| name | iblai-marketing-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 cold outreach emails, see iblai-marketing-cold-email. For email drip campaigns, see iblai-marketing-email-sequence. For pricing decisions, see iblai-marketing-pricing-strategy. |
| globs | null |
| alwaysApply | false |
| metadata | {"version":"1.1.0"} |
/iblai-marketing-revops
Design and operate the systems that wire marketing, sales, and customer
success into a single revenue engine.
Step 0: Context Check
Read .agents/product-marketing-context.md (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md
on older setups) first. Only ask for what isn't there.
Pull this context:
- GTM motion — product-led (PLG), sales-led, or hybrid?
- ACV range — average contract value?
- Sales cycle length — days from first touch to closed-won?
- Current stack — CRM, marketing automation, scheduling, enrichment tools?
- Current state — how are leads managed today? What's working, what's not?
- Goals — lift 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 — note what would strengthen the solution.
Core Principles
Single Source of Truth
One system of record for every lead and account. Data in multiple places will conflict. Pick a CRM as the canonical source; sync everything to it.
Define Before Automate
Nail stage definitions, scoring criteria, and routing rules on paper before building workflows. Automating a broken process produces broken results faster.
Measure Every Handoff
Every handoff between teams is a potential leak. Marketing → sales, SDR → AE, AE → CS — each needs an SLA, a tracking mechanism, and an accountable owner.
Revenue Team Alignment
Marketing, sales, and CS 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.
Lead Lifecycle Framework
Stage Definitions
| Stage | Entry Criteria | Exit Criteria | Owner |
|---|
| Subscriber | Opts in to content (blog, newsletter) | Provides company info or shows engagement | Marketing |
| Lead | Identified contact with basic info | Meets minimum fit criteria | Marketing |
| MQL | Passes fit + engagement threshold | Sales accepts or rejects within SLA | Marketing |
| SQL | Sales accepts and qualifies via conversation | Opportunity created or recycled | Sales (SDR/AE) |
| Opportunity | Budget, authority, need, timeline confirmed | Closed-won or closed-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
An MQL requires both fit and engagement:
- Fit score — does this person match your ICP? (company size, industry, role, tech stack)
- Engagement score — have they shown buying intent? (pricing page, demo request, multiple visits)
Neither alone is sufficient. A perfect-fit company that never engages isn't an MQL. A student downloading every ebook isn't an MQL.
MQL-to-SQL Handoff SLA
Define and document response times:
- MQL alert sent to assigned rep
- Rep contacts within 4 hours (business hours)
- Rep qualifies or rejects within 48 hours
- Rejected MQLs go to recycling nurture with reason code
Lifecycle stage templates and SLA examples: references/lifecycle-definitions.md.
Lead Scoring
Scoring Dimensions
Explicit (fit) — who they are:
- Company size, industry, revenue
- Job title, seniority, department
- Tech stack, geography
Implicit (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
- Define your ICP attributes and weight them
- Identify high-intent behavioral signals from closed-won data
- Set point values for each attribute and behavior
- Set MQL threshold (typically 50-80 points on a 100-point scale)
- Test against historical data — does the model correctly identify past wins?
- Launch, measure, recalibrate quarterly
Common Scoring Mistakes
- Over-weighting content downloads (research ≠ buying intent)
- No negative scoring (lets bad leads through)
- Set-and-forget (buyer behavior changes; recalibrate quarterly)
- Scoring all page visits equally (pricing page ≠ blog post)
Detailed scoring templates and example models: references/scoring-models.md.
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.
Routing decision trees and platform-specific setup: references/routing-rules.md.
Pipeline Stage Management
Pipeline Stages
| Stage | Required Fields | Exit Criteria |
|---|
| Qualified | Contact info, company, source, fit score | Discovery call scheduled |
| Discovery | Pain points, current solution, timeline | Needs confirmed, demo scheduled |
| Demo/Evaluation | Technical requirements, decision makers | Positive evaluation, proposal requested |
| Proposal | Pricing, terms, stakeholder map | Proposal delivered and reviewed |
| Negotiation | Redlines, approval chain, close date | Terms agreed, contract sent |
| Closed Won | Signed contract, payment terms | Handoff to CS complete |
| Closed Lost | Loss reason, competitor (if any) | Post-mortem logged |
Stage Hygiene
- Required fields per stage — don't let reps advance a deal without filling in required data
- Stale deal alerts — flag deals sitting in a stage beyond the average time (e.g., 2x average days)
- Stage skip detection — alert when deals jump stages (Qualified → Proposal skipping Discovery)
- Close date discipline — pushes must include a reason; no silent slips
Pipeline Metrics
| Metric | What It Tells You |
|---|
| Stage conversion rates | Where deals die |
| Average time in stage | Where deals stall |
| Pipeline velocity | Revenue per day through the funnel |
| Coverage ratio | Pipeline value vs. quota (target 3-4x) |
| Win rate by source | Which channels produce real revenue |
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 — 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
Platform-specific workflow recipes: references/automation-playbooks.md.
Deal Desk Processes
When You Need a Deal Desk
- ACV above $25K (or your threshold for non-standard deals)
- Non-standard payment terms (net-90, quarterly billing)
- Multi-year contracts with custom pricing
- 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, make it standard. Review quarterly.
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
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 | Varies by ACV |
| 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:
- Marketing view — lead volume, MQL rate, source attribution, cost per MQL
- Sales view — pipeline value, stage conversion, velocity, forecast accuracy
- Executive view — CAC, LTV:CAC, revenue vs. target, pipeline coverage
Output Format
Deliver RevOps recommendations as:
- Lifecycle stage document — stage definitions with entry/exit criteria, owners, SLAs
- Scoring specification — fit and engagement attributes with point values and MQL threshold
- Routing rules document — decision tree with assignment logic and fallbacks
- Pipeline configuration — stage definitions, required fields, automation triggers
- Metrics dashboard spec — key metrics, data sources, target benchmarks
Each one standalone, implementable directly. Include platform-specific guidance when the CRM is known.
Task-Specific Questions
- CRM platform (current or planned)?
- Leads per month?
- Current MQL definition?
- Where do leads get stuck?
- SLAs between marketing and sales today?
Tool Integrations
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, outbound sequences | apollo.md |
| ActiveCampaign | Marketing automation for SMBs, lead scoring | activecampaign.md |
| Zapier | Cross-tool automation and workflow glue | zapier.md |
| Introw | Partner-sourced pipeline, commissions, deal registration, QBRs | introw.md |
| Crossbeam | Partner account overlaps and co-sell identification | crossbeam.md |
Related Skills
- iblai-marketing-cold-email: Outbound prospecting emails
- iblai-marketing-email-sequence: Lifecycle and nurture email flows
- iblai-marketing-pricing-strategy: Pricing decisions and packaging
- iblai-marketing-analytics-tracking: Pipeline metrics and attribution
- iblai-marketing-launch-strategy: Go-to-market launch planning
- iblai-marketing-sales-enablement: Sales collateral, decks, objection handling
