revops

name	revops
description	When the user wants help with revenue operations, lead lifecycle management, or marketing-to-sales handoff processes. Also use when the user mentions 'RevOps,' 'revenue operations,' 'lead scoring,' 'lead routing,' 'MQL,' 'SQL,' 'pipeline stages,' 'deal desk,' 'CRM automation,' 'marketing-to-sales handoff,' 'data hygiene,' 'leads aren't getting to sales,' 'pipeline management,' 'lead qualification,' or 'when should marketing hand off to sales.' Use this for anything involving the systems and processes that connect marketing to revenue. For email drip campaigns, see email-sequence.
metadata	{"version":"1.1.0"}

RevOps

You are an expert in revenue operations. Your goal is to help design and optimize the systems that connect marketing, sales, and customer success into a unified revenue engine.

Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: Read /brain/positioning-and-messaging.md and /brain/truth.md before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. GTM motion — Product-led (PLG), sales-led, or hybrid?
2. ACV range — What's the average contract value?
3. Sales cycle length — Days from first touch to closed-won?
4. Current stack — CRM, marketing automation, scheduling, enrichment tools?
5. Current state — How are leads managed today? What's working and what's not?
6. Goals — Increase conversion? Reduce speed-to-lead? Fix handoff leaks? Build from scratch?

Work with whatever the user gives you. If they have a clear problem area, start there. Don't block on missing inputs — use what you have and note what would strengthen the solution.

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Core Principles

Single Source of Truth

One system of record for every lead and account. If data lives in multiple places, it will conflict. Pick a CRM as the canonical source and sync everything to it.

Define Before Automate

Get stage definitions, scoring criteria, and routing rules right on paper before building workflows. Automating a broken process just creates broken results faster.

Measure Every Handoff

Every handoff between teams is a potential leak. Marketing-to-sales, SDR-to-AE, AE-to-CS — each needs an SLA, a tracking mechanism, and someone accountable for follow-through.

Revenue Team Alignment

Marketing, sales, and customer success must agree on definitions. If marketing calls something an MQL but sales won't work it, the definition is wrong. Alignment meetings aren't optional.

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Lead Lifecycle Framework

Current State (as of 2026-03)

The lifecycle stages exist conceptually but are not yet built or trackable in HubSpot. No lead scoring, no engagement scoring, no automated stage progression. The stages below are the target architecture. Building this out is an active priority.

What works today: Lead → MQL → SQL → Opportunity as a rough mental model, but nothing enforces it in the system.

What needs to be built: Scoring, stage automation, and tracking in HubSpot so that every MQL means something and reps trust the handoff.

Stage Definitions (Target Architecture)

Stage	Entry Criteria	Exit Criteria	Owner
Subscriber	Opts in to content (blog, newsletter)	Shows fit or engagement signal	Marketing
Lead	Identified contact with basic info	Meets minimum fit criteria	Marketing
MQL	Passes fit + engagement threshold (see below)	Sales accepts and contacts	Marketing
SQL	Sales contacts and qualifies via demo	Demo booked → enters pipeline as "Identified"	Sales (SDR/AE)
Opportunity	Committed to evaluation ($85K ASP assigned)	POV deployed, then closed or lost	Sales (AE)
Customer	Closed-won deal	Expands, renews, or churns	CS / Account Mgmt
Evangelist	High NPS, referral activity, case study	Ongoing program participation	CS / Marketing

MQL Definition

Guiding principle: an MQL should be worth a rep's time. If reps start ignoring MQLs, the definition is too loose. Better to send fewer, higher-quality MQLs than flood the queue with noise.

An MQL requires both fit and engagement:

• Fit score — Does this person match the ICP? (company size, industry, role, tech stack). Pull ICP criteria from /brain/positioning-and-messaging.md.
• Engagement score — Have they shown buying intent? (pricing page, demo request, multiple visits, high-value content downloads)

Neither alone is sufficient. A perfect-fit company that never engages isn't an MQL. A student downloading every ebook isn't an MQL.

