Sales Funnels vs Sales Pipelines: What the Difference Means for Your Workflow
There are often misconceptions about what a sales pipeline is and how it differs from a sales funnel. Hopefully, this guide will help you learn the difference and have smoothly flowing pipelines!
When you’re dealing with sales, the process can often feel daunting at first glance. There are many different steps that are involved, and understanding the terminology is the difference between having productive processes and broken pipelines.
The terms “sales pipeline” and “sales funnel” are often used synonymously. However, there are key distinguishable differences that separate the two.
Sales Pipeline
A sales pipeline is the set of steps that go into making a sale. These steps initially allow you to organize the sales process and more effectively convert leads. Pipelines also help teams track the process and amount of leads. Maintaining sales pipelines is the easiest way for sales leaders to manage their goals, as well as track data in between cycles. In our Workflow Intensive solutions we help you design the supporting assets necessary for your sales pipeline to properly function.
Sales Funnels
A sales funnel is an easy way to represent lead conversions. The funnel opens at the top with a lead’s interest in your services and ends at the bottom with a completed sale. This gets confusing to newcomers because the steps are the same, you just have to show them differently.
Sales funnels represent the volume of your sales. This is represented in percentages throughout the stages in the sales pipeline. You’ll want to check the pipeline to see what stage the sale is in, and the funnel can show you the percentage for conversions at the given stage.
Which System Should My Business Use?
This really runs on a case by case basis. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to choosing which method works best for you. However, if you feel like you’re missing something at any stage in a sale, a pipeline will help you fix that. Sales funnels simply take it a step further and show you the conversion rates mathematically.
Using Sales Pipelines And Funnels
While many businesses use pipelines and funnels separately, they work well together as well! There’s nothing wrong with having multiple organizational tools. When you use pipelines and funnels together, it’s easier to determine whether or not your sales processes require more steps to run as smoothly as possible.
Now that you know the difference between sales pipelines and sales funnels, it’s time to fine-tune your processes! This all accumulates into your workflow. Once your pipelines are all fixed up, your conversion rates will soar!
Does your Sales Pipelines and Funnels need a touch-up or a full-on makeover? Complete our New Client Questionnaire so that we can understand your needs and provide the best fit solutions.
