30-Sec Pipeline Review

Read time: 5 minutes

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The Problem with Traditional Pipeline Reviews

I get asked all the time about real AI use cases that will actually make a difference. There are some that save a little time and there are others that are too complicated to figure out.

But the one we’ll discuss today could be a complete game changer for reps and managers, and leadership that want to speed up pipeline reviews and have a more structured output.

Right then… let's be honest about pipeline reviews.

Leadership wants an update on your deals. You've got 28 open opportunities spread across three quarters, each living in different stages of your CRM.

So you start clicking around and opening tabs.

Dashboard view. Opportunity list. Filter by quarter. Export to Excel. Open another tab for the notes. Pull up their email thread. Cross-reference with the contract value. Calculate win probability. Update your forecast spreadsheet.

Two hours later, you've got a rough idea of where things stand, but you're still not confident in your forecast.

There's a better way. And it doesn't require a new CRM, a fancy dashboard, or a new analytics platform.

All you need is Claude Desktop, an MCP connection to your CRM, and a well-crafted Claude Skill.

This article will be a step-by-step walkthrough of how to turn your entire deal review and forecasting process into a 30 sec prompt.

Something like this: "Analyze my sales pipeline and each opportunity. Provide a next best action recommendation. Create a realistic forecast for what will close by end of quarter."

I’ll show you the exact process and prompts along the way.

You don’t have to be technically savy, just follow along.

What You'll Build

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have an AI-powered pipeline review system that:

• Pulls every opportunity from your CRM automatically

• Analyzes each deal using your specific sales methodology

• Recommends next best actions based on your process

• Creates a realistic forecast weighted by deal stage and health

• Generates a visual summary you can drop straight into slides

Instead of spending two hours clicking through reports, you'll spend two minutes reviewing Claude's analysis and deciding where to focus your energy.

The time you save can go back into actual selling.

What You'll Need

Before we start, make sure you've got:

1. Claude Desktop App (free)
Download from claude.ai/download. Works on Mac and Windows.

2. A compatible CRM with MCP support
Currently works with: HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, and others that have MCP integrations available. (We'll link to MCP server options at the end.)

3. About 30 minutes to set this up properly
Most of that time goes into crafting your Claude Skill. It's worth doing well.

4. Basic understanding of your sales process
You'll need to document how you analyze opportunities, what makes a deal healthy vs. at-risk, and how you weight your forecast.

Don't worry if you've never touched MCP servers or Claude Skills before. We'll walk through everything step by step.

Step 1: Get Claude Desktop Set Up

If you've already got Claude Desktop installed, skip to Step 2.

For everyone else:

1. Go to claude.ai/download

2. Download the desktop app for your operating system

3. Install and sign in with your Claude account

That's it. Claude Desktop looks similar to the web version, but with one crucial difference: it can connect to local tools and servers on your computer through MCP (Model Context Protocol).

Think of MCP as a bridge between Claude and your business systems. Instead of you manually pulling data and feeding it to Claude, MCP lets Claude reach directly into your CRM and pull what it needs.

This is what makes the whole system work.

Step 2: Connect Your CRM via MCP

This is the bit that sounds technical but is actually quite straightforward.

MCP servers are small programs that let Claude talk to external systems. Someone (usually the CRM provider or the open-source community) has already built the bridge between Claude and your CRM. You just need to connect it.

For HubSpot:

1. Find the HubSpot MCP server (we'll link resources at the end)

2. Install it following the instructions in the MCP server repository

3. Configure it with your HubSpot API key

4. Add the server configuration to Claude Desktop's config file

For Salesforce:

The process is similar but uses a different MCP server. Same steps: find, install, configure, add to Claude.

For other CRMs:

Check the MCP servers directory for available integrations. If your CRM isn't listed, you might need a custom build (more on that later).

Important: When you configure the MCP server, make sure it has read access to opportunities, deals, contacts, and notes. You don't need write access for pipeline reviews, its just reading data.

Testing your connection:

Once configured, restart Claude Desktop and ask it: "What opportunities do I have in my CRM?"

If it returns a list of your deals, you're connected. If it says it can't access your CRM, check your config file for typos.

Step 3: Create Your Pipeline Analysis Skill

This is where the magic happens.

A Skill is basically a set of instructions you give Claude that it remembers and applies every time you ask it to do something specific. Instead of explaining your sales process every time, you document it once in a Skill, and Claude uses it automatically.

