Obviously, selling effectiveness impacts the conversion ratios between Stages 3, 4, and 5. The better your sales team is at matching up client needs to your capabilities, the higher the conversion rates - and the less leads needed to reach your sales targets.

Time Management of the Sales Funnel
How does the Sales Funnel help you allocate time? By forcing you to spend time on ALL qualified prospects, not just on those you are about to close.

The sales funnel forces you to stay in touch with your entire sales pipeline by giving you a clear picture of your upstream opportunities. Tracking the number of prospects in each stage and making them visible is what makes the sales funnel process so effective.

Without a Sales Funnel, you will tend to concentrate on closing (stage 5) until you no longer have anything to close. This is a natural result of ignoring the prospective projects that are in Stages 1 through 3. Over emphasis on closing empties the funnel and creates the all too familiar boom-and-bust sales cycle.

You must spend time making sure that all the stages of your sales funnel remain adequately filled.