win date.

• One owner. The opportunity names the team member accountable for its next action.
• Stage and value together. Status, expected close date and expected value give the principal a useful view of active fee work.
• Outcome evidence. A close action records its result separately from the customer-facing outcome on the pursuit.

Agree what the practice means by qualified, proposal and negotiation. Decide when expected value changes and who may make that correction. Agree who can record a customer outcome after the client decides, and how the team obtains the source decision. Set a convention for the loss reason so completed pursuits can be reviewed without interpreting private notes. Prepare an example where two team members try to act on different revisions of the same opportunity.

A business development lead opens a pursuit for a museum expansion. The record names the museum account, the practice entity, the owner, an expected close date and a fee estimate. After a discovery meeting, the lead qualifies the new pursuit at the revision they inspected. The operation receipt records the result. The proposal coordinator then prepares a design RFP linked to the opportunity while the lead continues to log client meetings.

Later, the client selects another firm. The principal checks that the opportunity is still open at the expected revision, records Lost and adds the loss reason. The prior expected value stays in the record history associated with the outcome action. The team can then compare the closed pursuit with other client decisions without treating the proposal’s internal review as the customer’s decision.

• Open pursuit pipeline — Open fee work grouped by status, owner and expected close date.
• Customer outcomes — Won and lost pursuits with their win date or loss reason.
• Pursuit board — A stage view for the practice’s active and closed pursuits.

Account to qualified pursuit covers the early decision. Pursuit to customer outcome covers a final customer decision.