Here's what to include in your Skill:

Section 1: Opportunity Health Criteria

Document how you determine if a deal is healthy, at-risk, or stalled.

Example criteria:

A healthy opportunity meets these criteria:
- Contact with decision-maker within the last 7 days
- Next meeting scheduled
- Proposal sent and acknowledged
- Budget confirmed
- Timeline defined (within 90 days)
- Champion identified and engaged

An at-risk opportunity shows these signs:
- No contact with key stakeholders in 14+ days
- Next steps unclear or undefined
- Budget questions unresolved
- Timeline pushed twice or more
- No champion identified
- Competitor mentioned in recent conversations

A stalled opportunity has:
- No activity in 30+ days
- Missed scheduled follow-ups
- Unresponsive contacts
- No clear next step

Section 2: Next Best Action Framework

Define what actions Claude should recommend based on opportunity status and stage.

Example framework:

For opportunities in Discovery stage:
- If no decision-maker identified → Action: Request introduction to economic buyer
- If technical evaluation pending → Action: Schedule demo with technical team
- If budget unclear → Action: Send business case template to champion

For opportunities in Proposal stage:
- If proposal sent 7+ days ago with no response → Action: Send 9-word email: "Are you still interested in solving [specific problem]?"
- If procurement involved but not engaged → Action: Request intro to procurement contact
- If waiting on internal approvals → Action: Offer to present to approval committee

For opportunities at-risk:
- If stalled 14+ days → Action: Send breakup email with clear deadline
- If champion unresponsive → Action: Multi-thread to additional stakeholders
- If competitor emerging → Action: Schedule competitive differentiation call

Section 3: Forecasting Methodology

Explain how you weight deals and calculate forecast.

Example methodology:

Forecast weighting by stage:
- Discovery: 10% probability
- Demo Completed: 25% probability
- Proposal Sent: 50% probability
- Negotiation: 75% probability
- Verbal Commit: 90% probability

Adjust weights based on health:
- Healthy deals: Use stage probability as-is
- At-risk deals: Reduce stage probability by 50%
- Stalled deals: Reduce to 0% until re-engaged

Calculate quarterly forecast as:
Sum of (Deal Value × Adjusted Probability) for all deals closing this quarter

Flag deals that represent >30% of forecast as concentration risk

Section 4: Output Format

Tell Claude exactly how you want the analysis presented.

Example format:

Structure the pipeline review as:

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
   - Total pipeline value
   - Weighted forecast
   - Number of deals by stage
   - Key risks and opportunities

2. DEAL-BY-DEAL ANALYSIS
   For each opportunity, include:
   - Opportunity name and value
   - Current stage and health status
   - Days since last activity
   - Recommended next action (specific and actionable)
   - Forecasted close date

3. FORECAST SUMMARY
   - Best case (all healthy deals close)
   - Most likely (weighted forecast)
   - Worst case (only verbal commits close)
   - Concentration risks (deals >30% of forecast)

4. FOCUS PRIORITIES
   - Top 3 deals to push this week
   - At-risk deals requiring immediate attention
   - Deals to deprioritize or disqualify

Finalizing the Skill:

Once you've documented these four sections, save them as a Skill in Claude Desktop. Name it something like "Pipeline Review & Forecast."

You’ll need to download the .zip file and then upload it into your Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Now Claude knows exactly how to analyze your opportunities using your methodology, your criteria, and your output format.

Step 4: Run Your AI-Powered Pipeline Review

Open Claude Desktop and type:

That's it.

Claude will:

1. Connect to your CRM via the MCP server

2. Pull all your opportunity data

3. Apply your Skill to analyze each deal

4. Generate recommendations

5. Calculate your weighted forecast

6. Format everything exactly as you specified

The whole thing takes about 30 seconds.

