How stages with entry criteria cut the sales cycle and made forecasting reliable

The challenge

Sales without a documented process

The sales process functioned as a collection of individual practices, passed on orally and modified by each person in their own way. Diagnosis revealed several specific gaps: client segmentation was so elaborate that the person responsible for qualification skipped it in practice. Pricing was built on experience, without a formal discount or negotiation policy. Reasons for lost opportunities were not recorded consistently, and some historical data was lost when an employee left. Dozens of open opportunities sat with a single person, with some showing no activity for months. Meeting notes were transferred into the system manually, causing delays and gaps in documentation.

What we did

Ten stages with entry criteria

• Described the process in stages, separating the pre-funnel phase from two core phases: qualification run independently by sales, and validation with participation of the delivery team. Introduced a delivery gate — an opportunity cannot move to the proposal stage without approval from delivery.
• Simplified scoring from a multi-dimensional spreadsheet to two dimensions: organizational fit and growth potential, with a one-sentence justification verified at a cyclical review.
• Introduced mandatory mapping of the client's decision-making side — minimum three roles: decision-maker, end user, and internal champion, with blockers explicitly flagged.
• Split sales roles into acquisition, implementation guidance, and account management, with the rule that the relationship owner does not run the project to preserve objectivity.
• Defined paths for unconverted opportunities in three groups — no contact, postponed decision, lack of fit — with assigned contact sequences.
• Cleaned up CRM data before launching reviews: closing inactive opportunities, correcting stages, separating salesperson working time from client waiting time.
• Consolidated tools — analysis showed that moving some functions to a single system cuts licensing costs significantly.

The result

What changed

The sales cycle shortened by nearly half. Stages have unambiguous entry criteria, enabling reliable forecasting. A cyclical opportunity review involving both sales and delivery became a regular rhythm. Sales tooling costs were cut significantly. Reasons for lost opportunities are recorded systematically, enabling churn analysis.