(Ep 1) Pipeline & Prejudice: A RevOps Mystery

So I'm on a roll, after the GoT writeup, and after watching Netflix's "The Residence" I'm officially on a whodunit kick... which got me wondering what if THE most common pipeline issue were a mystery and RevOps the detective? (Entirely fictional of course... but an all-too-familiar scenario all RevOps has encountered at some point)

Setting the Stage....

In the quiet halls of a budding startup, with open floorplan seating and glass wall offices, something was... off (cue dramatic music). Forecasts were missing. Targets were slipping. Pipeline coverage was suspiciously low.

But no one could quite agree on why.... The CEO asks the execs to investigate and the story goes on.

The Case of the Missing Pipeline

It started like any other quarter. Forecasts were optimistic. Targets were aggressive. Everyone was smiling on the all-hands Zoom. And then... silence. Deals dried up. The pipeline was slim (like if it were on ozempic).

Reps kept saying “we’re waiting on more leads.”

Marketing insisted, “We’ve never delivered this many great MQLs.”

The product said, “We're ahead of where we need to be, and we just launched a killer feature, so closing deals should be no problem.”

Yeah. Right (scoff).

Enter RevOps. Dashing and calm, walking in as the unlikely detective in a messy, cross-functional crime scene.

RevOps tightened the collar on their (hypothetical) trench coat, fired up the dashboards, and got to work.

Time to investigate who was really behind the Great Pipeline Disappearance. Lets dive into the RevOps Notebook....

Suspect: Marketing, The Lead Count Con-Artist

Alibi: We hit our MQL target and then some.

Evidence: Sure, the numbers were there. But under the surface, things got murky. Lead scoring? Inflated. That increase in MQLs, Mostly webinar attendees from last year.

Marketing had pumped the numbers, but the quality? Let’s just say..... questionable.

🕵️‍♂️ RevOps Note: Marketing isn’t lying. But they’re focused on the wrong thing. Fixing the scoring model and aligning on pipeline contribution targets is step one.

Suspect: Sales, The Eternal Optimist

Alibi: Deals are coming in, we’re just waiting for budget approvals. We haven't lost anything.

Evidence: A look at the CRM told another story. half of opps were sitting in stage 2 for over 60 days. Old next steps. No engagement. Pipeline hygiene? Nonexistent. Close Dates? Last day of the Quarter

They were logging deals that should’ve never been opps in the first place, just to hit activity KPIs. Sales was trying to will deals into existence.

🕵️‍♂️ RevOps Note: Too much fluff, not enough substance. We need to clean the pipeline, tighten stage criteria, and coach managers on real forecast discipline.

Suspect: SDR Team, The Gatekeepers

Alibi: We booked the meetings. We can’t control what happens after.

Evidence: Meetings were getting booked... with everyone. Interns. Analysts. Random folks who downloaded a whitepaper two years ago. SDRs were being judged on activity, not outcomes. Quantity over quality, and it showed.

🕵️‍♂️ RevOps Note: Time to redefine qualification criteria, refine outreach cadences, and maybe—just maybe—stop measuring SDR success by number of meetings alone.

Suspect: Customer Success, The Silent Sufferers

Alibi: Renewals are somewhat stable. We’re focused on retention and trying to stop the bleeding with keeping customers happy.

Evidence: Net retention was flatlining. Expansion opportunities were buried in spreadsheets. No process for surfacing upsell signals. CS wasn’t causing the pipeline issue, but they sure weren’t helping solve it either.

🕵️‍♂️ RevOps Note: Expansion needs to be part of the pipeline conversation. Let’s integrate product usage data and build a playbook for surfacing warm accounts.

Suspect: Leadership, The Head in the Clouds

Alibi: We need more pipeline. Let’s double our lead targets this quarter.

Evidence: Top-down pressure with zero operational changes to support it. No headcount increase. No new tools. No GTM strategy shift.

🕵️‍♂️ RevOps Note: This isn’t just a pipeline problem. It’s a resourcing and alignment problem. We need a real plan, not just a bigger goal.

Just like any great murder mystery, the culprit wasn’t just one person. It was everyone. Each team had a role in the slow, silent death of pipeline health.

Detective RevOps wasn’t just solving the case, they were stitching the whole damn timeline back together.

• Built a new shared pipeline dashboard with aligned definitions.

• Reworked lead scoring to focus on buying intent.

• Cleaned the pipeline and implemented exit criteria for each stage.

• Created CS-to-Sales expansion handoff workflows.

• Got leadership to sign off on new metrics and resource allocation tied to pipeline quality, not just volume.

🕵️‍♂️ RevOps Note: Cause of Death: Natural causes

The pipeline didn’t magically die overnight. It was a combination of things that lead to the decline. But after a thorough investigation, the fog started to lift. Everyone had a clearer picture. Teams were talking. The numbers made sense.

And as RevOps filed away another case, they sipped their coffee (or probably just reheated it for the third time) until the CRO came dashing in asking, “Why is our win rate dropping even though our pipeline’s growing?”