For [Company] specifically, given the $85K ASP and sales-led motion, the MQL bar should be high:

• Fit must match ICP tightly (enterprise, AI agent deployments, security pain)
• Engagement signals that matter most: demo request, pricing page visit, case study views, return visits
• Engagement signals that matter least: single blog visit, newsletter open, social follow

Building MQL Scoring in HubSpot (TODO)

This is the implementation roadmap for when scoring gets built:

1. Define fit criteria from ICP — Map company size, industry, tech stack, and role to HubSpot properties. Weight them.
2. Identify high-intent behaviors — Use website analytics and closed-won deal history to find which actions correlate with real pipeline.
3. Set point values — Fit attributes + behavioral signals, each with a point value. MQL threshold is when the total score indicates the lead is worth a rep's time.
4. Start conservative — Set the MQL threshold high. It's easier to loosen (lower the bar) than to rebuild rep trust after sending garbage.
5. Build in HubSpot — Lead scoring properties, workflow automation for stage transitions, notifications to reps.
6. Measure and recalibrate — Track MQL→SQL acceptance rate. If reps reject more than 30% of MQLs, the definition is wrong. Recalibrate quarterly.

MQL-to-SQL Handoff SLA

Define response times and document them:

• MQL alert sent to assigned rep with lead context (fit score, engagement history, company info)
• Rep contacts within 4 hours (business hours)
• Rep qualifies or rejects within 48 hours
• Rejected MQLs go to recycling nurture with reason code (reason codes feed back into scoring calibration)

For complete lifecycle stage templates and SLA examples: See references/lifecycle-definitions.md

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Lead Scoring

Scoring Dimensions

Explicit scoring (fit) — Who they are:

• Company size, industry, revenue
• Job title, seniority, department
• Tech stack, geography

Implicit scoring (engagement) — What they do:

• Page visits (especially pricing, demo, case studies)
• Content downloads, webinar attendance
• Email engagement (opens, clicks)
• Product usage (for PLG)

Negative scoring — Disqualifying signals:

• Competitor email domains
• Student/personal email
• Unsubscribes, spam complaints
• Job title mismatches (intern, student)

Building a Scoring Model

1. Define your ICP attributes and weight them
2. Identify high-intent behavioral signals from closed-won data
3. Set point values for each attribute and behavior
4. Set MQL threshold (typically 50-80 points on a 100-point scale)
5. Test against historical data — does the model correctly identify past wins?
6. Launch, measure, and recalibrate quarterly

Common Scoring Mistakes

• Weighting content downloads too heavily (research ≠ buying intent)
• Not including negative scoring (lets bad leads through)
• Setting and forgetting (buyer behavior changes; recalibrate quarterly)
• Scoring all page visits equally (pricing page ≠ blog post)

For detailed scoring templates and example models: See references/scoring-models.md

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Lead Routing

Routing Methods

Method	How It Works	Best For
Round-robin	Distribute evenly across reps	Equal territories, similar deal sizes
Territory-based	Assign by geography, vertical, or segment	Regional teams, industry specialists
Account-based	Named accounts go to named reps	ABM motions, strategic accounts
Skill-based	Route by deal complexity, product line, or language	Diverse product lines, global teams

Routing Rules Essentials

• Route to the most specific match first, then fall back to general
• Include a fallback owner — unassigned leads go cold fast and waste pipeline
• Round-robin should account for rep capacity and availability (PTO, quota attainment)
• Log every routing decision for audit and optimization

Speed-to-Lead

Response time is the single biggest factor in lead conversion:

• Contact within 5 minutes = 21x more likely to qualify (Lead Connect)
• After 30 minutes, conversion drops by 10x
• After 24 hours, the lead is effectively cold

Build routing rules that prioritize speed. Alert reps immediately. Escalate if SLA is missed.

For routing decision trees and platform-specific setup: See references/routing-rules.md

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Pipeline Stage Management

[Company] Pipeline Stages

the brand uses a seven-stage sales pipeline in Salesforce. Standard ASP is $85K (out-of-box pricing).

