Sales funnel: what it is and how to build a funnel that sells
Filip Duszczak
CEO i założyciel InStream Group
- Reading time: 32 minutes
- June 29 2022
Updated: · data from InStream Group projects in 2026
A sales funnel is a model of the path a potential client takes: from the first contact with your company, through a conversation and an offer, to signing a contract. At every stage some contacts drop out, which is why the funnel narrows towards the bottom. In B2B, the funnel shows how many leads you need to win one client and at which stage you lose the most opportunities.
- Stages of a B2B sales funnel and an example
- How Sales House supports the whole funnel
- Sales House demo
- Design your funnel with us: SalesBooster
- Funnel numbers: designing from the goal
- Sales funnel vs marketing funnel
- How to strengthen your funnel: presentation
- Funnel conversion calculator
- 10 funnel layers in SalesBooster
- Sales funnel vs sales pipeline
- How to fill your funnel with leads
- Do you have to build every stage yourself?
- How to outsource your funnel
- Funnel cost: in-house team vs Sales House
- KPIs at every funnel stage
- What goals to set
- How to measure your funnel in a CRM
- Which CRM for your sales funnel
- InStream services at every stage
- Service prices
- Frequently asked questions
Funnel stages
Stages of a B2B sales funnel
Every funnel stage has its own goal and its own criterion for moving on. Only once you name them can you measure where you lose clients.
- 1
Visibility
Top of the funnel. The decision-maker gets to know your brand before talking to you.
- 2
Outreach and lead
The contact replies to a message or leaves their details.
- 3
Qualification
You check the need, budget, decision-maker and timing.
- 4
Meeting
You learn about the client’s situation and goal.
- 5
Offer and negotiation
You propose a solution and agree the terms.
- 6
Contract and account growth
Repeat orders and referrals.
Example of a B2B sales funnel
A B2B services company has 200 leads, 40 meetings, 16 offers and 4 contracts in a month. Conversion from lead to meeting is 20%, meeting to offer 40%, offer to contract 25%, and the whole funnel from lead to contract 2%.
These numbers are an example. Calculate yours in the calculator below.- 200 leads
- 40 meetings 20%
- 16 offers 40%
- 4 contracts 25%
Sales House
Sales funnel: how Sales House supports you across the whole funnel
At InStream Group, the first Sales House in Poland, every part of the funnel has its own team and its own technology. You can hand over one stage or the whole funnel. Choose a level to see the services and go to their pages.
Visibility and brand
We build the visibility of your company and its leaders on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn MarketingWe build your leaders’ personal brands: content, video and regular publishing.See the service 
Employee AdvocacyConsistent employee profiles and a shared content calendar for the whole team.See the service 
LinkedIn profile auditWe review the profile element by element and recommend changes.See the service Lead generation
We reach decision-makers by email and on LinkedIn. You get hot leads.
Cold MailingPersonalised email campaigns. A team, databases and our own sending infrastructure.See the service 
Social SellingA salesperson runs your LinkedIn profile, builds relationships and books meetings.See the service 
B2B company databasesCustom company databases from registers, maps and thousands of sources.See the service Lead management
We qualify leads and turn them into booked meetings.
Lead handling (pre-sales)
Virtual qualification and meeting bookingSales management
We organise your sales process and manage your team.
Sales department transformationThe SalesBooster programme rebuilds your process, CRM, training and team habits.See the service 
Remote sales directorAn experienced director manages your sales department remotely.See the service 
Open consultingAn individual development path, mentoring and support with your challenges.See the service Skills development
We develop salespeople in the training room and on a virtual sales process.
Classic training
Training on a virtual sales processTools and CRM
We implement CRM and AI that support salespeople’s everyday work.
CRM implementation
AI in sales implementationWant to strengthen your funnel?
An agency stops working once it delivers a lead. Sales House also checks whether the lead has somewhere to go: whether there is a process, people and a CRM to close it. A contact without a process, skills and a system is a cost, not revenue.
