# Build funnel Charts

> Funnel charts show how many people make it through each step, with conversion rates, the biggest drop called out, and side-by-side comparisons by channel or segment.

Analyze · 17 min read · Updated 2026-11-03

A funnel chart shows how many people make it through each step of a process, and where they fall off. Golden draws the funnel, works out the conversion between every pair of stages, and calls out the biggest drop for you.

![A Signup Funnel dashboard: Visited site 488.3K, Viewed pricing 202.7K, Started trial 43.3K, Activated 28.4K, Became customer 10.5K, with conversion rates on the right and a header reading Overall 2.1% to Became customer, Biggest drop 79% at Viewed pricing to Started trial](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793670966630-01-hero--1-.png)

### When to use a funnel

- **The weekly growth review.** Your growth lead wants to know how many site visitors become paying customers, and which step leaks the most. One funnel answers both: 2.1% overall, and the big leak is between pricing and trial.
- **A sales pipeline.** Leads, qualified, demo, proposal, closed won. The sales manager sees how many deals each stage loses.
- **Comparing channels.** Marketing splits the same funnel by Channel and sees Email converts at 4.8% while Paid Search converts at 1.5%.
- **An onboarding checklist.** Product tracks signed up, invited a teammate, connected data, built a dashboard, and finds the step where new users stall.

If your question is "where are we losing people?", it's time for a funnel.

### Make a funnel

Your data needs one row (or many rows) per stage: a column that names the stage, and a number for how many people reached it.

1. Add a chart to your dashboard (on a blank one, choose **Begin in the fields**).
2. Open the **More charts** menu (the **…** at the end of the chart types) and choose **Funnel**.
3. Drag your stage column onto **Stages** and the count onto **Values**.

![The More charts menu with Funnel between Donut and Treemap](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793670973861-02-chart-type-funnel.png)

![The funnel's shelves: Stage on Stages, Sum(Users) on Values, and empty Compare By, Target and Tooltip shelves](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793670979111-03-shelves.png)

| Shelf | What goes there |
| --- | --- |
| **Stages** | The dimension that names each step (Stage, Pipeline step). |
| **Values** | The count at each step (Users, Deals). Leave it empty to count records. |
| **Compare By** | A second dimension to split the funnel into one per value (see below). |
| **Target** | A goal measure to compare against. |
| **Tooltip** | Extra fields to show on hover. |

From chat:

```
Show users by stage as a funnel
```

### Put the stages in order

A funnel only makes sense in the order people move through it. By default, Golden looks for a pattern: if every stage name starts with a number ("1. Visited site", "2. Viewed pricing"), it uses that order. Otherwise it may not guess your process.

Here's the same data before it was ordered. Started trial sits above Viewed pricing, and the conversion rates read like nonsense ("4.7×").

![The funnel with stages out of order: Visited site, Started trial, Viewed pricing, Became customer, Activated](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793670994932-04-out-of-order.png)

To fix it, click **Stages** on the shelf to open **Stage options**, set **Sort stages by** to **Custom order**, and drag the stages into place.

![Stage options with Sort stages by set to Custom order, the five stages in order, Overall % measured to, Treat as outcome switches, Show conversion rates and Show metrics panel](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793671018930-05-stage-options.png)

**Sort stages by** offers **Auto (detect pattern)**, **Value (high → low)**, **Value (low → high)**, **Stage name (A → Z)**, **Stage name (Z → A)**, **Original order** and **Custom order**.

The rest of Stage options:

- **Overall % measured to** picks the stage the headline "Overall" rate counts to. **Auto** picks one for you; set it to your real goal ("Became customer").
- **Treat as outcome** marks a stage people can reach from any earlier step. It stays on the chart but leaves the conversion chain, so it doesn't distort the step-to-step rates.
- **Show conversion rates** and **Show metrics panel** turn the rates column and the summary header on or off.

> **Tip:** Number your stage names in the data ("1. Visited site") and Golden orders them automatically, everywhere they're used.

### Read the funnel

- **The metrics panel** across the top: **Overall** (how many of the first stage reach your goal stage) and **Biggest drop** (the step that loses the most).
- **Conversion rates** on the right: the share of each stage that makes it to the next one. The weakest steps are colored so they stand out.
- **Hover a stage** for its details in the tooltip.

### Funnel options

Select the funnel, open **Options**, and expand **Chart Options**. Everything below lives under **Funnel options**.

