How it works
For a financial advisor the steps are usually names to call, Sets booked, Openings held, Closings booked, and cases signed and waiting to be issued. Each prospect sits at one step until they move on or drop out.
A pipeline and a funnel are two views of the same steps. The pipeline is who's at each step now. The funnel is the share that moves from each step to the next. You need both: the pipeline tells you who to call this week, and the funnel tells you how many you'll need.
How full it needs to be comes from working back. Start from the cases you want and divide by your rate at each step.
Worked example, with made-up rates: you want 4 cases a month. 1 in 2 Closings signs, 2 in 3 Openings reach a Closing, and 3 in 4 Sets turn up. That's 8 Closings, 12 Openings and 16 Sets a month, about 4 Sets a week.
Timing matters as much as the count. If a Set this week usually signs four to six weeks later, next month's cases depend on this week's Sets. A quiet fortnight of calls shows up as a thin month six weeks on, long after it could be fixed.
Keep it honest. A prospect who hasn't replied in a month isn't in your pipeline. Moving them out keeps the count real.
Where it shows up in your week
A pipeline only helps if it's the first thing you open on Monday, and the CRM shows every prospect on a board by stage, with every message and note on their page, and the clients you haven't spoken to lately at the top. The pipeline management guide covers stages, coverage and a 30-minute weekly review.