Close Rate

Definition

In B2B SaaS, close rate measures how many opportunities progress all the way to a closed state (either closed-won or closed-lost) relative to the total opportunities created or worked in a period. It focuses on decisions made rather than just wins. That means it tells you how effectively the team is driving deals to an outcome instead of letting them age indefinitely.

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Close rate is often used at the top-of-funnel or lead/opportunity level (for example, leads → closed deals). It is particularly useful for aligning marketing and sales; it connects initial demand to final sales outcomes. Some orgs use “close rate,” “closing ratio,” or “lead-to-close rate” interchangeably.

How to Calculate Close Rate

There are two common flavors; you should choose one definition and use it consistently.

Opportunity-Based Close Rate (Most Common in B2B SaaS)

Close Rate (%) = Number of Closed Deals (Won + Lost) ÷ Total Opportunities in Period × 100

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• Total opportunities usually means all opportunities created or actively worked in that period.
• This tells you what share of pipeline reaches a decision (vs. remaining open).

Lead-to-Close Rate (Marketing & Sales View)

Lead-to-Close Rate (%) = Number of Closed Deals ÷ Total Qualified Leads (or SQLs) × 100

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This is often used for funnel modeling (for example, “2% of MQLs become closed deals”).

Example (Opportunity-Based)

• 120 opportunities in a quarter.
• 30 closed-won, 30 closed-lost, 60 still open.
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Close rate = (30 + 30) ÷ 120 × 100 = 50%

In this example, half of the opportunities reached a decision.

Why Close Rate Matters

Close rate highlights sales process effectiveness and pipeline hygiene. A high close rate (with a healthy win rate) suggests reps are qualifying well, progressing deals, and avoiding “zombie” opps. A low close rate often indicates...
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• Poor qualification: too many low-quality opps that stall.
• Weak deal management: no clear next steps, poor multithreading.
• Pipeline hygiene issues: old, inactive deals never closed out.
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For CROs and RevOps, close rate helps validate pipeline assumptions and marketing efficiency. Improving close rate means more revenue from the same volume of leads and opps, without raising CAC.

Industry Benchmarks

Because definitions vary, treat benchmarks as directional. For B2B SaaS:

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The key is internal benchmarking. Track how your close rate moves over time and by segment, rep, and source, and pair it with win rate. You'll know not just how many deals close, but how many you win.

Real-world Examples

• A SaaS company discovers that only 30% of opportunities ever reach a closed state; the rest sit open for 180+ days. After tightening qualification rules and enforcing exit criteria on stalled deals, close rate rises to 55% and forecast calls become more reliable.
  
  
• Marketing and sales map lead → opp → close. They see that inbound demo requests convert to closed deals at 6%, while list-based outbound leads convert at 1%; they shift budget and SDR focus toward channels with higher lead close rates.
  
  
• A manager compares close rate across reps and realizes one rep has a very low close rate because they open many low-quality opps; coaching shifts to qualification and prioritization, which improves both close and win rates.

Common Mistakes

• Treating close rate and win rate as the same thing, instead of separating “deals decided” (close rate) from “deals we actually win” (win rate).
• Including very early, unqualified leads in the denominator, which makes close rate look artificially low and hides the impact of proper qualification.
• Allowing stale, inactive opportunities to linger as “open,” which suppresses close rate and distorts forecast accuracy.
• Changing the definition of “opportunity” or “lead” over time without updating how close rate is calculated, making trends meaningless.
• Looking at only aggregate close rate, instead of segmenting by source, segment, rep, and stage, which is where the improvement levers live.
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The Fix: Standardize clear definitions for “lead” and “opportunity,” enforce pipeline hygiene, and track close rate alongside win rate and conversion rates by channel, segment, and rep. When you do this, you can pinpoint where qualification, process, or strategy needs work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is close rate different from win rate?

Close rate looks at what percentage of opportunities or leads end in any closed outcome (won or lost), while win rate looks at what percentage of decided deals you actually win. Close rate = “how many deals reach a decision.” Win rate = “how many of those decisions go our way.”

Should close rate include deals still open?

No. Close rate focuses on closed outcomes. You can, however, compare closed vs. still-open counts to understand how much pipeline is cycling through to decision within the period.

Is close rate a marketing or sales metric?

Both. At the lead level (lead-to-close), it’s a joint marketing and sales funnel metric. At the opportunity level, it’s more of a sales process and pipeline management metric.

What is a good close rate in B2B SaaS?

For opportunity-level close rate, seeing 40–60% of opps move to closed-won or closed-lost within a reasonable time frame is typical in healthy orgs, with higher rates in tighter ICP segments.

How can we improve our close rate?

Tighten ICP and qualification criteria, enforce clear exit rules for inactive deals, improve deal management (mutual action plans, multithreading, next steps), and coach reps to either progress or explicitly close out stuck opps.

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Learn more about calculating and increasing close rate.
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‍Last Updated: December 16, 2025

‍Reviewed by: Ben Hale