Conversion Funnel
The Conversion Funnel is a visual model representing the stages prospects move through from initial awareness to becoming paying customers, with each stage narrowing as some prospects disengage or fail to qualify. In B2B CRM, the funnel typically includes stages such as Lead, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, and Closed Won, with conversion rates between each stage tracked as primary performance metrics. Understanding funnel shape and flow enables revenue operations teams to identify bottlenecks: a high drop-off between MQL and SQL suggests qualification criteria misalignment between marketing and sales, while a high drop-off in late-stage opportunities points to competitive positioning or pricing issues that need to be addressed.
The conversion funnel maps how prospects narrow from broad awareness down to closed customers, with people dropping off at each step. In B2B CRM the stages usually run Lead, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, Closed Won, and the conversion rate between each is tracked. Reading the shape tells you where the problem is: a big drop from MQL to SQL points to marketing and sales disagreeing on qualification, while late-stage drop-off points to pricing or competitive issues.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a model of the stages prospects pass through from awareness to purchase, narrowing at each step. In CRM it is tracked as conversion rates between stages like Lead, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, and Closed Won.