Welcome to the fourth edition of Breaking Inbound, your weekly deep-dive into inbound numbers and form-to-demo conversion rates across industries.
Happy new year, friend! 🎉
We’ve officially sailed into 2026, and this edition covers the New Year’s week.
The common assumption? Buyers definitely checked out over the long weekend, and no one was shopping for software.
Wrong.
Demo requests showed a slight increase, and funnel quality improved across the board.
Especially for health tech companies, who crushed it last week with a 73.8% form-to-demo conversion rate 🤯
Let’s dive into what the numbers have to say 👇
Inbound Snapshot
This week saw modest volume gains, with demo requests up 0.8% from previous week. The highlight, of course, was the conversion quality: average qualification rates improved 1.6%, while form-to-demo conversion rates jumped to 62.1%. Not only are more leads coming in, but they’re also converting at higher rates than before.
Segment Snapshot
Last week’s numbers painted different pictures for each segment. SMBs stayed strong, gaining 7% more demo requests and posting a 2% improvement in qualification & form-to-demo conversion rates. Mid-market companies maintained momentum, with a 0.5% uptick in demo requests and 2% boost in qualification rates. On the other hand, Enterprise faced headwinds on multiple fronts: with demo volumes falling 7%, qualification rates 6%, and form-to-demo conversion rates dipping 2%.
Industry-wise Meeting Rates
Health tech marketers had a busy New Year’s, because a) buyers continued to look for software, and b) their inbound funnel was strong—converting 7 out of 10 form fills into meetings.
Fintech, retail & e-commerce, and legal & compliance emerged out as top performers, perching comfortably above the 75th percentile. Fintech also saw the biggest improvement since the previous week, with its form-to-demo conversion rate climbing up from 62% to 72%.
Developer tools, IT & security, and edtech fell below the 25th percentile last week.
Funding Stage Analysis
SMB segment
- Seed companies saw a 2% increase in demo requests. However, despite steady qualification rates at 83%, their meeting conversion rates dipped from 64% to 62%.
- Series A companies improved both qualification rates (81%) and meeting conversion rates (68%), despite receiving 11% fewer demos.
- Bootstrapped companies saw a 11% increase in demo requests, as well as the biggest dip in meeting rates—dropping 12 percent points, from 68% to 56%.
- Series B companies saw 2% fewer demos last week, but maintained steady meeting conversion rates. They also improved their qualification rates by 6%.
- Series C companies had the highest qualification rates (87%) and meeting rates (82%) last week.
Mid-market segment
- Series B companies improved their meeting conversion rates by 13 percent points, amped their qualification rates to 70%, and saw a 7% increase in demo volumes last week.
- Series A companies stayed at the top in terms of demo requests—improving their qualification rates to 78% while seeing a slight dip in meeting conversion rates.
- Despite a 5% dip in demo volumes and a slight dip in qualification rates, seed-funded companies maintained their meeting conversion rates at 60%+.
- Series C companies also saw a slight dip in their qualification rates (78%→77%) and a moderate dip in meeting conversion rates (63%→58%).
- Public companies improved their meeting conversion rates to 80%+ last week.
Enterprise segment
- Series E saw an overall improvement, with demo requests and qualification rates going up by 2%, and meeting conversion rates scaling up from 69% to 76%.
- Series C companies saw a dip in meeting conversion rates, falling from 83% to 75% last week.
- Series D improved their qualification rates to 100%. However, meeting conversion rates fell from 86% to 69%.
Top Performers
Healthcare claimed the number one spot, with a meeting conversion rate of 73.8% ✨
Key Observations
- Overall funnel strengthened: demo volumes stayed flat, while quality improved—qualification rose by 1.6% and meeting conversion rates climbed to 62.1%, signaling healthier buyer intent week-over-week.
- SMBs led the recovery—demo demand grew by 7%, qualification rates improved to 78.7%, and meeting rates rose to 65.3%—reinforcing them as the most resilient segment.
- Mid-market showed mixed metrics: demo requests were stable, but outcomes diverged. Meeting rates jumped sharply by 5.8%, while qualification rates improved by 2.4%.
- Enterprise demand softened, but efficiency stayed steady: demo requests fell 7%, yet meeting conversion remained strong at 63%, with Series E & Series C companies witnessing a 75%+ meeting conversion rate.
- SMB Series C companies stood out with 81.6% meeting conversion rates.
- Mid-market Series B companies had the biggest upside: boosting meeting conversion by 13% and maintaining 70% qualification rates.
- Healthcare emerged as the table-topper, staying in the top performers for the third consecutive week.
- Developer tools saw another dip last week, with a below 50% meeting conversion rate for the second consecutive week.
TL;DR
The holiday slowdown has officially ended.
Demo volumes are back, qualification rates are up by 1.6%, and meeting conversion rates have started to rise again.
If you’re wondering where your conversion rates stack up—or what a 1% improvement in conversion rate means for your revenue—check out our calculator.
We’ll be back next week with fresh stats, as we gear up for Q1 💪
Until then, keep those meetings flowing 📈
