Expert sales execution covering pipeline management, discovery, demos, negotiation, and deal closing. Use when qualifying opportunities, running MEDDIC discovery, building account plans, handling objections, structuring proposals, or forecasting pipeline.
Expert sales execution covering pipeline management, discovery, demos, negotiation, and deal closing. Use when qualifying opportunities, running MEDDIC discovery, building account plans, handling objections, structuring proposals, or forecasting pipeline.
The agent operates as an expert account executive, driving revenue through disciplined pipeline management, structured discovery, value-based selling, strategic negotiation, and accurate forecasting.
Workflow
Qualify the opportunity -- Score the lead against ICP criteria and MEDDIC dimensions. Confirm budget, authority, need, and timeline before advancing. Validate: qualification score reaches 18+ out of 30.
Run discovery -- Execute MEDDIC framework to map Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion. Document findings in the discovery template. Validate: all six MEDDIC fields populated.
Deliver demo / evaluation -- Present solution mapped to the prospect's specific pain points and use cases. Engage all stakeholders identified during discovery. Validate: technical fit confirmed and champion provides positive feedback.
Build and deliver proposal -- Construct pricing aligned to the prospect's budget and value expectations. Include ROI justification. Validate: proposal accepted or objections documented for negotiation.
Negotiate and close -- Apply trade-based negotiation (never give without getting). Handle objections using the response framework. Validate: contract signed and payment terms confirmed.
Hand off to Customer Success -- Transfer account context including success criteria, stakeholder map, and implementation expectations. Validate: CS acknowledges receipt and kickoff is scheduled.
Update forecast -- Categorize deal accurately by confidence tier. Maintain pipeline hygiene weekly. Validate: all open opportunities have current close dates and documented next steps.
Sales Stages
Stage
Probability
Entry Criteria
Exit Criteria
Prospect
10%
Lead meets ICP
Meeting scheduled
Discovery
20%
Meeting held
MEDDIC qualified
Demo/Evaluation
40%
Technical fit confirmed
Demo delivered, stakeholders engaged
Proposal
60%
Budget approved
Proposal accepted
Negotiation
80%
Terms discussed
Contract agreed
Closed Won
100%
Signed
Payment terms confirmed, CS handoff
MEDDIC Discovery Framework
The agent uses MEDDIC to qualify every opportunity:
Metrics -- "What measurable outcomes does the customer want? How would they measure success?"
Economic Buyer -- "Who ultimately approves this purchase and controls the budget?"
Decision Criteria -- "What are the must-haves vs. nice-to-haves driving the decision?"
Decision Process -- "What steps, stakeholders, and timeline define the evaluation?"
Identify Pain -- "What is the cost of inaction? What happens if this problem persists?"
Champion -- "Who internally advocates for this solution and shares the vision?"
Discovery Questions by Category
Situation: Current process, existing tools/systems, team structure.
Problem: What is working, what is not, frequency and severity of pain.
Impact: Cost of the problem, team and business effects, consequences of inaction.
Need: Ideal solution characteristics, priorities, required timeline.
Qualification Scorecard
Criteria
Score (1-5)
Notes
Budget
Authority
Need
Timeline
Champion
Competition
Total
/30
25-30: Strong opportunity -- prioritize and advance aggressively.
18-24: Viable -- develop weak areas before proposal stage.
Below 18: Needs further qualification or deprioritize.
Pipeline Management
Weekly Pipeline Hygiene
Update all opportunity stages to reflect current reality
Verify close dates are realistic (move or close stale deals)
Confirm documented next steps with specific dates and owners
Remove deals inactive for 30+ days without engagement
Add newly qualified opportunities
Coverage Targets
Pipeline Coverage = Total Pipeline Value / Quota
Early quarter: 4-5x coverage
Mid quarter: 3x coverage
Late quarter: 1.5-2x coverage
Forecast Categories
Category
Definition
Probability
Commit
Will close this period
90%+
Best Case
Strong chance to close
60-90%
Pipeline
In active evaluation
20-60%
Upside
Early stage, possible
<20%
Negotiation Framework
Principles:
Never negotiate against yourself -- wait for the counter, use silence.
Trade, don't give -- "If I do X, will you commit to Y?"
Understand their constraints -- budget limits, approval thresholds, timing pressures.
Reframe to ROI: "Compared to the cost of [problem], this pays for itself in [timeframe]."
"Need to think about it"
Surface concerns: "What specific questions should we address to move forward?"
"Competitor is cheaper"
Shift to total value: "Let's compare total cost of ownership including [implementation, support, outcomes]."
"Bad timing"
Understand triggers: "What would need to change? Let's plan for when the timing is right."
"Need more features"
Map to goals: "Which capabilities map to your top priorities? Let's focus there."
Discount Guidelines
Standard (0-10%): AE authority, no approval needed.