What you'll get back:

A comprehensive analysis that looks something like this:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
-------------------
Total Pipeline Value: $847,000
Weighted Forecast: $312,450
Deals in Pipeline: 18 opportunities

By Stage:
- Discovery: 6 deals ($245K total)
- Proposal: 8 deals ($456K total)
- Negotiation: 4 deals ($146K total)

Health Status:
- Healthy: 9 deals
- At-Risk: 6 deals
- Stalled: 3 deals

DEAL-BY-DEAL ANALYSIS
----------------------

Opportunity: BioTech Corp - Flow Cytometry System
Value: $125,000
Stage: Proposal (50% probability)
Health: Healthy
Last Activity: 3 days ago (follow-up call with lab director)
Next Action: Send technical comparison document to address competitor concerns raised in last call. Schedule follow-up for next Tuesday.
Forecast Contribution: $62,500
Close Date: End of Q1

[... continues for all 18 opportunities]

FORECAST SUMMARY
----------------
Best Case: $478,000 (all healthy deals close)
Most Likely: $312,450 (weighted forecast)
Worst Case: $89,000 (only negotiation stage deals close)

Concentration Risks:
⚠️ BioTech Corp represents 40% of forecast - develop backup opportunities

FOCUS PRIORITIES
----------------
Push This Week:
1. BioTech Corp - Address competitor concerns, schedule decision call
2. Pharma Labs - Get procurement engaged, need PO by Friday
3. Research Institute - Champion needs ammo for approval meeting

At-Risk - Immediate Attention:
1. University Lab - No contact in 18 days, send breakup email
2. Diagnostics Co - Budget delayed, multi-thread to CFO
3. Genomics Startup - Timeline pushed 3rd time, qualify or disqualify

Deprioritize:
1. Small Lab - Budget won't free up until Q3, move to nurture
2. International Prospect - Export compliance issues unresolved
3. Academic Lab - Lost to competitor, mark closed-lost

Optional: Create Visual Artifacts

Here's where it gets even better.

After Claude generates your analysis, ask it:

Claude will build a mini web app right in the interface with charts, graphs, and your key metrics that can be shared with others.

This artifact is interactive. You can:

• Click into specific deals

• Filter by stage or health status

• Export images for slide decks

• Share the link with leadership

Takes about 10 seconds. Looks professional. Saves you from building slides manually.

Real-World Use Cases

For Individual Reps:

Every Monday morning, run this prompt before your pipeline review call. You'll show up with clear priorities, accurate forecasts, and specific action items for each deal.

Instead of scrambling through your CRM during the call, you're driving the conversation.

For Sales Leaders:

Run this across your entire team's pipeline. You'll immediately spot:

• Which reps have stalled deals

• Where forecasts look unrealistic

• Which opportunities need leadership intervention

• Where the team should focus this week

One 5-minute review replaces hours of one-on-ones digging through individual pipelines.

For Forecast Calls:

Leadership asks: "What's your number for Q1?"

You respond with a weighted forecast backed by deal-level analysis, health scoring, and realistic probabilities. Not a guess. Not sandbagging. Actual data-driven forecasting.

What This Really Means

This isn't just about saving time on pipeline reviews (though that alone is worth it).

This is about fundamentally changing how you approach sales operations.

Instead of you analyzing 32 opportunities by clicking through screens, you define your methodology once, and AI applies it consistently every time.

Instead of guessing at forecasts based on gut feel, you get data-driven probabilities weighted by deal health.

Instead of spending two hours preparing for pipeline calls, you spend two minutes reviewing insights and deciding where to focus.

The time you save goes back into the only activity that actually closes deals: talking to prospects.

This is just the beginning!!

Once you've got this working, you can build Claude Skills for:

• Account planning and expansion opportunities

• Competitive battle cards triggered by specific deal signals

• Automated follow-up reminders based on opportunity age

• Territory analysis and account prioritization

• Win/loss analysis to improve your close rate

This isn't the future of pipeline management.

This is what's possible right now.

Need Help Building This?

Setting up MCP servers can be tricky if you're not technical. Crafting effective Skills takes a few iterations to get right. And if you want this running across your entire sales team, there's additional setup required.

If you'd rather skip the learning curve and get this up and running quickly, book a strategy call and we'll build it for you.

We've done this for multiple clients already. We know what works, what doesn't, and how to customize it for your specific CRM and sales process.

Helpful Resources

MCP Server Examples:

• MCP Servers Repository

• Building Custom MCP Servers

• Claude Desktop Documentation

Creating Claude Skills:

• Skills Documentation

• Example Skills Repository

P.S. Let me know if you like these types of tutorials and walkthroughs. We’re happy to do more of them. Just hit reply and let us know!

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3. Training for Teams: If you want to upskill your team around prospecting, driving to close, key account management, AI, or any other topic, we can put together a training plan specific to your organization’s needs.

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