Sales House demo
See in a few minutes how Sales House runs a sales funnel
The recording shows what working with us looks like: from strategy, through the team and campaigns, to the client panel and CRM.
Click to play the demo with sound
SalesBooster
Want to build a sales funnel? Design it with us
SalesBooster is a 4-month programme in which our consultant works with your team to design the sales process, set KPIs, adapt the CRM and train salespeople on a virtual process in PipeChamp. After the programme, the process and tools stay in your company.
A funnel that works in your team's daily routine
We do not leave you with a drawing of a funnel. Stages, actions, scripts and KPIs go into the CRM and into your salespeople's habits.
Numbers and KPIs
Sales funnel numbers: how to design a funnel that hits the target
An effective funnel is designed backwards: from the sales goal to the number of leads. First you decide how many new clients you need, then you check the conversion of each stage and use it to calculate how many offers, meetings and leads have to enter the funnel.
- Step 1
Contracts
Revenue goal ÷ average contract value = number of contracts.
- Step 2
Offers
Contracts ÷ offer → contract conversion = number of offers.
- Step 3
Meetings
Offers ÷ meeting → offer conversion = number of meetings.
- Step 4
Leads
Meetings ÷ lead → meeting conversion = number of leads.
- Step 5
Budget
Leads × cost per lead = acquisition budget.
In the example at the top of the page, a goal of 4 contracts requires 16 offers, 40 meetings and 200 leads. The median cost of a hot lead in 426 InStream Group cold mailing campaigns is PLN 664 (how to calculate the cost per lead).
A leak-proof sales funnel
First you fix the stage with the lowest conversion, and only then do you pour in more leads. More leads in a leaky funnel mean higher costs, not more contracts.
Comparison
Sales funnel vs marketing funnel: what is the difference?
A marketing funnel ends when the lead is handed over, and a sales funnel starts with it and ends with a contract. In B2B it is one funnel with one handover point.
| Criterion | Marketing funnel | Sales funnel |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | build awareness and generate leads | turn leads into contracts |
| Who is responsible | marketing | salespeople and SDRs |
| Where it ends | when the lead is handed over (MQL) | with a signed contract |
| KPIs | reach, traffic, number of leads, cost per lead | meetings, offers, wins, cycle length |
| Tools | content, ads, LinkedIn, marketing automation | CRM, sales process, scripts |
Problems start where nobody is responsible for handing the lead over between marketing and sales. That is why we agree one lead definition and one handover point. More on what a lead, MQL and SQL are.
Presentation
How to strengthen your sales funnel: Sales House presentation
Swipe through the slides and listen to the voice-over. In a few minutes you will see how we strengthen every stage of the funnel: from your brand, through client acquisition, to developing your sales department.
Arrows, swipe or click a thumbnail
Voice-over script for this slide
Meet InStream Group, the first Sales House in Poland. In a few minutes we will show you how we can take responsibility for your company's sales. You will also learn why more and more companies choose this model of cooperation.
Software houses changed the way companies build technology. Today the same is happening in sales. When artificial intelligence gives everyone similar tools, the advantage goes to whoever sells better. Sales House gives you that advantage from day one.
Companies come to us with very different challenges. Some need new conversations with clients, others are entering a new market or building a team from scratch. They all have one thing in common: they want to grow faster without adding headcount.
When marketing, leads, CRM and training come from different companies, nobody looks at sales as a whole. At Sales House one team is responsible for the entire funnel. We are accountable to you for one goal: sales growth.
Building a sales department from scratch takes months of recruitment, onboarding and costs before the first results appear. With Sales House you get a team that delivers from the first month. You adjust the scale of cooperation to your company's needs.
We can step into one stage of your funnel or take over the whole of it. At every stage, experienced specialists supported by artificial intelligence do the work.
Every service we offer rests on the same foundation. You get people, proven know-how and InStream's own technology. That way you don't pay for experiments – you use solutions proven in our clients' projects.