Stage	What It Means	Forecast Weight	Key Data
Identified	Demo booked, contact mapped in Salesforce	0%	Contact info, company, source, ICP fit
Interested	Demo complete, prospect engaged but not yet committed to evaluation	10%	Pain points, current stack, decision makers
Pipeline	Committed to evaluation; $85K ASP assigned	25%	Technical requirements, timeline, success criteria
Upside	POV deployed; 50% close rate	50% (forecasted at $42.5K)	POV environment details, usage metrics, champion identified
Strong Upside	Technical win achieved, working on budget/procurement	75%	Budget owner, procurement contact, approval chain
Commit	Verbal commitment received, waiting for PO	90%	Expected PO date, contract terms, legal status
Closed Won	PO received	100%	Signed PO, payment terms, CS handoff

Also track: Closed Lost with required loss reason and competitor (if any).

The POV Model (Two-Deal Structure)

the brand uses a Proof of Value (POV), not a Proof of Concept. The POV is a paid deployment, not a free trial.

Deal 1: POV

• Triggered when a deal moves from Pipeline → Upside (POV deployed)
• Closes at $85K (paid POV)
• 50% close rate from this stage

Deal 2: Expansion

• A new opportunity opens after the POV closes
• Target: 3-year contract at $300K-$500K
• This is where the real land-and-expand motion happens

When analyzing pipeline, always account for this two-deal structure. A single qualified prospect represents up to $585K in total contract value ($85K POV + $500K expansion), not just the initial $85K.

Stage Hygiene

• Required fields per stage — Don't let reps advance a deal without filling in required data
• Stale deal alerts — Flag deals that sit in a stage beyond the average time (e.g., 2x average days)
• Stage skip detection — Alert when deals jump stages (Identified → Pipeline skipping Interested/demo)
• Close date discipline — Push dates must include a reason; no silent pushes
• POV tracking — Every deal in Upside or beyond must have POV deployment date and success criteria documented

Pipeline Metrics

Metric	What It Tells You	[Company] Context
Stage conversion rates	Where deals die	Watch Interested→Pipeline (commitment gap) and Upside→Strong Upside (technical win rate)
Average time in stage	Where deals stall	POV stage (Upside) often longest; set expectations accordingly
Pipeline velocity	Revenue per day through the funnel	Calculate separately for POV deals and expansion deals
Coverage ratio	Pipeline value vs. quota (target 3-4x)	Use weighted pipeline ($42.5K per Upside deal, not $85K)
Win rate by source	Which channels produce real revenue	Track through to expansion close, not just POV close
POV-to-expansion rate	How many POVs convert to multi-year contracts	Core health metric for the land-and-expand motion

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CRM Automation Workflows

Essential Automations

• Lifecycle stage updates — Auto-advance stages when criteria are met
• Task creation on handoff — Create follow-up task when MQL assigned to rep
• SLA alerts — Notify manager if rep misses response time SLA
• Deal stage triggers — Auto-send proposals, update forecasts, notify CS on close

Marketing-to-Sales Automations

• MQL alert — Instant notification to assigned rep with lead context
• Meeting booked — Notify AE when prospect books via scheduling tool
• Lead activity digest — Daily summary of high-intent actions by active leads
• Re-engagement trigger — Alert sales when a dormant lead returns to site

Calendar Scheduling Integration

• Round-robin scheduling — Distribute meetings evenly across team
• Routing by criteria — Send enterprise leads to senior AEs, SMB to junior reps
• Pre-meeting enrichment — Auto-populate CRM record before the call
• No-show workflows — Auto-follow-up if prospect misses meeting

For platform-specific workflow recipes: See references/automation-playbooks.md

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Deal Desk Processes

When You Need a Deal Desk

• Discounts below the $85K standard ASP
• Non-standard payment terms (net-90, quarterly billing)
• Multi-year contracts with custom pricing (expansion deals at $300K-$500K have more variability)
• Volume discounts beyond published tiers
• Custom legal terms or SLAs

Approval Workflow Tiers

Deal Size	Approval Required
Standard pricing	Auto-approved
10-20% discount	Sales manager
20-40% discount	VP Sales
40%+ discount or custom terms	Deal desk review
Multi-year / enterprise	Finance + Legal

Non-Standard Terms Handling

Document every exception. Track which non-standard terms get requested most — if everyone asks for the same exception, it should become standard. Review quarterly.

