Every stage needs a trigger, the required information, an accountable role and confirmed acceptance.
A funnel can look healthy while every team rebuilds the same context.
This happens when marketing, sales and delivery maintain their own numbers and tools. The lead moves forward. The problem, promises and ownership stay behind.
The six stages
| Stage | Working question | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Whose problem do we solve? | inclusion and exclusion criteria |
| Demand | How does a suitable buyer enter? | traceable entry point |
| Qualification | When is the next step worthwhile? | fixed criteria |
| Handoff | What must the next role receive? | context and acceptance |
| Delivery | Can we fulfil the promise? | scope, capacity and start |
| Measurement | Which number changes a decision? | source, owner and cadence |
Measurement feeds positioning. Recurring returns change the qualification rule. Missing capacity changes the offer. A better source changes the channel.
What every handoff needs
Four details are enough to begin:
- What triggers the handoff?
- Which information must travel with it?
- Which role accepts it?
- How is acceptance or return recorded?
When one detail is missing, shadow work begins. Someone asks in chat, copies data or keeps a private list. More leads create more of this work.
Example: 80 webinar contacts
A webinar generates 80 contacts. Marketing marks 15 as interesting. Sales receives a CSV without the problem, reason to act or next step. Seven contacts get a call. Three receive a proposal.
After signature, delivery learns that required data access takes six weeks.
The visible success is 80 contacts. The operating failure sits later in the flow. Four changes would do more than another batch of registrations:
- problem, reason, fit and next step as required fields
- acceptance by the responsible sales role
- capacity and data check before the proposal
- completion and return reasons fed into reporting
Test your own flow
Take one real case from the last 30 days. Put emails, CRM fields, calendar events and handoff documents side by side. Mark every question and every search for an owner.
Choose one point. Define the trigger, required information, receiver, acceptance time and return. Automate after this test.
ISO also describes management systems as connected processes that are planned, operated and checked. The implementation shown here is the MMM method for commercial operations. It is not an ISO certification.
The Growth System Stress Test checks the same six stages through nine questions.
The LinkedIn Post Drafter turns a thesis about positioning or handoffs into a first draft without invented facts.