Everything we do has one goal: the success of your sales. In a moment you will see how we build visibility and win clients. We usually discuss developing the sales process and team at a separate meeting.
Before a client talks to you, they check you out online. More and more often they also ask artificial intelligence about experts. That is why we build your leaders' brands so they are visible on LinkedIn, in Google and in AI answers.
For us, content means many formats: from posts to videos with your experts. We agree the style and formats together at a creative meeting. We prepare every creative in line with your company's brand book.
A dedicated specialist and a support team work on your brand. We plan content, run activity and build relationships on your behalf. You see everything in the Lead Astra platform. Nothing is published without your approval.
A personal brand is an investment that pays off more every month. First, visibility grows. Over time it translates into better conversion and enquiries from new clients.
We expand the network, build the position of brand leaders and achieve top results. Some of our clients are number one in their segments for LinkedIn recognition. You will find full case studies and video testimonials on our website.
LinkedIn Marketing is a subscription from €1,000 net per month. We write the minimum publishing scope into the contract, so you know exactly what you are paying for. If you want to involve the whole team, we extend the service with Employee Advocacy.
Cold Mailing 2.0 is a way to get a steady stream of new leads at scale. We write short, human messages to the people who really make purchasing decisions. Every campaign is run in compliance with GDPR.
You cannot build this scale on your own. We work in over 40 markets. Our campaigns bring clients 4,000 leads a month. Your campaign uses the same infrastructure and experience.
Your campaign is run by an experienced Project Manager with a support team. We take care of databases, content, infrastructure and the legal side. You receive ready replies in the Lead Astra panel, integrated with your CRM.
Every month you receive a report comparing the results with the guarantee written into the contract. In a well-set-up campaign the number of Hot Leads grows month after month. You will find case studies from such campaigns on our website.
Cold Mailing 2.0 is a subscription from €1,700 net per month, with no limit on campaigns or mailboxes. We guarantee the minimum number of Hot Leads in the contract. You can also choose a model in which you pay only for Hot Leads.
You won't reach your most important clients with a mass message. In Social Selling a person leads the conversation with the decision-maker, from first contact to the meeting. That is how we build relationships that cannot be automated.
Conversations are led by an experienced LinkedIn salesperson supported by our team. We look after your network and the history of every relationship. The Lead Astra platform prepares the work, but every message is sent by a person.
You also see Social Selling results in your monthly report, compared against the guarantee in your contract. We have worked with many clients for years. Relationships built on LinkedIn keep paying off long after the first conversation.
Social Selling is a subscription from €1,000 net per month. We write the minimum number of invitations and Hot Leads into the contract. Conversations are run from your experts' profiles.
Our cooperation has a steady rhythm. The first month is preparation, then we launch campaigns and analyse the results every month. Every 90 days we meet to plan the next stage. We also prepare your team to work with the leads.
The best results come from combining three channels. Visibility on LinkedIn makes clients more willing to reply to emails and messages. That is how Lead Generation 3.0 is born: a steady flow of conversations with your clients.
1,700 companies from more than 40 countries have already trusted us, from startups to global brands. Every month we run more than 200 sales projects.
Let's talk about how we can grow sales in your company. Call or write to us. You will find our contact details on the screen.
Hello. We can't meet in person, so I'm happy to take you through Sales House step by step. InStream Group is the first Sales House in Poland. We support your company's entire sales: from brand visibility, through winning clients, to developing your sales department. Our goal is the growth of your business.
For the last twenty years, companies have scaled technology with a partner – a Software House that gave them developers, tools and proven ways of working. Today artificial intelligence makes it possible to build technology in a very short time. The advantage now comes from sales and marketing. Just as companies once scaled technology, today they scale sales with a partner. That is why the era of the Sales House has begun.
When is it worth turning to a Sales House? When you have a good product and need more conversations with clients. When you want to build brand visibility or enter a new market. When you want to turn client interest into sales faster. When you are building or rebuilding a sales team. And when you want to scale sales without adding headcount. In each of these situations we take over the part of the funnel you need.
