One of the most common questions we get after a pipeline audit is some version of: "Is that number normal?" Owners can see their own qualified rate, appointment rate, and close rate clearly enough — what's harder to know is whether those numbers are healthy, or whether they're quietly leaking revenue compared to where they could be.
Based on the pipeline audits we've run across design-build and high-end remodeling companies, here's a general sense of what a healthy funnel tends to look like at each stage — not hard rules, but reasonable ranges to compare yourself against.
Qualified lead rate: roughly 50-65%
This measures how many raw inquiries turn out to be a real fit — right budget range, right timeline, right project type. Below 50% often points to a mismatch between your marketing message and who it's attracting (for example, ads that draw budget-conscious homeowners to a high-end remodeler). Above 65% can be a good sign, or it can mean your qualification bar is too loose and "qualified" isn't filtering much at all.
Appointment rate: roughly 60-75%
This is the percentage of qualified leads who actually book and show up for a consultation. Numbers below 60% usually point to a follow-up speed or confirmation problem, not a lead quality problem — the leads were fine, they just didn't make it to the appointment. This is also one of the fastest, cheapest numbers to improve, since it's almost entirely about process rather than sales skill.
Close rate (on attended appointments): roughly 20-35%
This range is wide because it depends heavily on project size and sales cycle length — a $15,000 bathroom remodel and a $250,000 whole-home renovation don't close at the same rate or speed. Within your own business, though, this number should be relatively stable month to month. Big swings are usually a signal worth investigating rather than ignoring.
Why these ranges matter more together than alone
A strong close rate can hide a weak appointment rate, and vice versa — which is exactly why we built a calculator around all three numbers together rather than any one in isolation. A remodeler with a 40% close rate but a 45% appointment rate is likely leaving more revenue on the table than a remodeler with a 25% close rate but a 75% appointment rate, even though the close rate alone looks worse in the second case.
Where to start if your numbers fall outside these ranges
If your qualified rate is low, the fix usually lives in marketing and lead qualification, not sales. If your appointment rate is low, the fix usually lives in follow-up speed and confirmation process. If your close rate is low despite solid appointment attendance, that's the one place where sales training, scripts, or pricing conversations are actually the right lever.
Knowing which bucket your problem falls into is most of the work. The rest is just fixing the right thing instead of guessing.