Benchmarks for B2B Funnel Conversion Rates - Sponge IO

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1. Encourage the sales managers to use this as the backbone behind their weekly 1:1s with reps. If nothing else, it will focus their efforts on working Opportunities instead of pointing fingers at Marketing to generate more Leads. “With full visibility into your conversion rates, and now a clearer sense of normal funnel conversion benchmarks, you’ll be able to spot bottlenecks, poor ownership, and/or leaks in your funnel.”

   In Metrics

2. Opportunity-to-Close rates should be >20%, but they vary widely depending on the industry, product offering, and price point. It’s pretty painful to be a marketer when rates are <20%. There’s honestly not a ton Marketing can do to help, but it puts exponential pressure on the top of the funnel (I’ve been there, it’s no fun). “give Sales visibility into their Open Opportunities.” Encourage the sales managers to use this as the backbone behind their weekly 1:1s with reps. If nothing else, it will focus their efforts on working Opportunities instead of pointing fingers at Marketing to generate more Leads.

   In Outbound reporting dashboards

3. Instead of pointing fingers at reps, Sales Ops, or the exec team, give Sales visibility into their Open Opportunities. Most account reviews are unstructured and anecdotal. Build a dashboard that tracks stage durations and next steps, like this (click to expand): “Encourage the sales managers to use this as the backbone behind their weekly 1:1s with reps.” With full visibility into your conversion rates, and now a clearer sense of normal funnel conversion benchmarks, you’ll be able to spot bottlenecks, poor ownership, and/or leaks in your funnel.

   In Outbound reporting dashboards

4. “you see what parts of your funnel are efficient, bottlenecked, leaking, or lacking a clear owner.” >> Related: It’s Time to Abandon TQL and SAL in Your Lead Funnel <<

   In Opportunity conversion rates

5. If you’re seeing MQL to SAL rates <80%, you’ve got a problem. You’re qualifying a lot of leads that Sales think are worthless.  Sources of the problem could be: “Inflated lead scores for flimsy activity. For example, MQLing people because they clicked emails.” Missing data quality controls. Junk emails, junk phone numbers, junk first or last names… they should all be stripped out by your marketing automation platform before a lead gets passed to Sales.

   In Opportunity conversion rates

6. Inflated lead scores for flimsy activity. For example, MQLing people because they clicked emails. “Missing data quality controls. Junk emails, junk phone numbers, junk first or last names… they should all be stripped out by your marketing automation platform before a lead gets passed to Sales.” A demographic fit that’s too broad. Chances are certain industries, geographies, company sizes, etc. are bad fits, but are still flowing through. If Sales can tell by looking at a lead that it’s not worth their time to pick up the phone, don’t MQL them in the first place.

   In Opportunity conversion rates

7. Missing data quality controls. Junk emails, junk phone numbers, junk first or last names… they should all be stripped out by your marketing automation platform before a lead gets passed to Sales. “A demographic fit that’s too broad.” FWIW this is the only conversion rate that can be “too high.” If you’re seeing 98% SAL rates, your MQL threshold might be too restrictive.  Take a look at your Engaged leads that don’t quite meet your MQL threshold, because there could be some legitimate leads stuck there, and you’re leaving money on the table by not sending them to Sales. This is a major reason I tinker with lead scoring every quarter.

   In Opportunity conversion rates

8. Who is responsible for rescheduling meetings? I recommend BDRs own it, and a recent client increased Meetings Held 21% month over month by doing this! “Scrutinize how you remind prospects about the meeting, and how often. I’ve seen dramatic improvements by simply updating the calendar item so it feels personal and valuable.” Is this another “people problem”? Look at your conversion rate on an individual level and interview reps with great numbers. Chances are they’re adding personal touches that you could systemize and lift all boats.

   In Reminder timing and channels

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