Until now, companies have grown sales with many suppliers at once: a marketing agency, a lead provider, a CRM implementation company and a sales trainer. Each was responsible for its own piece. Sales House brings all of this together in one partner: one strategy, people, knowledge and technology in one place, and shared goals. We are responsible for what matters most – the growth of your sales.
Your own sales department is much more than salaries. It means recruiting and onboarding people, tools, licences and databases, training, your time spent on management, team turnover and months of ramp-up. With Sales House you get all of this in one cooperation: a ready team, proven know-how and technology from day one. You change the scale of support as your needs change. You pay for a ready sales department, not for building one from scratch.
We support you at every stage of the sales funnel. We build the visibility of your brand and its leaders. We reach the companies you want to talk to. We turn interest into meetings and sales opportunities. We organise your sales process, CRM and tools. We develop your team's skills. You can start with one stage or entrust us with the whole funnel. At each stage an experienced team supported by artificial intelligence does the work.
The first area is visibility and brand. Your personal brand is one of the most important investments today. We build it systematically on LinkedIn: for the owner, salespeople and experts, or for the whole company in the Employee Advocacy model, where all employees speak with one voice. You gain recognition, trust and visibility, including in AI-powered search engines. You have the knowledge and experience. We make sure the market notices it.
We run all brand work on our own platform. We feed it with knowledge about your company, and on that basis we create posts, graphics, carousels and short videos. You see the content plan in a calendar, approve every post before publication and can check at any time what has already been published. You focus on the business while we make sure your brand is regularly present online.
The second area is winning clients. We specialise in the two methods that work best today. Cold Email 2.0 means short, business-like messages sent to carefully selected companies. LinkedIn Sales means conversations with decision-makers run manually, with text and voice messages. You set the goals and the target group, and we build a channel that regularly delivers meetings. We operate in more than forty markets: in any country, region and industry.
LinkedIn Sales is social selling done one hundred percent manually. Every conversation is led by our salesperson, on your behalf and in your tone, without bots or automation. We reach specific companies and people from your list, often at board level. When the recipient doesn't reply, we send a voice message prepared from a sample of your voice. The recipient hears you talking about their company. Your profile builds trust before the question about a meeting is asked.
Cold Email 2.0 is a personalised business message sent on behalf of your salesperson to a decision-maker. Its goal is to start a conversation. We build the database exclusively for you, based on hundreds of company and person attributes. Every recipient gets a message tailored to their role and industry, and no message goes out without your approval. We take full responsibility for the technology and GDPR compliance.
You see every sales opportunity in real time. Interested people go straight to your client panel, together with company details, phone number, email address and the content of their reply. For each contact you see the stage of the conversation: from the first reply to a win. Analytics show which industries and markets respond best, so every month we develop the strategy where results are highest. You know who we are talking to on your behalf and what comes of it.
A lead is only the beginning. We help turn it into a client. We prepare conversation scenarios, scripts and best practices. We select and implement a CRM system for your sales process. When you are short of hands, we give you trained specialists to support your team. Together we analyse leads and work to make sure as many of them as possible end in a sale.
Before the first leads arrive, we prepare your team to work with them. On the PipeChamp platform salespeople have a sales academy with video courses and sessions with a virtual trainer. They practise conversations with a virtual client before calling a real one. Together with you we build sales skills: we prepare the first conversation with the client and lead-nurturing sequences. That way the lead reaches a team that knows how to run the conversation.
If you need more hands, you can hire our pre-sales specialist, an SDR. This is a trained salesperson who calls leads, qualifies them and books meetings for your team. They work in your CRM system or in ours, so you see every activity. You don't recruit or train, and you change the scale of support as needed. Your team focuses on closing sales.
The next area is team development – the Sales Booster programme. Real change in a team requires a plan, resources and support during the transformation. That is why we take your team through four phases. We design the sales process. We implement it together with the CRM. We practise and change salespeople's habits. Finally, we develop the leaders. A consultant eventually finishes the job, but the process, knowledge and platform stay in your company for good.
