Close rate is the percentage of leads or opportunities that turn into paying customers over a given period. It is often used more broadly than win rate, because the denominator can include earlier stage volume like raw inquiries, not just qualified deals. Because teams count it differently, the denominator should always be stated alongside the number.
How it works
The basic formula is closed deals divided by the total you started with, times 100. What sits in the denominator is the part that varies. Some teams count every inbound lead, others count only qualified opportunities, and some count only formal quotes sent. A close rate of 20 percent against all leads and 20 percent against sent quotes describe very different pipelines, so label which one you mean.
Pick a consistent time window (weekly, monthly, quarterly) and be clear about whether you measure by the date a deal entered the pipeline or the date it closed. Mixing those two skews the result.
Why it matters
Close rate tells you how efficiently demand becomes revenue. A rising close rate can mean better lead quality, faster follow up, or clearer pricing. A falling one can signal slow response times, quotes that are hard to accept, or leads that were never a good fit.
Example for B2B quoting on Shopify
Say a wholesale store received 100 quote requests last month and 18 of those buyers paid. That is an 18 percent close rate measured against all requests. If you instead count only the 60 requests you sent a formal quote for, the same 18 wins give a 30 percent rate. Both are correct, which is why the denominator matters.
Tools that convert requests into checkout-ready quotes with open and click tracking make this easier to measure, because you can see where buyers drop off between request, quote sent, and payment. See the B2B quoting glossary for related terms, or pricing for plan details.