Marketing Funnel vs Sales Pipeline
The marketing funnel describes how a broad audience narrows down into engaged prospects, while the sales pipeline tracks those prospects through the specific stages a sales team manages to close a deal. The funnel is about attention, the pipeline is about action.
Marketing Funnel
A marketing funnel is a model of the stages people pass from first seeing your business to buying, and it shows at which stage most of them drop out.
Pipeline
A sales pipeline is the set of your open deals, each at its stage from first contact to closing. Weighted by each stage's odds, it forecasts revenue.
Marketing team
Sales team
Strangers who have never heard of you
A deal someone is actively working, from the first contact
Awareness, interest, conversion rates
Deal stages, win rate, time to close
| Owned by | Marketing team | Sales team |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Strangers who have never heard of you | A deal someone is actively working, from the first contact |
| Measures | Awareness, interest, conversion rates | Deal stages, win rate, time to close |