Mixing inbound and outbound
A strong inbound month hides a weak outbound funnel. Separate them.
Free sales template
Sales funnel stages template
The sales funnel stages are the steps a group of potential buyers passes through, from target account to paying customer, with fewer at each stage. This template maps a B2B outbound funnel stage by stage, with the definition, volume, conversion rate and owner for each, so you can see exactly where prospects drop out.
What it is and when to use it
A sales funnel describes volume. It starts wide, with every account you could sell to, and narrows at each stage as accounts are contacted, engaged, met, qualified and won. The shape tells you where you lose people and how much input you need at the top to get the output you want at the bottom.
The funnel and the pipeline are related but different. The pipeline tracks individual deals and their value through sales stages. The funnel tracks the population of prospects, most of whom never become deals. Marketing teams often use top, middle and bottom of funnel labels. For outbound B2B, it is more useful to name each stage by what happened: contacted, connected, conversation, meeting booked, meeting held, opportunity, customer.
In B2B the funnel has a wrinkle that consumer funnels do not: the unit that buys is an account, but the unit you contact is a person. A target account might have three or four relevant contacts, and one conversation with the right one is worth more than ten with the wrong ones. That is why this template counts accounts at the top, contacts in the middle and decision-maker conversations as their own stage.
Measured properly, the funnel turns into a planning tool. If you know your rate at each stage, you can work out how many accounts and contacts you need at the top to produce a meeting or deal target at the bottom.
Who uses it
Founders
See where the business loses prospects and how much top of funnel the revenue plan needs.
Sales and marketing leaders
Agree one set of stage definitions so marketing and sales stop arguing about lead counts.
SDR managers
Track the outbound stages weekly and compare them with benchmarks.
The sales funnel stages template
Every section and column, with what to write in each. Use the fill-in version below to type straight into it and copy, print or download the result.
1. Funnel stages, definitions and volumes
Fill in last month's or last quarter's volumes. Conversion is the stage volume divided by the stage above it.
| Stage | Definition | Volume this period | Conversion from previous stage | Owner | Main channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Target accounts | Companies that fit the ideal customer profile and are in the territory | Number of accounts | Not applicable | Sales ops or SDR lead | Data provider, CRM |
| 2. Contacts reached out to | Named people at target accounts who received at least one touch | Number of contacts | Contacts per account | SDR | Phone, email, LinkedIn |
| 3. Connected or replied | A live call answered or a reply received | Number | Percentage | SDR | Phone, email |
| 4. Decision-maker conversation | A real conversation with the right person about their situation | Number | Percentage | SDR | Phone |
| 5. Meeting booked | A first meeting accepted in the calendar | Number | Percentage | SDR | Phone, email |
| 6. Meeting held | The meeting took place with the right person | Number | Percentage | SDR and AE | Video or in person |
| 7. Qualified opportunity | Problem, timing and decision path confirmed | Number | Percentage | AE | Not applicable |
| 8. Customer | Contract signed | Number | Percentage | AE | Not applicable |
2. Inbound and other sources
Inbound joins the funnel lower down. Track it separately so it does not hide outbound performance.
| Source | Enters at stage | Volume this period | Conversion to meeting held | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo request or contact form | Stage 5 or 6 | Number | Percentage | Inbound SDR or AE |
| Content download or webinar | Stage 3 | Number | Percentage | Marketing |
| Referral or partner introduction | Stage 5 | Number | Percentage | Founder or partner manager |
3. Diagnosis
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Biggest drop-off | The stage with the lowest conversion against your target or benchmark. |
| Likely cause | Data quality, timing, opener, offer, qualification or follow-up. |
| Fix and owner | One change, who makes it, and when you will measure it again. |
Fill it in online
Type into the template, or load the worked example and edit it. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere: it stays in this browser tab until you copy, download or print it.
Empty fields copy as {{placeholders}} so you can see what is left to fill in.
Formulas
Funnel arithmetic. The outbound benchmarks are Nousu's published all-dials averages from 218,000+ dials into Australian businesses.
| Metric | Formula | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Stage conversion | Volume at stage / volume at previous stage | Measure the same period and the same population. |
| Connect rate | Connects / dials | Nousu benchmark 14%. |
| Decision-maker conversation rate | Decision-maker conversations / dials | Nousu benchmark 6% of dials. |
| Meeting rate | Meetings booked / decision-maker conversations | Nousu benchmark 22%. |
| Show rate | Meetings held / meetings booked | Nousu range 75% to 85%. |
| Top of funnel needed | Customers needed / (product of every stage conversion rate) | Work up the funnel from the bottom to find the input you need. |
Worked example
An Australian B2B company using outsourced SDRs. The company is described, not named, and the figures are illustrative.
Worked example: an Adelaide engineering consultancy
An Adelaide engineering and asset management consultancy wins work from councils, utilities and mining services companies across SA, VIC and WA. It started outbound with an outsourced SDR team to add to referrals. This is its funnel for the first full quarter.
