
A sales pipeline, which describes how your marketing and sales teams court a lead and convert them into a customer, is distinct from a sales funnel. A sales funnel is a representation of where check this your prospects are in their journey toward making a buying decision.
A sales funnel includes three major stages, though the specifics can be altered to suit a business’s unique circumstances. A typical sales funnel includes:
High: High-funnel prospects are those who might be interested in your product or service but aren’t actively looking to make a purchase.
Middle: Mid-funnel prospects know they could probably benefit from your product or service, but they are still investigating the market and aren’t ready to buy just yet.
Low: Low-funnel prospects are ready to make a buying decision immediately or in the very near future.
Understanding where prospects enter your sales funnel, and from which marketing channels, can help refine your sales pipeline to prevent prospects from dropping out of the process and increase conversions.
Like sales pipelines, sales funnels can be adapted as needed to suit the needs of the businesses that create them. Creating subsections of the three-part funnel described above can be a useful way to focus on the more granular aspects of your sales funnel.