What is a Sales Funnel?
Also known as: Deal funnel, conversion funnel
The Sales Funnel is the staged view of how deals progress from entry to close, showing the count (and value) of deals at each stage and the conversion rate between them. It visualizes where deals advance — and where they leak.
What is a Sales Funnel?
Picture deals entering at the top stage and narrowing as some convert and others drop out. The funnel shows both the volume at each stage and the percentage that moves on to the next.
How to read it
For each stage, plot deal count (and pipeline value). The conversion rate between two stages = deals reaching the later stage / deals that were in the earlier one. The biggest single drop is your priority fix.
Funnel vs Pipeline
The pipeline is the live snapshot of open deals; the funnel is the progression and conversion view across stages over time. Same stages, different question — "what is open now?" vs "where do deals fall out?"
Why it matters
The funnel pinpoints the single highest-leverage stage to improve. A 5-point lift at the worst-converting stage often beats generating more top-of-funnel leads.