From leads toreal revenue.
A pile of leads isn't a forecast. Run them through the stages they actually pass, qualified, opportunity, closed won, at your real conversion rates, and see the customers, revenue, pipeline value, and monthly run rate they'll produce.
Your pipeline
New leads entering the pipeline.
Share of leads worth pursuing.
Share of MQLs that become real opportunities.
Your close rate on opportunities.
Revenue per closed customer.
Lead to close, gives a monthly run rate.
The projection
Projected revenue
$52,500
Customers
18
Revenue / lead
$105
Monthly run-rate
$17,500
Pipeline value in play: $210,000. Your weakest stage is Opportunity → won at 25%— that's the constraint.
Reverse-solve · hit a revenue goal
The lead volume your target needs
Leads needed
952
More leads
452
At $105 of revenue per lead, $100,000 takes 952 leads. But raising a conversion stage lifts revenue-per-lead — so you reach the goal with fewer leads, not just more of them.
Sensitivity · fix the weakest stage
What lifting "Opportunity → won" is worth
| Opportunity → won rate | Revenue | Per lead |
|---|---|---|
| 25% (now) | $52,500 | $105 |
| 31% (+25%) | $65,625 | $131 |
| 38% (+50%) | $78,750 | $158 |
| 50% (+100%) | $105,000 | $210 |
The lowest stage rate caps everything downstream, so a gain there flows straight to revenue — from the same leads. Fixing the constraint beats pouring more leads through a leaky pipe.
Your move
I'll find the stage that's quietly costing you customers.
500 leads → 18 customers → $52,500 ($105/lead).
Send me your pipeline numbers. On a free 30 minute call I'll show you which conversion step is leaking the most revenue and the change I'd make first to lift the whole forecast.
Plain English
Turn a lead count into a revenue number.
A revenue projection is just your pipeline math made explicit. Leads become qualified prospects, qualified prospects become opportunities, and a fraction of opportunities close, each step with its own conversion rate. Multiply those rates by your average deal value and you have a revenue forecast grounded in how your sales actually work, not wishful thinking.
Founders get this wrong in two directions. Some treat every lead as near money and overcommit; others have no read at all and can't tell whether a quarter's lead volume supports the target. The pipeline view fixes both, it shows precisely how many customers a given lead count yields, and how much each conversion rate matters.
This projector walks leads through qualified, opportunity, and closed won at your rates, then reports closed customers, total revenue, revenue per lead, the pipeline value in play, and, with a sales cycle length, a monthly run rate. It's the difference between 'we have lots of leads' and 'these leads are worth $X a month.'
The formula
Customers = Leads × MQL% × SQL% × Win% · Revenue = Customers × Deal value
500 leads × 40% × 35% × 25% = 17.5 customers. At a $3,000 deal that's $52,500 in revenue, or $105 of revenue per lead. Over a 3 month cycle, ~$17,500/month run rate.
Sanity check your pipeline rates
A forecast is only as honest as its conversion rates. If your stage rates are optimistic, so is the revenue. Typical stage to stage rates to check yours against:
| Pipeline step | Typical conversion |
|---|---|
| Visitor → Lead | 2–5% |
| Lead → Marketing-qualified | 25–40% |
| MQL → Sales-qualified | 13–20% |
| SQL → Opportunity | 40–60% |
| Opportunity → Closed-won | 15–30% |
| Visitor → Customer (overall) | 0.5–3% |
Source: Ruler Analytics / FirstPageSage funnel conversion benchmarks · 2025
Read the projection
Revenue per lead is low.
Either the deal value is small or a stage rate is leaking. Find the weakest conversion step. That's where the lost revenue is sitting.
Lots of leads, few customers.
Lead quality or qualification is the issue. A lower MQL rate caps everything downstream no matter how good your close is.
Strong win rate, thin revenue.
You close well but don't have enough qualified opportunities. The leak is upstream of the close, in lead quality or volume.
Run rate doesn't match the goal.
Back into it: either more leads, a better conversion step, or a higher deal value. The projector shows which lever moves it most.
Grow the revenue per lead
01Find the weakest stage
The lowest conversion rate in the chain is throttling everything below it. Fixing it lifts the whole forecast.
02Improve qualification, not just volume
More leads of the same quality just scale the leak. Better qualification raises every downstream stage.
03Speed up the cycle
A shorter sales cycle raises the monthly run rate even with the same total revenue, cash arrives sooner.
04Raise average deal value
Bundles, tiers, and upsells lift revenue per lead without needing a single extra lead.
05Score and route leads
Get the best opportunities to your closers fast; let nurture handle the rest. Win rate climbs when attention is aimed.
06Re forecast monthly
Rates drift with the market and the team. A projection you refresh stays a plan; one you set and forget becomes a fantasy.
The vocabulary
- Pipeline
- The set of prospects moving through your sales stages toward a close.
- MQL
- Marketing qualified lead, a lead that meets the bar to be worth sales attention.
- SQL / opportunity
- Sales qualified lead, a prospect a rep is actively working as a real deal.
- Win rate
- The share of opportunities that close as paying customers.
- Average deal value
- Revenue from a typical closed customer, turns customer count into revenue.
- Run rate
- Revenue expressed as a recurring monthly pace, here total revenue over the sales cycle length.
Revenue projection questions
Multiply your lead count by each stage's conversion rate, lead to qualified, qualified to opportunity, opportunity to won, to get closed customers, then multiply by your average deal value. This tool runs the full chain and reports revenue, revenue per lead, and a monthly run rate.
Keep going
A calculator tells you what. A call tells you what to do about it.
Send me the account behind these numbers. I'll tell you straight where the money's leaking and what I'd fix first — free, and you keep it whether you hire me or not.