Define the stages every deal moves through, with objective entry and exit criteria and the key actions and owner at each, producing the documented backbone of your sale.
Build your process one stage at a time, from qualified opportunity to closed. Keep the number of stages to the smallest set that still captures genuinely different states of a deal.
Stage: name it in plain language everyone will use the same way. Entry and exit criteria: make them objective, a specific action completed, a specific question answered, a specific commitment made, so anyone can agree on where a deal stands. Subjective criteria like "feels close" are how pipelines start lying. Key actions: what actually moves a deal forward here. Assets and tools: what is used, much of it drawn from your discovery, proposal, and closing work. Owner: who is responsible, so the work can be handed off.
| Stage | Entry criteria (true to be IN) | Exit criteria (true to ADVANCE) | Key actions | Assets and tools | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A worked example of a stage row: Stage "Proposal sent"; enters when discovery is confirmed and a decision maker is engaged; advances when the buyer has reviewed the proposal live and given a verbal reaction; key action is presenting the proposal live; owner is the deal lead. When every stage has objective criteria and a clear owner, your sale becomes a process anyone can run.
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