Sales funnel
What is a sales funnel?
A sales funnel is a model of the path from first contact to purchase: awareness, interest, consideration, decision and purchase, with fewer people at each stage. It is drawn as a funnel because each step loses some people.
Measuring the conversion rate between stages shows where the biggest drop-off is.
Why a sales funnel matters
The funnel tells you where to focus. If many people visit but few sign up, fix the offer; if many sign up but few buy, fix onboarding or sales.
Related marketing terms
A sales pipeline shows every open deal by stage, from first contact to closed, so you can see what is likely to close and what is stuck.
Conversion rate is the share of people who take a desired action, such as signing up, replying or buying, out of all who could have.
Lead nurturing keeps in touch with leads who are not ready to buy, sending useful content until they are, so they choose you when the time comes.
Marketing qualified lead (MQL)
A marketing qualified lead, MQL, is a lead whose fit and interest meet marketing’s bar to be handed to sales for follow-up.