The result of the programme is a healthy sales culture. It rests on four pillars. A sales process that from now on is the foundation of the team's work. Consistent communication, so salespeople know how to talk to the client at every stage. Conscious management, where leaders work with numbers and support everyone's development. And a ready working environment with CRM and tools. This is how the best sales teams in the world are built.
PipeChamp is our platform for developing sales teams. We record your sales process in it, so every salesperson knows what to do at the next stage of the conversation with the client. The team practises conversations with a virtual trainer, and the leader sees each person's progress and knows where support is needed. New salespeople get up to speed faster and the whole team works to one standard. The platform stays in your company.
How does it work? All our services are built on three layers. Technology: our own systems at every stage of the funnel, which you get access to. Resources and know-how: databases, ready processes, scripts and knowledge of what really works in sales. People: a dedicated team of specialists. That way you don't have to learn sales from scratch or build everything yourself. That is what makes a Sales House different from an ordinary agency.
Behind every project there are people. We have more than seventy specialists in twelve specialisations. They are project managers and strategists, cold mailing and social selling specialists, data analysts and copywriters, LinkedIn marketers and content creators, meeting-booking specialists, CRM consultants and sales trainers. For your project we select a dedicated team with the skills you really need.
We tailor the cooperation to your company. You can hire the full resources of Sales House: a dedicated team, know-how and technology. You can order a ready one-off solution, for example a sales process, a CRM implementation or team training. You can also buy a licence for our own platforms, Lead Astra and PipeChamp, for your team to use independently. You change the model as your company grows.
In the full-resources model you always get three layers together. People: a project manager, a data analyst, a creative department, technical and legal specialists and a sales trainer. Resources and know-how: databases, ready processes and scripts, any number of campaigns, target groups and markets, and a sales academy. Technology: CRM and a client panel, unlimited domains and mailboxes, cold mailing and LinkedIn platforms, and AI-based tools. You don't build anything yourself. You get a ready, working sales department.
How do we start working together? First we talk and get to know your business, clients and sales goals. Then we prepare a strategy for the first ninety days: we decide which area we start with and how we measure results. Then we launch with a dedicated team. We meet regularly to analyse results together and plan the next steps. We work with the mindset that every month should be better than the last.
InStream Group is the first Sales House in Poland. For ten years we have supported B2B companies in sales: from startups to international corporations. We have more than seventy specialists, operate in more than forty markets and have delivered more than three thousand projects. We build our own technology and share the knowledge gained in each of them.
The largest companies in the world, startups, local Polish businesses and industry leaders have trusted us. We have worked with many of them for years, because trust is built on results. Every month hundreds of companies and sales teams in Poland and around the world use our support.
We operate in more than forty markets worldwide: in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Africa. We match the campaign language to your team. Poland is our base, and we look for clients wherever you want to sell.
Want to find out more? Click the Virtual Demo button in the menu at the top of the page and talk to our virtual consultant. It's like a video call: you tell them about your sales and the consultant shows you how Sales House can help. At any time, without booking a meeting. If you prefer to talk to a person, our consultants are waiting for you.
InStream Group. The first Sales House in Poland. You build the rockets. We launch them into space.
Calculator
Calculate your sales funnel: conversion calculator
Enter how many leads, meetings, offers and contracts you had last month. The calculator will work out the conversion of each stage, point out the weakest one and show how many leads you need to hit your goal.
Your funnel last month
data from your CRM · the values in the fields are examples
Your funnel
Formula: stage conversion = number at the lower stage ÷ number at the higher stage × 100. The calculator does not store your data.
