What is Closed-Won?
Closed-won is the final stage in a sales pipeline where a prospect has officially become a customer. The deal has been signed, contract executed, or purchase completed—revenue is now recognized.
Closed-Won Milestones:
- Contract signed or purchase completed
- SOW (Statement of Work) defined
- Handoff to customer success/onboarding initiated
- Revenue recognition triggered
- Deal removed from sales pipeline
Why Closed-Won Matters
Revenue Realization
Closed-won is where pipeline becomes revenue.
Sales Pipeline Reality:
- Many opportunities enter pipeline
- Few progress to advanced stages
- Only some become closed-won
- Closed-won deals are the only ones that count
Sales Performance Measurement
Closed-won measures sales effectiveness.
Key Metrics from Closed-Won:
- Total revenue generated
- Win rate (closed-won / total opportunities)
- Sales cycle length (created to closed-won)
- Average deal size
- Rep performance ranking
Forecasting Accuracy
Closed-won validates forecasting models.
Forecast Learning:
- Which stage predictions were accurate?
- What deal characteristics predicted closing?
- How long did deals actually take?
- Which reps forecast most accurately?
Closed-Won Process
Confirmation Criteria
What defines "closed-won" should be clear.
Typical Closed-Won Criteria:
- Signed contract received
- Purchase order obtained
- Credit card processed
- Verbal commitment with email confirmation (for small deals)
- Deposit/payment received
- "Verbal yes" without documentation isn't closed-won
- "Sending contract this week" isn't closed-won
- Define what constitutes won in your CRM
CRM Transition
Properly update the opportunity record.
Required Closed-Won Fields:
- Closed date
- Actual contract value (may differ from forecast)
- Primary products/services sold
- Contract length/terms
- Sales cycle length
- Source attribution
- Next steps (onboarding, implementation)
Handoff to Customer Success
Smooth transition preserves the win.
Handoff Checklist:
- Customer success assigned
- Onboarding scheduled
- Implementation requirements documented
- Key stakeholders identified
- Success metrics defined
- Expected timeline communicated
Closed-Won Analysis
Win Rate Calculation
Measure conversion effectiveness.
Win Rate Formula:
Win Rate = (Closed-Won Deals / Total Closed Opportunities) × 100
Example:
- 50 opportunities closed (won + lost)
- 15 closed-won
- Win Rate = 15/50 × 100 = 30%
Time-to-Close Analysis
How long from first contact to close?
Typical Sales Cycles:
- SMB (<$25K): 30-90 days
- Mid-Market ($25K-$100K): 60-120 days
- Enterprise (>$100K): 90-180+ days
- Identify deals that closed faster than average
- Find characteristics of quick closes
- Replicate success factors
Deal Size Variance
Forecast vs. actual comparison.
Variance Analysis:
- Forecasted: $50,000
- Actual: $42,000
- Variance: -$8,000 (-16%)
- Do certain reps consistently overestimate?
- Are specific deal types prone to variance?
- What causes discounts?
Best Practices for Closed-Won Deals
Celebrate Wins
Recognition reinforces success.
Recognition Ideas:
- Deal announcement (Slack, email)
- Deal bell (physical or virtual)
- Team acknowledgment
- Commission confirmation
- Milestone celebrations
Conduct Win Reviews
Learn from what worked.
Win Review Questions:
- What made this deal successful?
- What objections were overcome?
- What was the decisive factor?
- Who were the key stakeholders?
- What could we replicate?
Document Key Learnings
Build institutional knowledge.
Document for Future:
- Customer痛点 and priorities
- Winning messaging and positioning
- Objection handling that worked
- Competitive differentiation
- Pricing and terms that closed
Gather Early Feedback
First impressions matter.
Post-Sale Touchpoints:
- Onboarding kickoff
- First week check-in
- First month review
- Customer satisfaction survey
- Identify concerns before they escalate
- Validate sales promises
- Inform product roadmap
- Improve sales process
Common Closed-Won Mistakes
Premature Celebration
Deal isn't done until it's done.
Risky Premature Wins:
- Verbal commitment without documentation
- "Sending contract soon" promises
- Budget approval not finalized
- Legal review still pending
Poor Handoff
Sales to CS handoff gaps create churn risk.
Common Handoff Issues:
- Incomplete customer information
- Overpromised expectations
- Unclear success metrics
- No onboarding scheduled
No Post-Sale Engagement
Ghosting after deal damages long-term value.
Risk:
- Buyer's remorse
- Competitor interference during implementation
- Churn before first renewal
Key Takeaways
- Closed-won = signed deal, revenue realized, handoff to customer success
- Represents conversion of pipeline to actual revenue
- Track: win rate, sales cycle length, deal size variance
- Establish clear closed-won criteria (signed contract, payment received)
- Smooth handoff to customer success preserves the win
- Conduct win reviews to replicate success
- Celebrate wins to reinforce positive behavior
- Avoid premature celebration—deal isn't done until documented
- Gather early feedback during onboarding
- Analyze patterns: what wins, how fast, for how much
- Use closed-won data to improve forecasting and qualification
Sources:
Related Terms
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
Total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers. Lower is better.
Cadence
Sequence and timing of touchpoints in outreach campaign.
Call-to-Action (CTA)
Specific action you want prospect to take. Clear CTA improves conversion.
CAN-SPAM Act
US law regulating commercial email. Requires opt-out mechanism and sender identification.
