If you’re in B2B sales, you know it’s never as simple as “see lead, close deal.” There are a lot of moving pieces—leads slip through the cracks, sales cycles drag, and you’re never quite sure if your team is focusing on the right stuff. If you want real insight into your funnel, not just another dashboard to impress your boss, this guide is for you.
I’ll walk you through using Grow to actually track and optimize your B2B sales funnel—from first touch to closed deal. No fluff, just a step-by-step way to see what’s working, what’s stuck, and what’s a waste of time.
1. Get your data in order (seriously, do this first)
Let’s be blunt: analytics tools are only as good as the data you feed them. Before you start clicking around in Grow, get your sales data tidy and in one place.
What you need: - A CRM that your team actually uses (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, whatever) - Marketing automation data (email campaigns, lead forms, etc.) - Optionally, spreadsheets for anything that doesn’t fit neatly elsewhere
Connect these to Grow: - Grow supports direct integrations with most major CRMs and marketing tools. - For weird or custom stuff, you can upload CSVs or use Google Sheets.
Pro tip:
If your sales reps are skipping fields or entering junk data, fix that now. Garbage in, garbage out.
2. Map your sales funnel stages (don’t just copy someone else’s)
Every B2B sales org has its own flavor of funnel stages. Don’t just copy a template—define what actually happens in your process.
Common B2B funnel stages: - Lead captured - Qualified (Marketing Qualified Lead, Sales Qualified Lead) - Demo or meeting scheduled - Proposal sent - Negotiation - Closed won/lost
How to set this up in Grow: - In Grow, create a dataset that pulls in your deals or opportunities. - Make sure you have a field that tracks the current stage for each deal. - If your CRM uses cryptic stage names, rename them for sanity.
What not to do: - Don’t track 12 stages if you only really use 5. More isn’t better—clarity is.
3. Build your funnel visualization (skip the vanity charts)
Now for the part everyone wants: the funnel chart. But make it useful, not just pretty.
Good funnel visualizations show: - The actual number of deals/leads at each stage - Conversion rates between each stage (not just overall) - Trends over time (to spot slowdowns or improvements)
How to do it in Grow: - Use the built-in funnel or pipeline widgets. - Filter out junk leads (e.g., test records, duplicates). - Segment by source if you care about lead quality (ads, events, referrals, etc.)
What doesn’t work: - Pie charts of “leads by source” don’t tell you where deals actually close. - Vanity metrics (like total leads) don’t help—you want actionable insights.
4. Track velocity and bottlenecks (where things get stuck)
A funnel isn’t just about moving leads through—it’s about how fast and where they get stuck.
Metrics that matter: - Average days in each stage - Stages with the most drop-off (lost deals) - Opportunities stalled for X days (set your own threshold)
Set up in Grow: - Create calculated fields for “days in stage” using deal timestamps. - Build a bar chart or table showing average time per stage. - Use conditional formatting to flag deals over your “stale” threshold.
Honest take:
If you see deals sitting in “Negotiation” for weeks, don’t just look at the chart—talk to your sales team. The data tells you where to look, not always why.
5. Tie activities and touchpoints to funnel progress
It’s tempting to obsess over the funnel, but what actually moves deals forward? Activities: calls, emails, demos, follow-ups.
What to track: - Number of touchpoints per deal - Types of activities (calls, emails, meetings) - Which activities actually move deals to the next stage
How to do it with Grow: - Pull in activity data from your CRM or marketing tool. - Link activities to deal IDs. - Build a scatterplot or table: deals by number of touchpoints vs. close rate.
Ignore the noise: - Don’t get lost measuring every email. Focus on meaningful interactions (not “catching up” emails).
6. Build reports for humans, not just execs
It’s easy to build reports that look impressive but don’t tell you anything new. Build dashboards for real people—sales reps, managers, and marketers.
What works: - One main dashboard for the whole funnel (not 10 separate ones) - Filters for sales rep, date range, lead source - Simple color-coding for stuck deals or big wins
What doesn’t: - Overloading with 20 metrics. People tune out. - Hiding raw data—sometimes you need to drill down.
Pro tip:
Schedule automated email reports from Grow to your team. If nobody’s reading them, change the report—not the people.
7. Use Grow to run small experiments (and keep it simple)
The real value in tracking your funnel is seeing if changes actually make a difference. Don’t overhaul everything at once. Run small tests.
Examples: - Try a new email template for MQLs and see if conversion to demo improves. - Adjust the qualification criteria and watch the impact on downstream stages.
How to track experiments in Grow: - Add a custom field or tag to deals that went through the experiment. - Compare conversion rates and cycle times to your baseline.
Don’t do this: - Don’t declare victory after one week or a handful of deals. - Don’t obsess over statistical significance unless you have big volumes.
8. What to ignore (or at least not sweat)
Some things look important but are usually a waste of time:
- “Engagement” metrics with no link to revenue. If it doesn’t move deals, skip it.
- Lead scoring black boxes. If you can’t explain it in a sentence, don’t trust it.
- Overly granular stage tracking. Nobody needs “Proposal Sent,” “Proposal Viewed,” “Proposal Liked.” Keep it simple.
Final thoughts: Keep it simple, iterate often
Sales funnels are messy. Your goal with Grow isn’t to make it look perfect—it’s to spot where things break down and get a little better each month. Don’t get overwhelmed by dashboards or try to track everything. Start with the basics, get your team using it, and tweak as you go.
The best sales teams use data to ask better questions, not to look smart. Use Grow to cut through the noise, see what’s stuck, and fix what matters. That’s it.