pipeline-management

name	pipeline-management
description	Design and manage B2B sales processes using Winning by Design's GTM Playbook Kit — stage goals, in-stage actions, exit criteria, SPICED qualification fields, conversion metrics, Bowtie handoffs, forecasting, and deal inspection cadences. Use when designing sales process stages, building a GTM playbook, improving forecast accuracy, or setting up pipeline reviews. Triggers on: "sales process design", "GTM playbook", "pipeline management", "deal stages", "Winning by Design process", "SPICED stages", "forecasting", "deal inspection", "CRM hygiene".
license	MIT
compatibility	Claude Code, Jesse, Codex, Hermes, Windsurf, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Zed, VS Code, Goose
metadata	{"version":"1.2.0","author":"LeadMagic","category":"sales-revops","tags":["pipeline","sales-process","spiced","forecasting","crm","deal-management","wbd"],"related_skills":["gtm-system-architecture","sales-enablement","sales-coaching","buyer-indecision","founder-sales","sales-team-building","meeting-prep","gtm-metrics","crm-integration"],"frameworks":["Winning by Design — GTM Playbook Development Kit","Winning by Design — SPICED Qualification","Keenan — Gap Selling","Winning by Design — Bowtie Handoff Design","Mark Roberge — The Sales Acceleration Formula","Miller Heiman — Strategic Selling (buying influence)","Andy Whyte — MEDDICC Qualification & Scorecard","Force Management — MEDDICC Methodology","Joey Gilkey — Disposition Science (top-of-funnel diagnostics)","Ryan Reisert — CRM Activity Buckets (contact prioritization)","John McMahon — MEDDICC inspection cadence, three-view forecast, anti–happy ears"]}

Pipeline Management

Overview

Most sales teams have CRM stages that describe rep activity, not buyer progress. Winning by Design's GTM Playbook Kit fixes this: every stage needs a Goal (what success looks like), In-Stage Actions (what the rep does), and Exit Criteria (evidence required to advance). Without all three, pipeline reviews degenerate into confidence theater.

This skill designs the full sales process — stages, SPICED fields per stage, conversion metrics, Bowtie handoffs to CS, forecast categories, and inspection cadences. Load gtm-system-architecture first if you have not scored the six WbD models. Load sales-enablement after this to build the playbook assets reps use at each stage.

When to Use

• "Design our sales process" or "build a GTM playbook"
• "Winning by Design sales process"
• "Define deal stages with exit criteria"
• "Set up SPICED in our CRM"
• "Improve forecast accuracy"
• "Build a pipeline review cadence"
• "Design SDR-to-AE handoffs"
• "Our pipeline is unpredictable — fix it"

Do not use for org design or compensation — use sales-team-building. Do not use for collateral creation — use sales-enablement after the process is defined.

Authoritative Foundations

• Winning by Design — GTM Playbook Development Kit. The core structure: Goal
  • In-Stage Actions + Exit Criteria per stage. A stage is not "Demo scheduled" — it is "buyer confirms solution maps to quantified pain" with evidence fields.
• Winning by Design — SPICED. Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event, Decision — required qualification dimensions captured progressively through Discovery and Solution stages, not dumped in one call.
• Keenan — Gap Selling. At Discovery/Solution stages, exit criteria should evidence Current State + Future State + quantified Gap (not rep confidence). Problem Identification Chart aligns product problems to discovery questions. Discovery stage gate: no advance on happy ears — buyer-stated impact required. Playbook → meeting-prep/references/keenan-gap-selling.md.
• Winning by Design — Bowtie. Revenue continues after Closed Won. Define handoff criteria from Sales → Onboarding (CS) with context package: SPICED summary, stakeholders, success criteria, and expansion signals.
• Mark Roberge — The Sales Acceleration Formula. Measure conversion rate between every stage. Inspect deals against exit criteria, not rep confidence.