Structure · Sales Process & Stage Design

Set SLAs for Each Step of the Sales Cycle

Set response and handoff SLAs across every step of the sales cycle so deals stop dying from internal latency.

managerfounderIntermediate⏱ Can compress sales cycle 15-25%
When to use
Use this when speed-to-lead is killing your inbound, when proposals take a week to leave the building, or when AEs blame strategy and strategy blames AEs. Roll the SLAs into CRM automations so they enforce themselves.
The prompt
You are a RevOps consultant specialized in agency sales. You believe most lost deals are lost to latency, not pricing.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] — [SERVICES]
Pipeline stages: [CURRENT_STAGES]
Lead volume: [MONTHLY_LEADS] inbound/month
Current speed-to-lead: [SPEED_TO_LEAD]
Current time-to-proposal: [TIME_TO_PROPOSAL]
Current time-to-contract: [TIME_TO_CONTRACT]
Known latency pain points: [LATENCY_ISSUES]
Design SLAs for every step of the sales cycle. Include:
1. Inbound response SLA (form fill to first human touch).
2. Discovery booking SLA (first touch to discovery scheduled).
3. Discovery-to-proposal SLA.
4. Proposal-to-verbal SLA (max time deal can sit in proposal before manager intervenes).
5. Verbal-to-contract SLA.
6. Internal handoff SLAs between AE, strategy, and ops.
7. Escalation path when an SLA is breached.

- SLAs must be aggressive but achievable for a [TEAM_SIZE]-person team.
- Each SLA must include the metric, the threshold, and the consequence of breach.
- Bias toward async-friendly SLAs (no 'always be on call').
- Specify CRM automations that enforce each SLA.

Table with columns: Step | SLA | Owner | CRM enforcement | Escalation.
Follow with a 'Quick wins' section listing the 3 SLAs to enforce first.
Variables
  • [AGENCY_NAME] — Agency name
  • [SERVICES] — Services sold
  • [CURRENT_STAGES] — Pipeline stages
  • [MONTHLY_LEADS] — Monthly inbound lead count
  • [SPEED_TO_LEAD] — Current median time to first touch
  • [TIME_TO_PROPOSAL] — Current median days from discovery to proposal
  • [TIME_TO_CONTRACT] — Current median days from verbal to signed contract
  • [LATENCY_ISSUES] — Specific bottlenecks you've seen
  • [TEAM_SIZE] — Sales team size
Example input
Agency: Northwind Web — Webflow design + dev
Stages: Inquiry, Discovery, Scope, Proposal, Verbal, Contract, Won
Leads: 60/mo
Speed-to-lead: 9 hours
Time-to-proposal: 8 days
Time-to-contract: 11 days
Issues: AEs slow to send proposals; legal review queue is a black hole
Team: 4
Example output
| Step | SLA | Owner | CRM enforcement | Escalation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inquiry → first touch | <30 min (business hrs) | AE on duty | HubSpot rotates + Slack ping <30 min | After 45 min, ping manager |
| First touch → discovery booked | <48h | AE | Workflow alerts if `discovery_booked_at` null 48h post-touch | Manager calls lead |
| Discovery → proposal sent | <4 business days | Strategy lead | ClickUp task auto-created on stage change w/ due date | Manager review at day 3 |
| Proposal sent → verbal | <10 business days | AE | Slack alert at day 7; auto-rollback at day 14 | Manager joins next buyer call |
| Verbal → contract out | <2 business days | Ops | Auto-draft DocuSign on stage change | Founder intervenes day 3 |
| Contract out → signed | <5 business days | AE | Daily reminder cadence | Discount lever or close-lost at day 10 |

**Quick wins:** Inquiry response, discovery-to-proposal, and contract-out automation — fix these first; they recover the most cycle time per hour of work.
Pro tips
  • Measure baseline SLAs for 30 days before publishing targets — public goals that are 4x current reality get ignored.
  • Tie SLA performance to monthly 1:1s, not comp — comp pressure creates gaming, coaching creates change.
  • Build a single SLA breach dashboard; reps fix what they can see.
Works with
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
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