Tracking · Pipeline Stages & Exit Criteria

Design a Two-Pipeline Setup for SMB vs Mid-Market

Split your pipeline into SMB and Mid-Market with different stages, exit criteria, and cycle expectations.

foundermanagerAdvanced⏱ Eliminates 2-3 quarters of bad forecast modeling
When to use
Use when your SMB deals close in 14 days and mid-market drags 90+ days but they share the same pipeline — distorting metrics and frustrating reps. This produces two pipelines with different stage counts, exit criteria, probability weights, and SLAs, plus the routing rule that decides which pipeline a deal enters.
The prompt
You are a sales operations director at a digital marketing agency that serves both SMB (sub-$5K/mo) and Mid-Market ($10K+/mo) clients with very different sales motions.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] | SMB definition: [SMB_DEFINITION] | Mid-Market definition: [MM_DEFINITION] | SMB avg cycle: [SMB_CYCLE] | MM avg cycle: [MM_CYCLE] | CRM: [CRM_TOOL]
Design TWO pipelines (SMB and Mid-Market) with distinct stage counts, exit criteria, probability weights, and cycle SLAs. Provide the routing rule that auto-assigns a new deal to one pipeline. Specify what happens if a deal grows or shrinks across the boundary mid-cycle.

- SMB pipeline must be SHORTER (4-5 stages) — speed over rigor.
- Mid-Market pipeline must include procurement and multi-stakeholder steps (6-8 stages).
- Routing rule must be field-based and automatic (not rep discretion).
- Crossover rule: define how to move a deal between pipelines if size estimate changes mid-cycle.
- Each pipeline gets its own forecast view — never combined into one weighted total without service-tier filter.

Three sections:
1. SMB Pipeline (stages table with: stage, exit criteria summary, weight, SLA days)
2. Mid-Market Pipeline (same table)
3. Routing Rule + Crossover Rule (numbered logic)
Variables
  • [AGENCY_NAME] — Your agency
  • [SMB_DEFINITION] — What makes a deal SMB (e.g., <$5K MRR or <50 employees)
  • [MM_DEFINITION] — What makes a deal Mid-Market
  • [SMB_CYCLE] — Avg SMB cycle days
  • [MM_CYCLE] — Avg Mid-Market cycle days
  • [CRM_TOOL] — Your CRM
Example input
Agency: Lattice Growth | SMB: <$5K MRR or <50 employees | MM: $10K+ MRR or 50-500 employees | SMB cycle: 18 days | MM cycle: 72 days | CRM: HubSpot
Example output
**1. SMB Pipeline (5 stages):**
| Stage | Exit Criteria Summary | Weight | SLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Lead | Qualified via form scoring | 10% | 1 day |
| Discovery | 30-min call done, fit confirmed | 25% | 3 days |
| Proposal Sent | Self-serve proposal link | 50% | 7 days |
| Verbal Commit | Buyer confirmed via email | 80% | 3 days |
| Closed-Won | Stripe payment + signed click-through | 100% | — |

**2. Mid-Market Pipeline (7 stages):**
| Stage | Exit Criteria Summary | Weight | SLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Lead | Inbound + account scoring fit | 5% | 2 days |
| Discovery 1 (Champion) | Champion identified + pain mapped | 15% | 7 days |
| Discovery 2 (Stakeholders) | 2+ stakeholders on call | 25% | 14 days |
| Scoping + Audit | Audit deck delivered | 40% | 14 days |
| Proposal + MSA | Legal review started | 55% | 21 days |
| Verbal Commit | Economic buyer confirmed, procurement engaged | 75% | 14 days |
| Closed-Won | Countersigned MSA + PO | 100% | — |

**3. Routing Rule:** Auto-route by deal.estimated_mrr field at New Lead creation. If MRR 50% mid-cycle, AE proposes pipeline switch in weekly forecast call. Manager approves. Deal preserves history; stage maps to closest equivalent in new pipeline.
Pro tips
  • Don't let reps pick the pipeline — make the field rule binding.
  • Track conversion rate per pipeline separately; they're not comparable as a single metric.
  • If 30%+ of SMB deals are switching to Mid-Market mid-cycle, your routing rule is too tight — recalibrate.
Works with
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
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