What does a sample sales funnel look like?
A sales funnel is a short list of stages, the number of people who reached each one and the rate from each stage to the next. The four examples below are for different kinds of business. Every company name is invented and every rate marked "sample" is an invented input, so you can follow the arithmetic; the benchmark figures are real and linked. Benchmarks for landing pages come from Unbounce's 2024 Conversion Benchmark Report, whose methodology page says it covers 41,000-plus landing pages, 464 million unique visitors and 57 million conversions between 23 July 2023 and 23 July 2024.
| Example (invented company) | Stages | Sample counts | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Self-serve software (Fabrikam Notes) | Visitors, trial signups, paying | 5,000 → 225 → 18 | $720 of new monthly revenue |
| 2. Demo-led software (Tailspin Software) | Demo page visitors, requests, attended, qualified, won | 2,000 → 76 → 53 → 21 → 5 | $75,000 a year |
| 3. Agency or consultancy (Adventure Works Studio) | Service page visitors, enquiries, calls, proposals, signed | 1,200 → 73 → 37 → 22 → 8 | $64,000 of projects |
| 4. Manufacturer or wholesaler (Wingtip Components) | Trade show scans, replies, quote requests, first orders, reorders | 300 → 60 → 30 → 9 → 5 | 5 repeat accounts |
Example 1: self-serve software with a free trial
For a product people can try and buy without talking to anyone, the funnel is short: website visitor, trial signup, paying customer. The best published anchor is the SaaS Conversion Report by Kyle Poyar with ChartMogul and ProductLed, a survey of 200 software products (22% of them mostly B2C or a hybrid) run in January 2026 and published on 4 February 2026. Its free-trial products reported 45 signups and 3.6 paying customers for every 1,000 website visitors, with conversion counted over six months. The figures are the companies' own estimates.
Sample: Fabrikam Notes, $40 a month, 5,000 visitors a month, using the report's per-1,000 figures:
- Signups: 5 × 45 = 225
- Paying customers: 5 × 3.6 = 18, so 18 ÷ 225 = 8% of signups pay
- New monthly revenue from one month of visitors, once they convert (the survey counted conversion within six months): 18 × $40 = $720
The spread matters more than the middle. Among free-trial products in the same survey, 20% converted fewer than 2.5% of signups and 23% converted more than 25%. So if Fabrikam sees 3%, the fix is inside the trial; if it sees 8% but few signups, the fix is the website. Whether to ask for a card or offer a call alongside the trial is covered in our free trial or demo call guide.
Example 2: demo-led B2B software
When the price needs a conversation, the funnel adds a meeting and a qualification step. Unbounce's SaaS page puts the median SaaS landing page conversion rate at 3.8%, against 6.6% across all industries. Unbounce counts click and form conversions on any landing page, not only demo requests, so 3.8% stands in for the first step here, with sample rates after it.
Sample: Tailspin Software, $15,000 a year, 2,000 visitors a month to its demo page:
| Stage | Rate | Arithmetic | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demo requests | 3.8% (Unbounce SaaS median) | 2,000 × 0.038 | 76 |
| Attended | 70% (sample) | 76 × 0.70 = 53.2 | 53 |
| Qualified | 40% (sample) | 53 × 0.40 = 21.2 | 21 |
| Won | 25% (sample) | 21 × 0.25 = 5.25 | 5 |
Five customers at $15,000 is $75,000 of annual contracts from one month of demo traffic, but they won't all sign that month. Two stages to watch in funnels like this: people who book and don't show (our guide to reducing demo no-shows covers confirmations and reminders), and qualified deals that stall waiting for a test. Forrester's 2026 buyer report says more than 60% of business buyers now use a trial to evaluate solutions, so many demo-led funnels need a trial or pilot stage between qualified and won.
Example 3: an agency or consultancy
Services firms sell projects or retainers, so the funnel runs from enquiry to discovery call to proposal. Unbounce's commercial and professional services page gives a median landing page conversion rate of 6.1%, and shows how much the traffic source changes it: 13.9% from email, 7.8% from paid search and 4.4% from paid social.
Sample: Adventure Works Studio, average project $8,000, 1,200 visitors a month to its services page (counts rounded to whole people):
- Enquiries: 1,200 × 6.1% = 73.2, so 73
- Fit for a discovery call, 50% (sample): 36.5, so 37
- Get a proposal, 60% (sample): 22.2, so 22
- Signed, 35% (sample): 7.7, so 8 projects, worth 8 × $8,000 = $64,000
The stage to watch is proposal to signed. If Adventure Works sends 22 proposals and signs 3, look at the proposals before buying more traffic. Check whether the proposal answers the questions raised on the call, names a start date and a price, and goes out within a day or two.
Example 4: a manufacturer or wholesaler selling to trade buyers
Physical goods sold to businesses can start offline, at a trade show or through a distributor, and the first order can be a test. The funnel has to continue past the first sale, because repeat orders are where the account pays off. All the rates below are samples; we found no published benchmark with a stated method for trade show follow-up.