How we work
How we design a sales funnel at InStream: 10 SalesBooster layers
A funnel is not a drawing in a presentation but the way your team works. In SalesBooster we build it in layers: from the revenue goal to your salespeople's daily habits.
| Layer | What you get | Programme phase |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Goal and revenue model | the sales goal broken down into contracts, offers, meetings and leads | Process design |
| 2. ICP and segments | who you sell to and in what order | Process design |
| 3. Stages and exit criteria | when an opportunity moves on and when it drops out | Process design |
| 4. Actions and follow-ups | what a salesperson does at each stage and by when | Process design |
| 5. Scripts and messaging | a call, an email and a message for each stage, SalesBook | Process design |
| 6. Objections and negotiation | answers to the most common objections, negotiation strategy | Practice and new habits |
| 7. KPIs and stage goals | the conversions and activities you measure every week | Environment, CRM and rollout |
| 8. A CRM that mirrors the process | stages, fields, reports and automations in the CRM | Environment, CRM and rollout |
| 9. Team management | 1:1 sessions, funnel review, salesperson scoring | Sales growth and culture |
| 10. Training on a virtual process | simulations with an AI client and an AI coach in PipeChamp | Practice and new habits |
Funnel vs pipeline
Sales funnel vs sales pipeline: are they different?
Short answer: no. A sales funnel and a sales pipeline describe the same process from two sides.
The funnel shows how many contacts move from stage to stage and what the conversion is. The pipeline shows the specific opportunities currently at each stage and their value.
| Sales funnel | Sales pipeline | |
|---|---|---|
| Question | how many contacts do we turn into clients? | what opportunities do we have now and what are they worth? |
| View | percentages between stages | a list of opportunities in CRM columns |
| Use | planning the goal and budget | a salesperson's daily work and the forecast |
In a CRM both views are in one place: the pipeline is the columns with opportunities, and the funnel is the conversion report from the same columns.
Lead Generation 3.0
How to fill your sales funnel with leads: Lead Generation 3.0
Lead Generation 3.0 combines three channels that reinforce each other. Your brand on LinkedIn means the decision-maker knows you before they get a message. Social selling and cold mailing reach them directly.
- 1
Brand and visibility
LinkedIn Marketing and Employee Advocacy: your expert and team visible in decision-makers' feeds.
LinkedIn Marketing - 2
Social selling
Reaching decision-makers on LinkedIn: invitations and conversations run by our team.
Social selling - 3
Cold mailing
Campaigns to a carefully selected base of decision-makers. Guarantee: at least 5 hot leads per month.
Cold mailing
Support at every stage
Do you have to build every stage of your sales funnel yourself?
Short answer: no. Sales House can take over one stage, several stages or the whole funnel. You stay focused on what you do best, and we add people, process and technology where the funnel leaks.
| Funnel stage | You do it yourself | We can take over |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | expert posts, website | LinkedIn Marketing, Employee Advocacy |
| Outreach and lead | database, campaigns, replies | Cold mailing, social selling, B2B company databases |
| Qualification | conversations with leads | SDR, Virtual SDR |
| Meeting and offer | salespeople | sales outsourcing, remote sales director |
| Process and team | sales manager | SalesBooster, PipeChamp |
| CRM and reports | IT or an administrator | CRM implementation |
Working together
How to outsource your sales funnel to an external company
Working with Sales House starts with your numbers, not with a price list. This is the path from the first conversation to meetings in your salespeople's calendars.
- Step 1
Conversation
You show us your funnel and goal. We point out the stage where you lose the most.
- Step 2
90-day strategy
ICP, channels, team, KPIs and budget.
- Step 3
Launch
Team, database, campaigns and CRM ready to work.
- Step 4
Meetings and reports
Meetings land in your salespeople's calendars, and you see the results in the client panel.
What to look for when choosing a partner
- Is it responsible for results, not just for the number of messages sent?
- Does it show a live results panel?
- Does it work in your CRM?
- Do the process and data stay in your company?
- Does it have real case studies from your industry?
More about how we work: B2B sales outsourcing.
