Number of Open Opportunities
TL;DR
Number of Open Opportunities refers to the total count of active deals currently in your sales pipeline. It’s a foundational sales metric that helps gauge top-of-funnel health, individual rep activity, and overall pipeline velocity. While pipeline value shows how much is in play, this metric reveals how many shots your team is taking — and whether you have enough deal volume to sustain future bookings.
What is Number of Open Opportunities?
This metric counts all sales-qualified deals that are actively progressing through the pipeline but haven’t closed yet. Open opportunities are typically assigned to a rep, associated with a potential contract value, and in a defined stage of the sales cycle (e.g., Discovery, Proposal, Contract Sent).
It excludes:
- Unqualified leads
- Closed-won and closed-lost deals
- Disqualified or no-show opportunities
Formula:
Number of Open Opportunities = Count of all opportunities with open pipeline stages
Why It Matters in B2B SaaS
- It reflects rep and team-level activity. A low count may signal sourcing issues or insufficient outreach.
- It affects forecasting reliability. Even with strong average deal size, too few open opps leads to volatility.
- It helps identify funnel imbalances. If you’re over-indexed in late-stage deals with no early-stage pipeline, the future pipeline may dry up.
- It supports sales hiring and territory planning. A consistently low volume of open opps may indicate capacity gaps.
- It drives prioritization and focus. Teams can use this number to identify stalled opps, ghosted accounts, or neglected follow-ups.
How to Measure Number of Open Opportunities
- Filter your CRM for all active opportunities (excluding Closed-Won and Closed-Lost)
- Define the time frame (e.g., current quarter, rolling 30 days, all active)
- Count the total number of qualifying opps
- Optional: break down by:
- Sales stage
- Account segment
- Opportunity owner (rep)
- Source channel
Best Practices
- Track this weekly for every rep. Pair it with pipeline value and average deal size for complete visibility
- Set minimum pipeline thresholds. Many sales orgs require reps to maintain a specific number of active deals
- Segment by opportunity age. Too many “stale” open opps can bloat your numbers without contributing to close rates
- Review alongside lead/opportunity conversion rates. Are your open opps converting — or just cluttering the pipe?
- Integrate with CRM hygiene workflows. Reps should regularly close out dead opps to keep this metric meaningful
Final Thought
The Number of Open Opportunities shows your team’s ability to consistently create and progress deals — not just close them. In a fast-moving B2B SaaS environment, this number acts as a vital pressure gauge: too few and you risk a dry quarter; too many and you may be spread too thin. Keep this number healthy and aligned with your sales velocity, and your team stays in control of its future pipeline.
FAQs
What’s a healthy number of open opps per rep?
It varies by sales cycle and deal size. For mid-market SaaS with 30–45 day cycles, 20–30 open opps is common. Enterprise reps may carry fewer, higher-value deals
Should this include renewals and expansions?
Only if those are created as new opportunities and worked through the pipeline.
How often should this metric be reviewed?
Weekly in pipeline and forecast meetings — especially in high-velocity SaaS motions.
Does a higher number of opps always mean better performance?
Not necessarily. Volume without quality can lead to low win rates and pipeline bloat.
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