A repeatable, teachable process that doesn't depend on any one person's instinct.
What stages does a lead move through?
What moves a lead from one stage to the next?
Who is responsible at each stage?
What gets captured at each stage?
What happens when leads stall?
Write down what actually happens today — not what you wish happened. Include the messy parts.
Each stage should have a clear entry and exit criteria. If you can't explain when a lead enters a stage, the stage isn't defined.
What specific action or event moves a lead from "conversation" to "appointment"? Make it explicit.
At every stage, one person is responsible. Not "the team" — a specific role or person.
What information must be recorded at each stage? Keep it to what's actually useful — not everything possible.
Leads will get stuck. Define the follow-up cadence, re-engagement triggers, and when to mark a lead dead.
If it's not written down and trained, it doesn't exist. Every new rep should be able to learn the process in their first week.
Look at every stage once a week. Where are leads stuck? Where are they flowing? What's the bottleneck?
Track conversion rates between each stage. This tells you exactly where the process is breaking.
Coach reps on their stage performance — not just their close rate. Fix the stage, fix the outcome.
Every 90 days, review the process itself. What stages need adjusting? What's changed about your market?