A redesigned governance model, sharper pipeline discipline, and improved performance visibility helped a cybersecurity business unit recover stalled pipeline, rebuild forecast confidence, and outperform target.
The challenge
A Cyberco business unit was managing more than £5 million in lost and stagnant pipeline, but the issue extended well beyond deal volume alone. Weak sales lifecycle structure, limited KPI clarity, and poor performance visibility were making it harder for leadership to assess pipeline health, challenge performance effectively, and make confident commercial decisions. Over time, this was constraining execution, reducing focus on the opportunities most likely to convert, and undermining trust in the forecast.
The business needed a more structured and scalable way to restore control. Leadership wanted greater visibility across the pipeline, stronger discipline around deal progression, and a more reliable basis for prioritisation, intervention, and planning.
The approach
The transformation began with a full redesign of the sales governance model. Clearer lifecycle stages were introduced to strengthen consistency in how opportunities were qualified, progressed, and reviewed. Structured KPIs were established to improve visibility of performance across the pipeline, while automated dashboards gave leadership a more reliable view of velocity, conversion, and risk.
Alongside this, stalled opportunities were removed from the pipeline, qualification discipline was tightened, and deal strategy was refocused around growth priorities, solution fit, and campaign alignment. Together, these changes created a more consistent commercial rhythm, improved the quality of pipeline conversations, and gave the business a stronger operating framework for execution.
The results
The impact was rapid. In under three months, lapsed pipeline was reduced by 94%, helping the business restore momentum and improve the overall quality of the opportunity base. Revenue finished 5% above target, while forecast confidence improved materially as leadership gained better visibility into performance and risk.
Just as importantly, the work created a repeatable governance approach that could be applied more broadly across the organisation. The model proved effective enough to be scaled across additional business units, providing a stronger foundation for sustained commercial discipline and performance improvement.
