Insurance and Financial Services Pipeline Template
A compliance-aware pipeline where underwriting is its own stage and the renewal date is created the day the policy goes live.
The stages
Each stage states what is true about a deal sitting in it, and the one testable thing that has to happen before it moves. If the exit criterion is not met, the deal does not advance, whatever the rep believes.
Lead and Consent Captured
5% probability0 to 3 daysAn enquiry has arrived and been logged with its source. In this industry the record starts having compliance weight from the first contact.
Marketing and contact consent is recorded with a timestamp, identity details are verified, and the enquiry source is logged against the record.
Fact Find
20% probability3 to 10 daysA structured needs analysis. Everything downstream, including whether the recommendation is defensible, depends on how well this is done.
A completed fact find covering income, existing cover or holdings, dependants, health disclosures, risk tolerance and target outcome, acknowledged or signed by the client.
Research and Suitability
30% probability2 to 7 daysYou are comparing the market and building the file that justifies the recommendation. No client contact is required here.
At least two comparable products are researched and documented, with a written reason why the recommended product is suitable for this client specifically.
Recommendation Presented
45% probability3 to 14 daysThe quote, illustration or recommendation is in front of the client, along with what it does not cover.
Premium or projection, cover level and exclusions have been presented, and the client has confirmed in writing which exclusions apply and what the policy will not pay out for.
Application Submitted
60% probability2 to 10 daysThe application is with the insurer or provider. Your job is now chasing evidence, not selling.
The application is submitted with every medical, financial and KYC requirement attached, and the provider has confirmed there are no outstanding requirements.
Underwriting Decision
75% probability7 to 30 daysThe provider is deciding terms. Ratings, exclusions and postponements are common, and each one is a fresh sales conversation.
Terms have been issued (standard, rated, exclusion applied or declined), and the client has been told what they are and has confirmed they still want to proceed.
Policy Issued
95% probability3 to 10 daysCover is in force or funds are settled. Commission or fee is confirmed and the compliance file is complete.
The policy is on risk or funds are invested, the first premium or contribution has collected successfully, and the full suitability file is stored against the record.
Review Booked
100% probabilitySame dayThe next review or renewal is scheduled. This is what turns one sale into a book of business rather than a one-off transaction.
A renewal or annual review date is set on the record with a named owner and an automated reminder created 60 days ahead.
Fields worth tracking
Stages tell you where a deal is. These fields tell you whether it is any good. Add them as custom fields on the pipeline, and make the ones that gate a stage required.
Different products have completely different underwriting timelines and decline rates. Reporting on one blended pipeline hides that a third of your cases are waiting on medical evidence.
Initial versus trail commission changes what a case is worth over its life. Storing both lets you forecast recurring income rather than only new business.
A simple set of required documents against the record. It is the difference between an audit that takes an hour and one that takes a week of digging through email.
The single biggest source of delay in this pipeline. Making it a field rather than a note means you can build a view of every case blocked on evidence.
A book without renewal dates leaks quietly. This field feeds the automation that generates next year revenue without a single new lead.
Automations worth building
A pipeline that only stores data is a spreadsheet with a nicer view. These are the three workflows that make this pipeline maintain itself.
When a policy is issued, automatically write the renewal date and create a task 60 days before it, plus a client-facing review sequence 45 days out. Renewals are the highest margin revenue in the business and the easiest to forget.
While a case sits in Application Submitted or Underwriting Decision, run a weekly workflow that emails the client any outstanding requirement and tasks the adviser to call the provider. Cases stall for weeks on one missing document.
Block the move to Policy Issued while any required compliance document is missing, and log who overrode it if a manager does. Enforcing the file in the workflow is far cheaper than reconstructing it later.
Common mistakes with this pipeline
A meaningful share of applications come back rated, excluded or declined, and each one is a new conversation at a different price. Weighting Recommendation Presented too highly makes every month look better than it will finish.
Advisers who track only new business rebuild their income from scratch every year. The book is the asset, and it only exists in the CRM if the renewal date and owner are captured at the point of issue.
Fact finds in one folder, suitability letters in email, consent in a form tool. It works until a complaint or an audit arrives, and then it costs days. Store the evidence against the deal record from the first contact.