Costs
How much does a sales funnel cost: in-house team vs Sales House
The same assumptions as in the comparison on our sales outsourcing page: 6 months, one full-time salesperson vs the Sales House three-channel package.
| Item (6 months) | One full-time salesperson | Sales House: three-channel package |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | €19,080 (€3,180 gross / month) | included |
| Employer contributions | €3,912 (approx. 20.5%) | included |
| Recruitment | €2,620 one-off | none |
| Tools, databases, IT | on top | included |
| Team | 1 person | teams in 3 channels |
| Guaranteed results | none | min. 5 hot leads per month |
| Total | €25,612 + tools | €21,000 net (€3,500 / month) |
Salary converted from PLN at the NBP rate of 12.11.2026. Sources: sales outsourcing cost comparison.
KPIs
Sales funnel KPIs: what to measure at every stage
Every stage has one question its KPIs must answer. If you do not know the answer, you do not know where your funnel leaks.
| Stage | KPIs | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | reach among ICP decision-makers, profile and website visits | are the right people seeing you? |
| Outreach and lead | number of leads, reply rate, cost per lead | are you reaching the right companies? |
| Qualification | share of qualified leads (MQL → SQL) | do the leads match your ICP? |
| Meeting | lead → meeting conversion, no-show rate | do the leads want to talk? |
| Offer | meeting → offer conversion, time to offer | do you understand the client's need? |
| Contract | win rate, average contract value, cycle length | are your offer and negotiation working? |
| Whole funnel | lead → contract conversion, client acquisition cost | how much does a new client cost you? |
Goals
What goals to set to strengthen your sales funnel
A good funnel goal has three levels. The outcome goal says where you are going. The stage goal says which stage has to improve. The activity goal says what a salesperson does every day.
- 1
Outcome goals
Revenue and the number of new clients in the quarter.
- 2
Stage goals
Conversion of the weakest stage, e.g. meeting → offer, and cycle length.
- 3
Activity goals
Number of calls, follow-ups and meetings per salesperson per week.
How to break down a quarterly goal
- Step 1
Revenue goal for the quarter
- Step 2
Number of contracts at the current conversion
- Step 3
Number of offers, meetings and leads
- Step 4
Weekly activity target per salesperson
One stage to improve per quarter
Several goals at once scatter the team, and you will not know what worked. The calculator above does the same maths from the goal to the leads.
Measurement
How to measure your sales funnel in a CRM
A funnel you cannot see in your CRM only exists in a presentation. We set up these four elements in every implementation.
“Leads without a CRM are like hiring employees and not giving them an office.”Filip Duszczak, CEO of InStream Group
- 1
Pipeline stages = funnel stages
Every column has an exit criterion.
- 2
Conversion report
The share of opportunities moving between stages, every week and every month.
- 3
Time in stage
Where opportunities stall longest and which ones need a follow-up.
- 4
Sales forecast
Opportunity value × stage probability.
CRM
Which CRM should you choose for your sales funnel?
The best CRM is the one your salespeople use every day and that shows you conversions without Excel. Check these criteria before you choose a system.
- It mirrors your stages and exit criteria
- A simple pipeline view and a mobile app
- Conversion reports and forecasts without Excel
- Integration with your inbox, calendar and campaigns
- Follow-up automations
- Licence cost per user
- 1
Pipedrive
InStream Group is a Gold Partner.
- 2
Livespace
InStream Group is a Gold Partner.
- 3
Bitrix24
InStream Group is a partner.
- 4
InStream CRM
Our own system. Explore InStream CRM
Services
InStream services at every stage of the sales funnel
Every level of the funnel has a service that strengthens it. Click a service to go to its page.
- Stage 01VisibilityLinkedIn MarketingEmployee Advocacy
- Stage 02Outreach and leadCold mailingSocial sellingB2B company databases
- Stage 03QualificationSDRVirtual SDR
- Stage 04Meeting and offerSales outsourcingRemote sales director
- Stage 05Process and teamSalesBoosterPipeChamp
- Stage 06MeasurementCRM implementationInStream CRM
Pricing
How much do the services that strengthen your sales funnel cost?
