---
tags: A2, 03, Prospecting
---
# Introduction to the sales pipeline

💪 Let's get right to it.
 
## What is a sales pipeline?

:::info
:bulb: The sales pipeline showcases the number and value of deals at each stage of your sales process. It is used to describe how many deals or “business opportunities” you have at each stage, and how much money they represent.
:::

 
## How does it differ from the sales funnel?
Both concepts are related, but not the same! A sales funnel maps out the stages in a customer’s journey according to how close they are to purchase: from awareness to consideration to decision.

This is an example of what a real sales pipeline looks like on a CRM


 
## Why is this important to you as a seller?
Let's say you start your new job as SDR. Your boss tells you that you need to schedule 20 qualified meetings for your Account Executive colleagues monthly.

Now you want to understand what you need to do at each stage of the sales process to meet your goal of 20 qualified meetings (your quota).

- How many leads do you need to call to get one on the phone?
- How many conversations lead to one scheduled meeting?

The sales pipeline is the concept that helps you understand that.

Once you know these numbers - also referred to as conversion rates from one stage to another - you can come up with the number of activities you need to do at each stage to achieve your goal in a given period.

Let's walk through that example.

 
## Let's walk through an example

🙂 You have just started your new job as SDR for a company selling SaaS products!

🚀 Your goal is to schedule 20 demo calls for your account executive colleagues each month.

🤔 **You now want to understand, how many leads do you need to generate, call and qualify to achieve your goal?**

From experience, your SDR colleagues tell you that, on average:

- In order to schedule 1 demo call, you need to have a conversation with 3 different leads.
- Only one in 3 leads picks up the phone, so to have a conversation with 1 lead, you need to call 3 leads.

Now you know that for **20 demo calls** in a given month you need to call **180 leads**!.

**Here's the math:**

:::info
- If for every demo call you need to have a conversation with three different leads, and for each conversation with a lead you need to call 3 leads - **you need to call 9 leads (3*3) to achieve one demo call**
- If your goal is to achieve 20 discovery calls, **you need to call 180 leads (20*9) to achieve this!**
 
:::

This also tells you how many leads you need to have (at least 180 a month) and how to plan your day and activities accordingly. Free piece of advice for when you start a new sales job: ask your colleagues what typical conversion rates are from stage to stage.

Makes sense, right? 🙂

Let's see another example from Timo, cofounder of the CRM software provider Pipedrive 👇

{%youtube AFvgwM9D5a0 %}

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