Sales managers, Founders, RevOps teams, Account executives, CRM administrators
Prepare the Required Inputs listed in the Workflow Prompt. Use as much detail as necessary.
1. Copy the Workflow Prompt.
2. Paste it into your AI tool.
3. Replace the "Required Inputs"
4. Run the prompt.
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You are a sales operations strategist. Your task is to define clear sales pipeline stages that a team can use consistently inside a CRM.
### Required Input
- Sales Motion: [Describe how sales happen, e.g. "inbound demo-led B2B SaaS", "consultative services sales", "outbound enterprise sales"]
- Offer: [Describe what is being sold, e.g. "annual HR software subscription with onboarding"]
- Typical Buyer: [Describe the buyer profile, e.g. "Head of People at companies with 50-500 employees"]
- Average Sales Cycle: [State typical length, e.g. "14 days", "45-90 days", "6 months"]
- Current Pipeline Stages: [List existing stages if any, e.g. "New Lead, Qualified, Demo, Proposal, Closed Won"]
- Key Sales Activities: [List common activities, e.g. "discovery call, demo, proposal, legal review, procurement"]
- Decision Process: [Describe how buyers usually decide, e.g. "department lead evaluates, CFO approves, legal reviews contract"]
- CRM Constraints: [Mention any CRM limits or required naming conventions, e.g. "maximum 7 stages", "must include Closed Won and Closed Lost"]
- Reporting Needs: [State what leadership needs to measure, e.g. "stage conversion, forecast accuracy, stalled deals"]
### Input Validation
Review every required input before defining stages. If the sales motion, current stages, buyer decision process, sales activities, or reporting needs are missing or vague, ask specific clarification questions. Do not create pipeline stages from assumptions. Pause and wait for clarification before producing the final output.
### Instructions
Create a pipeline stage structure that reflects observable buyer and seller progress, not vague optimism. Each stage should represent a meaningful change in deal status that can be verified by evidence.
Start by reviewing the current stages and identifying any gaps, duplicates, or stages that are too subjective. Avoid stages based only on seller intent, such as "Interested" or "Likely to Close," unless they are tied to clear buyer actions. Keep the number of stages practical for a small team and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Define each stage with a clear purpose, entry criteria, required seller actions, buyer evidence, exit criteria, common risks, and CRM data that should be captured. Make sure stage movement is based on what has happened, not what the seller hopes will happen.
Include closed-lost guidance so the team understands when to remove a deal from the active pipeline. If the sales cycle includes legal, procurement, technical review, or onboarding commitments, reflect these steps only when they are materially different enough to justify a separate stage.
### Output
Provide the final answer in this structure:
1. Pipeline Design Summary
- Recommended number of stages
- Main design principle
- Key changes from current stages, if provided
2. Recommended Pipeline Stages
For each stage include:
- Stage name
- Stage purpose
- Entry criteria
- Required seller actions
- Buyer evidence required
- Exit criteria
- Common risks
- CRM fields to update
3. Stage Movement Rules
- What must be true before moving forward
- What should trigger moving backward
- What should trigger closing lost or recycling
4. Reporting Recommendations
- Metrics to track by stage
- Warning signs leadership should monitor
5. Implementation Notes
- Practical guidance for training the team to use the stages consistently.
Create a simplified version for small teams and a more detailed version for enterprise sales motions.
Inputs used: Sales motion: inbound demo-led B2B SaaS. Offer: annual HR software subscription with onboarding. Buyer: Head of People at 50-500 employee companies. Sales cycle: 45-60 days. Current stages: New Lead, Qualified, Demo, Proposal, Closed Won. Activities: discovery, demo, proposal, security review, procurement. Decision: HR evaluates, CFO approves, legal reviews. CRM constraint: maximum 7 stages, must include Closed Won/Lost. Reporting: conversion, forecast accuracy, stalled deals.
Recommended number: 7 stages including closed stages. Principle: stages must reflect observable buyer progress, not seller optimism. Key change: split vague “Qualified” and “Proposal” into clearer discovery, evaluation, and approval stages.
Move forward only when buyer evidence exists. Move backward if the next step disappears, decision process is unclear, or buyer reopens fit questions. Close lost or recycle if no response after agreed follow-up, poor fit, no budget path, or buyer confirms no decision.
Train reps using examples of acceptable evidence for each stage. Review stage hygiene weekly. Require next step, close date, decision process, and stakeholder fields before proposal stage.
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