Net prices. We match the package and scope to the stage you want to strengthen.
| Service | Net price |
|---|---|
| LinkedIn Marketing | €1,000 / month |
| Employee Advocacy | €1,000 / month |
| Social selling | €1,000 / month |
| Cold mailing | €1,700 / month |
| Lead Generation 3.0 package | €3,500 / month |
| SDR | from €450 / month |
| Virtual SDR | from €230 / month |
| Remote sales director | from €910 / month |
| SalesBooster | €8,000 / 4 months (€2,000 / month) + platform licence |
| CRM implementation | priced individually |
Frequently asked questions about the sales funnel
What is a sales funnel?
A sales funnel is a model of a client's path from the first contact with a company to signing a contract. It shows how many contacts pass through the next stages: lead, qualification, meeting, offer and contract. This tells you how many leads you need to hit your goal and where you lose the most opportunities.
What are the stages of a B2B sales funnel?
In B2B they are usually: brand visibility, outreach and lead, qualification, meeting, offer and negotiation, contract and account growth. The number of stages depends on the company, but each stage should have a clear criterion for moving on.
What is the difference between a sales funnel and a marketing funnel?
A marketing funnel ends when the lead is handed over, and a sales funnel starts with the lead and ends with a contract. Marketing is responsible for the first, salespeople for the second. In B2B they work best as one funnel with one lead definition.
Are a sales funnel and a pipeline the same thing?
Yes, they are two views of the same process. The funnel shows the conversion between stages, and the pipeline shows the specific opportunities currently at each stage and their value. In a CRM the pipeline is the columns with opportunities, and the funnel is the conversion report from those columns.
How do you calculate conversion in a sales funnel?
Divide the number of contacts at the lower stage by the number at the higher stage and multiply by 100. For example, 40 meetings from 200 leads is a 20% conversion. The conversion of the whole funnel is the number of contracts divided by the number of leads.
How do you build a B2B sales funnel?
Start with the revenue goal and the average contract value, then define stages with exit criteria, the salesperson's actions at each stage and KPIs. Mirror the stages in your CRM and measure conversions every week. At InStream Group we do this in the SalesBooster programme.
Which CRM should you choose for a sales funnel?
One that mirrors your stages, shows a conversion report and a forecast, and that your salespeople will use every day. InStream Group is a Gold Partner of Pipedrive and Livespace, a Bitrix24 partner and has its own InStream CRM. We have completed more than 250 CRM implementations.
How much does it cost to build a sales funnel?
It depends on which stages you build. The SalesBooster programme, in which we design the process, KPIs and CRM, costs €8,000 net for 4 months plus the platform licence. The Lead Generation 3.0 lead acquisition package costs €3,500 net per month.
How do you fill a sales funnel with leads?
Combine brand visibility on LinkedIn with direct outreach: social selling and cold mailing. This is how Lead Generation 3.0 works at InStream Group. Before you pour in more leads, check that the funnel does not leak at later stages.
Can you outsource your sales funnel to an external company?
Yes. A Sales House such as InStream Group can take over one stage of the funnel or all of it: from brand and lead acquisition, through qualification and meetings, to the sales process and CRM. The process and data stay in your company.
What is a leak-proof sales funnel?
It is a funnel in which every stage has a known conversion, an owner and an exit criterion, and opportunities do not get lost between marketing and sales. Sealing a funnel starts with the stage that has the lowest conversion.
What are TOFU, MOFU and BOFU?
They are the three parts of the funnel: TOFU (top of the funnel) is building awareness, MOFU (middle of the funnel) is qualifying and nurturing leads, and BOFU (bottom of the funnel) is meetings, offers and closing. A sales funnel in a CRM usually covers MOFU and BOFU.
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About the author
Filip DuszczakCEO and founder of InStream Group, 17 years in B2B sales. He built a team of 70+ specialists that has supported the sales of more than 1,700 companies in 40+ markets.
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