![The Funnel options section: Variant, Label shows, Orientation, Sort stages, Overall % to, Taper, Neck width, Stage gap, Bar ends, Labels and the Conversion rates, Drop-off %, Drop-off breakdown, Connectors and Metrics panel switches](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793671011082-06-funnel-options.png)

| Option | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Variant** | **Standard** (centered bars) or **Step** (bars aligned left on a track). |
| **Label shows** | Any mix of **Value**, **% of first stage** and **% of previous**. |
| **Orientation** | **Horizontal** (stages top to bottom) or **Vertical** (stages left to right). |
| **Sort stages** | The same choices as Stage options. |
| **Overall % to** | The goal stage for the overall rate. |
| **Taper** | **Tapered** sizes each bar by its value; **Full width** makes every bar the same width and shades the share inside it. |
| **Neck width** | How narrow the smallest stages can get, so tiny stages stay readable. |
| **Stage gap** | Space between stages. |
| **Bar ends** | **Square** or **Rounded**. |
| **Labels** | **Inside**, **Outside** or **Hidden**. |
| **Conversion rates** | The step-to-step rates beside the bars. |
| **Drop-off %** | Adds the drop-off to each stage's tooltip. |
| **Drop-off breakdown** | A table under the funnel, one row per step, with the percentage and the count lost. |
| **Connectors** | Lines that join each stage to the next. |
| **Metrics panel** | The Overall and Biggest drop header. |

### Styles

![The same funnel six ways: Standard, Step, Full width, Rounded bar ends, Labels outside, and Vertical](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793671027429-07-styles.png)

Standard reads like a classic funnel. Step works well when stage names are long. Vertical fits a wide, short tile at the top of a dashboard.

### Percentages and the drop-off breakdown

Turn on **% of first stage** under **Label shows** and each bar says how much of the starting audience is left ("Started trial • 43.3K · 8.9%"). Turn on **Drop-off breakdown** for the exact losses under the chart.

![The funnel with % of first stage on every label and a Drop-off by stage table underneath: Visited site to Viewed pricing -58.5% (285.6K), Viewed pricing to Started trial -78.6% (159.4K), Started trial to Activated -34.5% (14.9K), Activated to Became customer -63.0% (17.9K)](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793671033535-08-labels-dropoff.png)

### Compare By

Drag a dimension onto **Compare By** and you get one funnel per value, each with its own conversion rate in the corner and a summary row on top ("Email (5%), Organic (2%), Paid Search (1%)").

![The funnel compared by Channel: an Email funnel at 4.8% conversion, an Organic funnel at 2.0%, and Paid Search at 1.5%, stacked one above the other](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793671040061-09-compare-by.png)

Click **Compare By** on the shelf to open **Compare by layout**:

- **Layout:** **Vertical** (stacked), **Horizontal** (side by side) or **Grid**.
- **Sort segments by:** for example **Conversion (high → low)**, so the best performer comes first.
- **Show segment summary header:** the row of segment chips at the top.
- **Reset to defaults** puts it all back.

![The Compare by layout panel with Horizontal selected, Sort segments by Conversion (high → low), and Show segment summary header on](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793671084111-11-compare-layout.png)

![The three channel funnels side by side in the Horizontal layout](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=55c840f0-f534-4356-8c2d-f3d91bba7deb%2F1793671057235-10-compare-horizontal.png)

> **Note:** Side by side gives each funnel a third of the width, so long stage names get shortened. Use Horizontal on a wide tile or with 2 or 3 segments.

### Do it from chat

Chat can build funnels and change every option above.

**Build**

```
Show users by stage as a funnel
```

```
Put the funnel stages in order: Visited site, Viewed pricing, Started trial, Activated, Became customer
```

```
Compare the funnel by channel
```

**Style**

```
Make it a step funnel
```

```
Use the pyramid style
```

```
Flip the funnel vertical
```

**Labels and numbers**

```
Show conversion percentages on the funnel
```

```
Label each stage with the count and the % of the first stage
```

```
Add a drop-off breakdown under the funnel
```

```
Hide the metrics panel
```

A few things chat does on purpose:

- **Named styles are presets.** "Funnel", "Pyramid", "Step bars" and "Conversion" each set a few options together, and leave every option they don't name alone.
- **It never leaves a stage without a label.** Ask to hide labels and chat sets **Labels** to **Hidden** instead of emptying **Label shows**.
- **Stages you leave out of an order go last**, in their current order.

### Sharing, publishing and viewers

- **Viewers see the funnel as you set it**, including order, labels, the metrics panel and Compare By layout.
- **Dashboard filters apply.** Filter to one region and every stage, rate and the biggest drop recalculate.

### FAQ

**Why are my stages in the wrong order?** Golden can't always guess your process from the names. Open **Stage options**, choose **Custom order** and drag them, or number the stage names in your data.

**Why does a conversion rate show "×" instead of "%"?** A later stage is bigger than the one before it, usually because the stages are out of order. Fix the order and the rates make sense again.

**What's the difference between "Overall" and the rates on the right?** Overall compares your goal stage to the very first one. The rates on the right compare each stage to the one right before it.

**Can I count records instead of summing a column?** Yes. Leave **Values** empty and the funnel counts rows per stage.

Source: https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/imported-mw01ccwe