Part of the 4+2 Pipeline Thrust Matrix (formerly the 4+2 Growth Matrix). The canonical source is the white paper; the name change is explained in why the name moved.

The 4+2 Pipeline Thrust Matrix (the 4+2) is a planning framework, not a slide to admire. This guide follows the six method steps in white paper v1.0: Diagnose, Baseline, Select, Map, Run, Measure. Work with sales in the room. Use generic process: no client data, no invented benchmarks.

Before you start

You need: a CRM with at least basic opportunity data; a shared sense of priority sectors and geographies from the enterprise plan; willingness to agree a qualified-opportunity definition. If you have almost no CRM data, start with +1 Revenue Operations alone until stages and sources are usable.

Remind the room of the metaphor once: four pillars create thrust; two foundations cut drag; fix drag before adding thrust. Then put the metaphor away and use the cascade.

Step 1: Diagnose

Score each pillar and foundation. Find where pipeline leaks.

Sit for an hour with sales (and customer success if Retention is in scope). For each component, ask: empty, thin, noisy or crowded?

Demand Creation: Do priority buyers recall you before a project starts?
Demand Capture: Do enquiries become qualified opportunities?
Pipeline Acceleration: Do deals stall for lack of buying-group consensus?
Retention & Expansion: Are renewals and expansion planned?
Revenue Operations: Can pipeline be traced? Is speed-to-lead known?
Revenue Enablement: Are capability builds finishing and handing over?

Use the self-assessment scorecard when you want a structured 1–5 pass. The diagnosis can stay qualitative at first. You do not need a perfect warehouse to see the shape of the leak, you need honesty about empty cells.

Output: one weakest pillar (or foundation) named as this quarter's focus. A portfolio, not a checklist, you do not have to be strong everywhere at once.

Step 2: Baseline and measure

Put numbers on today's state so impact can be proven later.

Pick two or three metrics for the weak component from the component metric set (see pillar pages or white paper §2). Write the baseline as of a named date. Agree definitions with sales: especially qualified opportunity, sourced and influenced.

Influenced pipeline (decided rule): a marketing touch on a buying-group member within a 90-day lookback before opportunity creation or before a stage advance. Sales agrees the window. Revenue Operations audits. Sourced and influenced are always reported separately.

Output: a short baseline table: metric, definition, baseline value, date, owner of the data.

Step 3: Select initiatives

Choose a few focused plays for the weakest pillar (or foundation), each with a named owner.

Rules of placement (home rule):

One home per initiative, based on main job.
Run-state capability lives in the pillar it serves (e.g. operating scoring in Demand Capture).
Shared plumbing lives in +1 Revenue Operations.
Build or upgrade lives in +2 Revenue Enablement, with an end date.
Open-opportunity work lives in Pipeline Acceleration.
Upsell and renewal on converted accounts live in Retention & Expansion. A cross-sell (new buying group or product line in an existing account) loops back to Demand Capture, then Pipeline Acceleration, as a new opportunity.

Prefer three good initiatives over fifteen vague ones. If Acceleration is the leak, do not select more Capture media until consensus work is in the portfolio.

Output: initiative list with home, owner, primary metric, target direction (not invented lift percentages).

Step 4: Map the grid

Place each initiative against a sector and buyer type in its home pillar.

Columns are the four pillars; foundations are a band underneath. Rows are priority sectors with buyer types (economic buyer, user lead, procurement, influencer, and so on). A cell holds initiative name, owner, metric, baseline, target, status, contribution type (direct or indirect).

Reading the grid: empty cell = gap; crowded cell = possible over-investment; weak foundation band = drag under every column.

Output: one-page grid (even a spreadsheet) that marketing and sales can open together.

Step 5: Run the portfolio

Review the grid with sales every month. Rebalance every quarter.

Monthly agenda (keep it short):

North Star: sourced and influenced, separate.
Weak-pillar metrics versus baseline.
Empty and crowded cells.
Foundation band: traceability, speed-to-lead, builds due for handover.
Decisions: start, stop, continue.

Quarterly: move budget toward the leak; retire initiatives that cannot climb line of sight; hand finished +2 builds into run-state.

Output: dated decision log on the same page as the grid: not a separate strategy deck.

Step 6: Measure and report

Show direct and indirect pipeline contribution against the North Star.

North Star: marketing-sourced plus marketing-influenced pipeline value, reported separately and jointly with sales. Pipeline velocity (qualified opportunities × win rate × average deal value ÷ cycle length) is secondary.

Do not wait for perfect attribution before you plan for value. Do report honestly: flat results after a build are still results. Attribution gaps are not automatically value gaps, but influence without a rule is how trust dies.

Output: a recurring revenue-committee slide that uses the same language as the sales target.

Line of sight test (use at every step)

Enterprise goal to sales target to marketing contribution to pillar initiatives and metrics. If an initiative cannot be traced up this chain, it does not belong, or the target is wrong.

Worked rhythm (illustrative)

Week 1: diagnose and name the leak. Week 2: baseline two metrics and agree definitions. Week 3: select three initiatives and place homes. Week 4: map the grid and set the monthly review. Ongoing: run and measure. Times are illustrative of sequence, not a promise of outcomes.

Common failure modes while applying

Skipping baseline, then claiming victory.
Selecting Capture spend when Acceleration or foundations are the leak.
Leaving scoring as an endless +2 project instead of Capture run-state.
Summing sourced and influenced without showing the parts.
Building a beautiful grid once, then never reviewing it with sales.

What to do next

Book one hour with sales and walk Steps 1–3 on a whiteboard.
Open the self-assessment if you want structured scores.
Read the pillar page for your weakest component and use its acceptance questions before funding initiatives.
Keep the white paper open for definitions: this guide is the operating sequence, not a second framework.

Roles in the room

Marketing lead: owns the portfolio page and initiative homes.
Sales lead: co-owns qualified-opportunity definition, influenced window and monthly review.
RevOps (or equivalent): stages, traceability, audits, recalibration calendar.
Enablement (or project owners): builds with end dates; handover checklist.
Customer success (when Retention is in scope): renewals, expansion pipeline, references.

If you do not have formal RevOps, assign the +1 jobs explicitly. Unowned foundations become invisible drag.

Using ABM, waterfall and MEDDPICC while you apply

During Select and Map, place ABM motions inside cells: do not create a fifth pillar. Use the waterfall to see where flow breaks, then fund the 4+2 response. Keep MEDDPICC (or Challenger, SPIN) as deal methods inside Acceleration and Retention; if you need a new playbook, put the build in +2.

One-page artefacts to keep

Cascade (enterprise to sales to marketing contribution to pillars).
Grid (sectors × pillars with foundation band).
Baseline table for the weak component.
Decision log from the monthly review.

Four artefacts beat forty slides. When finance asks for return, point at sourced and influenced separately and at the initiative that was supposed to move the baseline.

Sources

Patel, P. (2026). The 4+2 Pipeline Thrust Matrix. https://prinkit.com/white-paper/4-plus-2-pipeline-thrust-matrix

How to apply the 4+2 Pipeline Thrust Matrix