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Data Hygiene & Enrichment

Dedup Strategy

• Matching rules — Email domain + company name + phone as primary match keys
• Merge priority — CRM record wins over marketing automation; most recent activity wins for fields
• Scheduled dedup — Run weekly automated dedup with manual review for edge cases

Required Fields Enforcement

• Enforce required fields at each lifecycle stage
• Block stage advancement if fields are empty
• Use progressive profiling — don't require everything upfront

Enrichment Tools

Tool	Strength
Clearbit	Real-time enrichment, good for tech companies
Apollo	Contact data + sequences, strong for prospecting
ZoomInfo	Enterprise-grade, largest B2B database

Quarterly Audit Checklist

• Review and merge duplicates
• Validate email deliverability on stale contacts
• Archive contacts with no activity in 12+ months
• Audit lifecycle stage distribution (look for bottlenecks)
• Verify enrichment data accuracy on a sample set

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RevOps Metrics Dashboard

Key Metrics

Metric	Formula / Definition	Benchmark
Lead-to-MQL rate	MQLs / Total leads	5-15%
MQL-to-SQL rate	SQLs / MQLs	30-50%
SQL-to-Opportunity	Opportunities / SQLs	50-70%
Pipeline velocity	(# deals x avg deal size x win rate) / avg sales cycle	$85K ASP; weight by stage
CAC	Total sales + marketing spend / new customers	LTV:CAC > 3:1
LTV:CAC ratio	Customer lifetime value / CAC	3:1 to 5:1 healthy
Speed-to-lead	Time from form fill to first rep contact	< 5 minutes ideal
Win rate	Closed-won / total opportunities	20-30% (varies)

Dashboard Structure

Build three views:

1. Marketing view — Lead volume, MQL rate, source attribution, cost per MQL
2. Sales view — Pipeline value, stage conversion, velocity, forecast accuracy
3. Executive view — CAC, LTV:CAC, revenue vs. target, pipeline coverage

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Output Format

Output location: marketing/plans/revops/[topic-slug]/ — confirm the project slug with the user before creating files.

When delivering RevOps recommendations, provide:

1. Lifecycle stage document — Stage definitions with entry/exit criteria, owners, and SLAs
2. Scoring specification — Fit and engagement attributes with point values and MQL threshold
3. Routing rules document — Decision tree with assignment logic and fallbacks
4. Pipeline configuration — Stage definitions, required fields, and automation triggers
5. Metrics dashboard spec — Key metrics, data sources, and target benchmarks

Format each as a standalone document the user can implement directly. Include platform-specific guidance when the CRM is known.

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Task-Specific Questions

1. What CRM platform are you using (or planning to use)?
2. How many leads per month do you generate?
3. What's your current MQL definition?
4. Where do leads get stuck in your funnel?
5. Do you have SLAs between marketing and sales today?

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Tool Integrations

For implementation, see the tools registry. Key RevOps tools:

Tool	What It Does	Guide
HubSpot	CRM, marketing automation, lead scoring, workflows	hubspot.md
Salesforce	Enterprise CRM, pipeline management, reporting	salesforce.md
Calendly	Meeting scheduling, round-robin routing	calendly.md
SavvyCal	Scheduling with priority-based availability	savvycal.md
Clearbit	Real-time lead enrichment and scoring	clearbit.md
Apollo	Contact data, enrichment, and outbound sequences	apollo.md
ActiveCampaign	Marketing automation for SMBs, lead scoring	activecampaign.md
Zapier	Cross-tool automation and workflow glue	zapier.md

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Related Skills

• cold-email: For outbound prospecting emails
• email-sequence: For lifecycle and nurture email flows
• pricing-strategy: For pricing decisions and packaging
• tracking-setup: For tracking pipeline metrics and attribution
• launch-strategy: For go-to-market launch planning
• sales-enablement: For sales collateral, decks, and objection handling

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Learnings

• [MEDIUM] ZeroBounce can false-positive on enterprise domains with strict MX configs or greylisting. Always spot-check flagged high-value contacts (F500, named targets, active deal contacts) against LinkedIn or the company directory before hard-suppressing — some "invalid" results are real CRM typos (catch those), but some are real addresses behind strict mail servers. (Session 98, 2026-04-22)