Monday meeting, and the numbers do not agree
The owner asks each broker for their pipeline. One lists cases on a whiteboard. Another exports from the CRM and filters by hand. A third says "about fifteen, a few should complete this month". The owner adds it up in a spreadsheet, adjusts for the ones that always slip, and makes a guess at the month's income.
At month end, the actual figure is different, sometimes by a lot. Cases thought to be completing were waiting on a chain. Others completed that nobody had marked as close. Planning, whether for hiring or cash flow, is built on sand.
Why the pipeline is hard to see
The CRM knows about cases, but only as well as it is updated. Stages are recorded differently by different brokers, and some cases stay "submitted" for weeks after an offer is issued because nobody changed the status. Completion dates depend on conveyancers, and the CRM rarely has the latest.
Income is spread too: proc fees from lenders, client fees, protection commission. Forecasting it means combining CRM stages with fee expectations, which is spreadsheet work.
- Case stages updated inconsistently.
- Completion dates not current in the CRM.
- Proc fees, client fees and protection income tracked separately.
- Each broker reports their pipeline differently.
- No agreed definition of what counts as likely to complete.
Self-employed brokers working within a brokerage may keep their own lists, and some cases never make it into the CRM until late. The owner's picture is only as complete as the least organised broker's records.
What an unclear pipeline costs
| Decision | Made on |
|---|---|
| Whether to hire another broker | A guess at future workload |
| Cash flow for the coming months | Optimistic spreadsheet figures |
| Which broker needs support | Who complains loudest |
| Where new leads should go | Rota rather than capacity |
Brokerages are sensitive to timing: cases can slip a month because of a chain, and income moves with them. A pipeline view that reflects real case status is what lets an owner plan rather than react.
The pipeline view we build
- We agree a set of stages and definitions with you, such as enquiry, fact find, DIP, submitted, offered, exchanged, completed, and what moves a case between them.
- Stages are taken from your CRM and, where available, updated automatically from lender and conveyancer milestones, so they are less dependent on manual updates.
- Each case carries its expected fees: proc fee, client fee and protection where relevant, based on rates your team maintains.
- The view shows cases by stage and age, by broker, with expected completions by month.
- Expected income by month is calculated from cases at each stage, and compared with what actually completed.
- Cases that have been at one stage too long are flagged, which often shows which cases are slipping before anyone mentions it.
What the owner gets
The Monday meeting starts from the same screen for everyone. Expected completions reflect actual case progress. The comparison between expected and actual improves over time, because the brokerage learns how its own cases behave. And broker workload is visible, which helps with lead allocation and hiring decisions.
Brokers can see their own pipeline in the same view, which saves them building their own lists.
It also changes conversations with brokers. Instead of asking for a list, the owner can look at a broker's cases that have sat at one stage for weeks and ask what is holding them up, which is a more useful conversation for both of them.
Is this how you see your pipeline?
- Pipeline figures come from asking each broker.
- Expected completions often turn out wrong.
- Income forecasts are built in a spreadsheet.
- Case stages in the CRM are frequently out of date.
- You cannot see which broker is overloaded.