CST CST Pipeline Management & Forecasting 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which pipeline metric BEST indicates the overall health of a sales rep's pipeline?
- Total number of open opportunities
- Weighted pipeline value adjusted by stage probability (Correct answer)
- Number of calls made per week
- Average deal size only
Correct answer: Weighted pipeline value adjusted by stage probability
Weighted pipeline accounts for both deal value and likelihood of close at each stage, giving a realistic picture of expected revenue.
Question 2: When training reps on pipeline hygiene, a CST trainer should emphasize that stale opportunities should be:
- Left open to maintain pipeline volume
- Regularly audited and either advanced, put on hold, or closed lost (Correct answer)
- Moved to 'Closed Won' at end of quarter to hit targets
- Deleted without documentation
Correct answer: Regularly audited and either advanced, put on hold, or closed lost
Regular pipeline audits keep forecasts accurate and force reps to take clear next steps rather than letting deals stagnate.
Question 3: A sales rep consistently overestimates their close probability on deals. As a CST trainer, the BEST intervention is to:
- Accept the rep's self-assessment to maintain confidence
- Coach the rep to use objective stage-exit criteria to validate probability (Correct answer)
- Reduce the rep's quota to match their actual close rate
- Remove probability fields from the CRM
Correct answer: Coach the rep to use objective stage-exit criteria to validate probability
Stage-exit criteria provide an objective checklist that removes wishful thinking from probability estimates.
Question 4: Which pipeline management concept describes ensuring enough early-stage deals exist to hit future quota given average conversion rates?
- Coverage ratio (Correct answer)
- Average contract value (ACV)
- Sales velocity
- Lead response time
Correct answer: Coverage ratio
Coverage ratio compares total pipeline value to quota, helping sales trainers identify whether reps have enough early-stage opportunities to close future targets.
Question 5: A CST trainer is educating a sales team on sales cycle length. Understanding average cycle length is MOST useful for:
- Setting social media posting schedules
- Setting realistic close date expectations and forecasting future quarters (Correct answer)
- Determining office hours
- Benchmarking competitor pricing
Correct answer: Setting realistic close date expectations and forecasting future quarters
Average sales cycle length helps reps set accurate close dates and managers forecast revenue with appropriate lead times.
Question 6: In a bottom-up sales forecast, data is primarily gathered from:
- Top-down corporate revenue targets divided by headcount
- Each rep's individual deal-by-deal assessment rolled up to team and company level (Correct answer)
- Historical averages applied uniformly across all territories
- Marketing's demand generation projections
Correct answer: Each rep's individual deal-by-deal assessment rolled up to team and company level
Bottom-up forecasting aggregates individual rep opportunity data upward, making it more granular and deal-specific than top-down methods.
CST CST Pipeline Management & Forecasting 1
Which pipeline metric BEST indicates the overall health of a sales rep's pipeline?