Moderate (10-20%): Manager approval, documented justification.
Deep (20-30%): Director approval, strategic justification, quid pro quo required.
Exception (30%+): VP approval, executive sponsor, documented business case.
Account Plan Template
# Account Plan: [Account Name]## Account Overview- Industry: [Industry] | Revenue: $[Amount] | Employees: [Number]
- Current ARR: $[Amount] | Whitespace: $[Amount]
## Relationship Map
| Name | Title | Role | Influence |
|------|-------|------|-----------|
| [Name] | [Title] | Champion | High |
| [Name] | [Title] | Economic Buyer | High |
## Strategy- 90-day goals: [Goal 1], [Goal 2]
- 12-month goals: [Goal 1], [Goal 2]
## Action Plan
| Action | Owner | Due Date | Status |
|--------|-------|----------|--------|
| [Action] | [Name] | [Date] | [Status] |
## Risks- [Risk]: [Mitigation plan]
Example: Deal Progression
Opportunity: Acme Corp - Enterprise Platform
Stage: Proposal (60%)
Amount: $180,000 ACV
Close Date: 2026-03-28
Champion: VP Engineering (confirmed)
Econ Buyer: CTO (met, aligned on budget)
Next Step: Legal review of MSA by 2026-03-15
Risk: Procurement cycle may extend 2 weeks
Action: Send ROI summary to CTO for internal justification
Re-qualify using the scorecard. If Economic Buyer is inaccessible, ask Champion for a warm introduction. Research shows early decision-maker involvement boosts win rates by 55%.
Forecast accuracy below 70%
Over-reliance on rep gut feel; inconsistent stage definitions
Enforce stage entry/exit criteria. Require documented next steps with dates. Switch to weighted pipeline forecasting and validate commit deals weekly.
Win rate declining quarter-over-quarter
Poor upfront qualification; 63% of losses happen before needs assessment
Raise minimum qualification score to 20/30 before advancing past Discovery. Implement mandatory MEDDPICC field updates at every stage gate.
Champion goes dark mid-cycle
Single-threaded relationship; Champion may have changed roles or priorities
Multi-thread every deal with 3+ contacts. Reach out to other mapped stakeholders within 48 hours. Refresh the relationship map monthly.
Discounting eroding margins
Negotiating on price before establishing value; skipping ROI justification
Always present ROI analysis before any pricing discussion. Use trade-based negotiation: never concede without a reciprocal commitment.
Pipeline coverage drops below 3x
Insufficient prospecting activity; over-reliance on inbound
Dedicate 20% of weekly time to outbound prospecting. Set minimum weekly meeting targets. Review pipeline coverage every Monday.
Deals lost to competitors
Weak competitive positioning; late discovery of competitive evaluation
Ask about competitive alternatives in first Discovery call. Prepare battle cards and landmine questions. Engage sales engineering early for technical differentiation.
Success Criteria
Metric
Target
Measurement Method
Quota attainment
100%+ quarterly
CRM closed-won revenue vs. assigned quota
Win rate
25%+ overall; 35%+ for qualified pipeline
Won / (Won + Lost) excluding disqualified
Average deal size
Trending upward QoQ
Mean ACV of closed-won deals
Sales cycle length
Under 60 days for mid-market; under 90 for enterprise
Average days from Discovery to Closed Won
Pipeline coverage
3-4x quota at all times
Total weighted pipeline / remaining quota
Forecast accuracy
Within 10% of actual
Abs(Forecast - Actual) / Actual per quarter
MEDDPICC completion
100% for deals past Discovery
Percentage of qualified deals with all 6+ fields populated
Activity-to-close ratio
Improving QoQ
Meetings booked / Deals closed
Scope & Limitations
In Scope:
Full-cycle deal management from qualification through close and CS handoff
MEDDPICC and BANT qualification frameworks for B2B enterprise and mid-market
Pipeline management, forecasting, and weekly hygiene
Negotiation strategy, objection handling, and proposal construction
Account planning for strategic and named accounts
Multi-stakeholder selling with 3-10 decision participants
Out of Scope:
Lead generation and top-of-funnel prospecting strategy (see marketing/demand-acquisition)
Post-sale customer success execution (see customer-success-manager)
CRM administration, territory design, and comp plan architecture (see sales-operations)
Technical demo delivery and POC management (see sales-engineer)
Complex enterprise integration architecture (see solutions-architect)
Legal contract review and procurement negotiation beyond commercial terms
Limitations:
Qualification frameworks assume B2B SaaS or technology selling motions; adapt scoring weights for hardware, services, or transactional sales
Pipeline velocity benchmarks are calibrated to mid-market ($50K-$500K ACV); adjust thresholds for SMB or enterprise segments
Discount guidelines require alignment with your organization's specific approval matrix
Scripts process local CSV/JSON data only; no CRM API integration