The dial-based rates sit close to Nousu's published benchmarks. Volumes are illustrative.
1. Funnel stages, definitions and volumes
| Stage | Definition | Volume this period | Conversion from previous stage | Owner | Main channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Target accounts | Asset owners and contractors with 100+ staff in SA, VIC and WA | 620 | Not applicable | SDR lead | Data provider |
| 2. Contacts reached out to | Engineering, asset and operations leaders | 1,450 | 2.3 per account | SDRs | Phone, email, LinkedIn |
| 3. Connected or replied | Live answer or reply | 880 | 14% of 6,300 dials | SDRs | Phone, email |
| 4. Decision-maker conversation | Conversation with the right person | 370 | About 6% of dials | SDRs | Phone |
| 5. Meeting booked | First meeting accepted | 80 | 22% | SDRs | Phone |
| 6. Meeting held | Meeting took place | 64 | 80% | SDRs and principals | Video or on site |
| 7. Qualified opportunity | Scope, budget holder and timing confirmed | 24 | 38% | Principals | Not applicable |
| 8. Customer | Engagement signed | 7 | 29% | Principals | Not applicable |
2. Inbound and other sources
| Source | Enters at stage | Volume this period | Conversion to meeting held | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo request or contact form | Stage 6 | 9 | 78% | Principal on duty |
| Content download or webinar | Stage 3 | 40 | 5% | Marketing coordinator |
| Referral or partner introduction | Stage 5 | 12 | 92% | Managing principal |
3. Diagnosis
- Biggest drop-off
- Meeting held to qualified opportunity, at 38%. Most other stages were at or near benchmark.
- Likely cause
- Several meetings were with project engineers who liked the conversation but had no budget authority.
- Fix and owner
- SDRs now confirm the person runs or approves external engineering spend before booking. Sales lead to review in six weeks.
What to notice
- The outbound funnel produced 64 held meetings from 6,300 dials. That is roughly 1.3 meetings booked per 100 dials, in line with the Nousu benchmark.
- Referrals convert better but there were only 12. Outbound was the only stage of the funnel the firm could scale on demand.
How to use it, step by step
- Name the stages by what happened. Use events you can count, such as connected, meeting booked and meeting held, rather than labels like MQL that mean different things to different people.
- Write one definition per stage. Agree them with sales and marketing, and use the same definitions in the CRM and dialler.
- Pull volumes for one period. Take the last month or quarter. Use the same population at every stage.
- Calculate conversion. Divide each stage by the one above it, and compare with your target or the Nousu benchmark.
- Track inbound separately. Inbound enters lower down and converts differently. Keep it in its own table.
- Fix the biggest drop first. Write the likely cause and one change, then measure the same stage again after four to six weeks.
Common mistakes
Vague stage names
Lead, MQL and SQL mean different things to different teams. Name stages by events.
Measuring snapshots
Compare the same period and population at each stage, or the conversion rates are meaningless.
Fixing everything at once
Change one stage at a time so you know what worked.
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Want the meetings, not just the template?
Nousu Collective runs phone-first outbound for B2B companies selling into Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, with Australian callers in-house in Sydney. Our outsourced SDR service builds the list, runs the calling, email and LinkedIn cadence and books qualified meetings into your calendar. If you only need calls made, see cold calling or appointment setting.
In our data from 218,000+ dials into Australian businesses, Australian callers booked 1.3 meetings per 100 dials, against 0.3 for offshore teams. Pricing is starting at $7,000 a month.
FAQ
Sales funnel stages template questions
Straight answers from the team that runs outbound for Australian B2B companies.
Still have questions?
Book a 30-minute callFor B2B outbound: target accounts, contacts reached, connected or replied, decision-maker conversation, meeting booked, meeting held, qualified opportunity and customer. Marketing teams often group these into top, middle and bottom of funnel.
The funnel measures the volume of prospects at each stage, most of whom never become deals. The pipeline tracks individual opportunities and their value through sales stages. The funnel feeds the pipeline.
For outbound calling into Australian businesses, Nousu's published averages are 14% of dials connecting, 6% of dials becoming a decision-maker conversation and 22% of those conversations booking a meeting, with 75% to 85% of meetings held. Later stages vary too much by sale to give one figure.
Start from the number of customers you need and divide by each stage conversion rate, working up the funnel. The pipeline calculator does this from a revenue target.
Lower down. A demo request usually enters at meeting booked, and a content download at connected or replied. Track them separately from outbound.
Yes, as a volume model. Buying is rarely linear, and several people at one account may be at different stages, but the funnel still tells you how much input the top needs to produce the meetings and customers you want at the bottom.
Monthly for the full funnel and weekly for the outbound stages, so you can react within the quarter.
Need a team to run the plan?
Book a 30-minute call. We will map your market and buyers and show you what a phone-first campaign would book.
Starting at $7,000 a month. Exact fee quoted after a 30-minute call.