Take the Market

Pipeline arithmetic in the open, for the people who own the number.

Sections

Work back from the number you owe.

Take the Market does pipeline arithmetic in the open: calculators that show their formulas, funnel benchmarks that name their sources, and playbooks that end in a number. This is the sum most demand plans start from.

Worked example
StageVolumeArithmetic
Target$3Mnew revenue
Closed won75$3M ÷ $40k a deal
Opportunity30075 ÷ 25% won
SQL750300 ÷ 40% to opp
MQL3,750750 ÷ 20% to SQLThe rate to check first. Change it and every row above it moves: run your own numbers.
Lead9,3753,750 ÷ 40% to MQL
Visitor468,7509,375 ÷ 2% to lead
Run it with your numbersThese are example inputs, not benchmarks. For stage rates with their sources, read the funnel benchmarks.

Revised this week

When a source revises a figure, the page changes and the old number stays visible, struck through, with the date.

No figure has been revised yet. Each revision will be listed here with the old and the new number.

Calculators, formulas showing

Each one prints its formula and a worked example before you type, so the answer can be checked by hand.

The funnel, stage by stage

Published conversion figures for each stage of a B2B SaaS funnel, each with its source. Definitions differ between sources; the full table, with samples and caveats, is in MQL to SQL conversion rate benchmarks and B2B funnel conversion rates by stage.

MQL to SQL conversion rate benchmarks and B2B funnel conversion rates by stage: published figures by stage
ConversionPublished figureRange on a common scaleSource
Visitor to lead83 companies1.1%First Page Sage, B2B landing page conversion rates
Lead to MQL39%First Page Sage, 2026 funnel benchmarks
MQL to SQL38%First Page Sage, 2026 funnel benchmarks
SQL to opportunity42%First Page Sage, 2026 funnel benchmarks
Opportunity to closed won37%First Page Sage, 2026 funnel benchmarks

Playbooks and methods

Programs to run and ways to measure them, newest revision first.

Playbooks and methods
PageStageUpdated
Marketing attribution models: first touch, last touch, linear, W-shaped and data-driven, compared on one B2B dealFirst touch, last touch, linear, U-shaped, W-shaped and data-driven attribution models compared, with the credit math worked on one $100,000 deal.Whole funnel
ABM playbook for one-to-few programs: the account list, the plays, the metrics and a 90-day planA one-to-few account-based marketing (ABM) playbook runs plays against clusters of 5 to 15 accounts, with holdout metrics and a 90-day plan.Whole funnel
Google Ads for B2B SaaS: campaign structure, match types, negatives and offline conversion importGoogle Ads for B2B SaaS: split campaigns by intent, capture GCLID and email, import CRM stages and set conversion windows up to 90 days.Lead
B2B retargeting strategy: audiences, frequency caps and the holdout testB2B retargeting strategy: segment by intent, exclude customers and open deals, cap frequency, and measure lift with a holdout, not platform conversions.Visitor
G2 marketing strategy for B2B: a review site playbook from profile to pipelineA G2 marketing strategy builds preference before buyers shortlist and captures accounts comparing vendors: profile, reviews, comparisons, intent and pipeline.Visitor
Self-reported attribution: how to design the field, code the answers and reconcile them with software attributionSelf-reported attribution asks buyers how they heard about you. Design the field, code answers and reconcile them with first-touch and last-touch data.Whole funnel

Voices

Recent things practitioners published that a demand team can learn from, with our label and our take on each entry's page. All Voices entries.

The week, by email

The pages that changed, the numbers that moved, and one worked calculation, every week.