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How many sales conversations does your agency need each week?

Last updated: November 2026Published by Tim Kilroy

How do I work out my weekly sales conversation number?

Divide your quarterly revenue goal by your average deal size, divide that by your close rate, divide by your proposal rate, then divide by 13 weeks.

This is the pipeline math Tim Kilroy teaches in his 2026 planning workshop, built into a calculator on Agency Pipeline Guides. Revenue does not come from leads. It comes from a small number of real conversations with people who have a short path to yes or no.

Pipeline calculator

Use your own numbers from the last quarter. Commas, a dollar sign, and a percent sign are fine.

In dollars, for one 13-week quarter.

In dollars, per closed deal.

Percent of proposals that become signed deals.

Percent of real conversations that become proposals.

The formula

The four-step pipeline formula

  1. Revenue goal / average deal size

    Equals deals needed.

  2. Deals needed / close rate

    Equals proposals required.

  3. Proposals / proposal rate

    Equals conversations needed.

  4. Conversations / 13 weeks

    Equals your weekly number.

Worked example

An illustrative example

These numbers are made up to show the math, not drawn from any real agency. Say the quarterly goal is $150,000 in new revenue, the average deal is $10,000, 30% of proposals close, and 50% of real conversations become proposals.

That is 15 deals, which needs 50 proposals, which needs 100 conversations. Spread over 13 weeks, it is about 7.7 real conversations a week. If that number feels impossible, it is telling you which constraint to fix: more conversations, better conversion to proposals, or a higher close rate.

What to do next

Which number should you improve first?

Pick one constraint per quarter. Tim Kilroy's advice is to choose between not enough conversations, conversations not turning into proposals, and proposals not closing, then improve one at a time.

If conversations are the gap, work on sales prospecting. If proposals are the gap, work on discovery calls and qualification. If closing is the gap, look at follow-up and positioning. And remember expansion: Marketing Metrics research, cited by Tim Kilroy, puts the chance of selling to an existing client at 60 to 70%.

Common questions

Short answers here. The full agency lead generation FAQ has 46.

How many sales conversations does my agency need each week?
Work backward from revenue. Divide your quarterly revenue goal by average deal size to get deals needed, divide by close rate to get proposals, divide by proposal rate to get conversations, then divide by 13 weeks. The pipeline calculator on this site runs that exact math with your own numbers and shows its assumptions.See it in the FAQ
Is lead quality or lead volume the bigger problem?
Quality, for most teams. Martal Group's 2026 statistics report that 61% of marketers say generating quality leads is their top challenge. For agencies, a small number of qualified conversations with a short path to yes or no beats a long list of contacts who will never buy.See it in the FAQ
Which B2B lead generation channels cost the least per lead?
According to Martal Group's 2026 lead generation statistics, SEO ($31), email marketing ($53), and webinars ($72) offer the lowest average cost per lead among B2B channels. Those are market averages, not guarantees. Your own cost per lead depends on your niche, your offer, and how well your message fits the buyer.See it in the FAQ
Why does my agency pipeline swing between feast and famine?
Usually because prospecting stops when delivery gets busy. When the founder is the only salesperson, client work wins every time, so new conversations dry up and show up as a revenue gap months later. A weekly conversation number, owned and tracked, keeps pipeline activity steady no matter how busy delivery gets.See it in the FAQ
Is it cheaper to grow existing clients than to find new ones?
Usually, yes. Tim Kilroy's account growth playbook cites Marketing Metrics research putting the probability of selling to an existing client at 60 to 70%, versus 5 to 20% for a brand-new prospect. A complete lead generation strategy includes expanding current accounts, not only adding new logos.See it in the FAQ

Published by Tim Kilroy