A pipeline built around verifiable commercial events.
Digital Rocket's specialty-project pipeline method follows an inquiry through qualified opportunity, site or design step, quote, won or lost decision, and recognized revenue or gross margin under client-declared rules.
| Event | Count when | Keep separate |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified opportunity | The client records fit against its commercial criteria. | Technical feasibility, credit, and contractual approval. |
| Site / design step | The declared consultation, survey, design, or scoping milestone is completed. | A scheduled appointment that did not occur. |
| Quote | A priced proposal is issued under the client's policy. | Budget estimate, range, or draft. |
| Won / lost | The CRM has a final reason and decision date. | Open or dormant opportunities. |
| Recognized value | The client declares whether booked revenue, recognized revenue, or gross margin is used. | Pipeline value or unapproved forecast. |
How to join acquisition and project economics.
- Freeze the opportunity cohort, geography, offer, and acquisition-cost window.
- Link unique inquiries to controlled CRM opportunities without exposing private project details to ad platforms.
- Record completed milestones, quote issue date, final reason, and value definition.
- Use the same cohort for numerator and denominator; do not mix closed historic wins with fresh inquiries.
- Report both mature and still-open cohorts so long sales-cycle lag remains visible.
Where the framework applies.
Inclusions
Declared media, management, creative, and tracking costs; attributable unique opportunities; completed commercial milestones; quote status; final reason; and approved value field.
Exclusions
Duplicate inquiries, unverified offline estimates, open pipeline counted as won, project details outside measurement need, and revenue or margin not approved for analysis.
Geography: separate markets when currency, travel, installation, tax, regulation, or delivery economics differ. Offer scope: made-to-order and specialty-project sales only; recurring SaaS and commodity ecommerce require different models.
What each ratio actually divides.
| Metric | Numerator | Denominator |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per qualified opportunity | Included acquisition cost | Qualified opportunities |
| Cost per quote | Included acquisition cost | Issued quotes |
| Cost per win | Included acquisition cost | Won projects |
| Quote-to-win rate | Won projects | Eligible issued quotes |
| Sales-cycle lag | Elapsed time from declared start event | Reported as a distribution, not a ratio |
Use client-entered values and disclose whether project value means quoted, booked, recognized, or gross-margin value. Those measures are not interchangeable.
What the pipeline cannot prove.
- Attribution is not proof that marketing alone caused the sale.
- Small, lumpy project cohorts can swing sharply after one win or loss.
- Gross margin depends on client accounting and delivery records outside advertising systems.
- Until permissioned proof exists, this framework supports method claims only.
Research governance.
- Author
- Ivan Janku, founder, Digital Rocket
- Reviewer
- Digital Rocket editorial desk
- Review date
- July 13, 2026
- Corrections
- Submit a definition, scope, or formula correction through the contact route.
- Owner
- Digital Rocket RevenueFlow measurement desk
- Proof status
- No public client outcome is asserted on this page.