Sample: Wingtip Components, which sells machined parts, after one trade show:
| Stage | Sample rate | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Badge scans | 300 | |
| Reply to follow-up within two weeks | 20% | 60 |
| Send a request for quote | 50% | 30 |
| Quote won, first order | 30% | 9 |
| Reorder within 12 months | 60% | 5 (5.4 rounded down) |
Two things differ from software. Quote turnaround is a stage of its own, so log the days between request and quote. And a funnel that stops at first order hides the most important number: the four first-time buyers who never reordered are the ones to call.
What does a real company's published funnel look like?
GitLab publishes its lead statuses in its marketing operations handbook (last modified 4 November 2026). They make a good template because they include the ways out of the funnel as well as the steps forward:
| GitLab status | GitLab's definition (shortened) |
|---|---|
| Raw | Untouched prospect, the default status |
| Inquiry | The person gave their contact information to GitLab |
| MQL | Marketing qualified through systematic means |
| Accepted | Actively working to get in touch |
| Qualifying | In a two-way conversation |
| Qualified | Progressing to the next step, typically handed to the sales team |
| Recycle, Disqualified, Bad Data, Ineligible | Not ready now; never valid or spam; incorrect data; not eligible after review |
A record moves from Raw to Inquiry when it joins a marketing program, fills out a form, or reaches a behaviour score above 10 points, and becomes an MQL at 100 points. Copy the exits even if you skip the scoring: a Recycle status with a date stops "not now" buyers from disappearing. For how B2B teams set the handoff between marketing and sales, see our B2B sales funnel guide.
Which sample funnel fits your business?
Pick the example closest to how your buyer pays. Then watch the stage listed first.
| If your business... | Start from | Stage to watch first |
|---|---|---|
| Lets buyers try alone and pay by card | Example 1 | Signup to paying, then visitor to signup |
| Needs a call before a contract, with several people signing | Example 2 | Booked to attended, then qualified to won |
| Sells projects or retainers | Example 3 | Proposal to signed |
| Sells physical goods to trade buyers | Example 4 | First order to reorder |
| Gets most customers from outbound, with little website traffic | Example 2, starting from people contacted and replies | Positive reply to booked meeting |
For the outbound row, swap the first step for people contacted, replies and positive replies; our guide to booking more sales meetings covers the step from reply to call. If Siela's Lead Finder is your top of funnel, it saves each run's leads to the CRM in their own group, so you can count each stage per run.
How do you fill in your own funnel this week?
Pick four or five stages
Each stage should be something the buyer did, such as requested, attended, received a quote or paid. Use the closest example above.
Count the last 90 days
Pull the counts from your CRM, calendar and invoices into the template. Rough counts beat none.
Work out each rate
Divide each stage by the one before it. Compare with the benchmarks where one exists, and treat the sample rates as placeholders to replace with your own.
Fix one stage
Choose the lowest rate you can influence this month and change one thing there. Extra traffic doesn't change a rate further down the funnel.
Review it weekly
Recount every Friday. Our weekly pipeline review questions give the open-deal view that sits beside the funnel.
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of a sales funnel?
A software company that offers a free trial has a three-stage funnel: website visitors, trial signups and paying customers. In ChartMogul's January 2026 survey, free-trial products reported 45 signups and 3.6 paying customers per 1,000 visitors. A consultancy's funnel is longer, running from enquiry to discovery call, proposal and signed project.
What are the stages of a sales funnel?
There is no fixed set. Most B2B funnels have four to six stages: a first measurable touch, a sign of interest, a conversation or trial, a proposal or qualified deal, and a sale, plus exits such as lost or not now. Name each stage after something the buyer did, so two people counting the same month get the same numbers.
What is a good sales funnel conversion rate?
It depends on the stage and the business. Unbounce's 2024 report puts the median landing page conversion at 6.6% across industries and 3.8% for SaaS. Across all products in ChartMogul's 2026 survey, the median free-to-paid rate was 8%. Compare each of your stages with a benchmark for that stage, instead of one number for the whole funnel.
How do I make a sales funnel template?
Make a sheet with one row per stage and three columns: count, rate to the next stage, and the reason people leave. Fill it with the last 90 days from your CRM, calendar and invoices, then update it every week. Add a row for exits, such as lost and not now, so the funnel shows where deals end as well as where they move.
How many stages should a sales funnel have?
Few enough that you can count each one reliably, usually four to six. Too few hide where buyers drop out; too many make the counting a chore and the numbers noisy. A self-serve product can work with three stages. A business that ships physical goods should add a reorder stage, because the first order can be a trial.
Sources
- ChartMogul (Kyle Poyar, with ProductLed): The SaaS Conversion Report (published 4 Feb 2026 (survey January 2026); checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Unbounce: 2024 Conversion Benchmark Report (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Unbounce: Conversion Benchmark Report methodology (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Unbounce: SaaS conversion rate benchmarks (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Unbounce: Commercial and professional services conversion rate benchmarks (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Forrester: Forrester's 2026 Buyer Insights (The State Of Business Buying, 2026 press release) (21 Jan 2026; checked 5 Nov 2026)
- GitLab Handbook: Marketing Operations (last modified 4 Nov 2026; checked 5 Nov 2026)