The share of sales opportunities a company closes successfully over a period.
Example
Winning 12 of 40 deals is a 30% win rate.
Important
Ask who or what the lost deals went to, including customers who chose to do nothing.
Related terms
Sales pipeline — The set of potential deals a company is pursuing, usually organised by stage from first contact to signed contract.
Weighted pipeline — The value of a sales pipeline after multiplying each deal or stage by its probability of closing.
Lessons that explain it
The real competitor is often a spreadsheet or doing nothing — Competitive diligence maps every alternative a customer could choose, including internal tools and inaction, and uses win and loss data to see where the company actually wins. (10 min)
A pipeline is worth its probability, not its headline — Sales pipelines are presented at full value. Weighting deals by stage, checking historical conversion and removing stale deals shows how much revenue is realistically coming. (10 min)