Worksheet: lifecycle definitions for marketing and sales

What is this worksheet for?

Marketing and sales often use the same words for different things. With this worksheet you agree together on qualification, stages, ownership and handoff. Then everyone knows when a lead goes to sales, who decides, and what the next action is.

What is in it?

• Lifecycle Definitions: for each stage (Subscriber to Customer), space for the meaning, the concrete criteria, the action or trigger, and the owner.
• Transition Rules: for each move, the criteria and who or what starts the move, including the route back after a rejection.
• MQL Acceptance Tracking: a simple weekly overview of MQLs, acceptance and reasons for rejection.

How do you use it?

1. Plan a session with marketing and sales.
2. Walk through the stages one by one and, for each stage, fill in the meaning, criteria, next action and owner.
3. Test your definitions on a few recent leads: would everyone place them in the same stage?
4. Write the agreements down and review them every quarter.

Lifecycle is not the same as a deal stage

The lifecycle describes where a contact or company stands in the relationship with your organisation. A deal stage describes where one specific opportunity stands. A customer can have several deals in different stages. Keep the two apart, even when your CRM links them automatically.

Usable outside HubSpot

The worksheet uses HubSpot terms, but the process agreements are platform-neutral. The setup differs by system:

• HubSpot: lifecycle stage, lead status and deal stages are separate ideas. By default the lifecycle stage only moves forward; moving it back takes a deliberate action or workflow.
• Pipedrive: there is no lifecycle field as in HubSpot. You record the stage with leads, deals in a pipeline, and optionally a custom field or label.
• ActiveCampaign: you usually record stages with tags or fields; deals and pipelines depend on your subscription.

See how I help on the services page.