SOP-REV-marketing-to-sales-handoff-v0.2¶
1. Purpose¶
Define the shared qualification ladder, handoff procedure, and email sequence governance that moves a prospect from marketing engagement through sales qualification to Assessment proposal. This SOP exists to solve three problems:
- MQL/SQL misalignment — without shared definitions, marketing and revenue will disagree on what "qualified" means, creating finger-pointing and pipeline friction
- Nurture gap — prospects who engage with content but aren't ready for an Assessment have no structured follow-up path today
- Email sequence ownership — content/messaging and execution/sequencing need clear single-owner-per-activity governance
Structural principle: MQL and SQL are stages on the same qualification ladder, not two teams' separate opinions. MQL criteria are a proper subset of SQL criteria. The handoff is additive ("I verified ICP fit + engagement; now you verify business timing + buying signals"), not subjective ("I think they're qualified" vs "no they're not").
2. Scope¶
- Governs the transition from marketing-engaged prospect to sales-qualified lead
- Applies to all inbound and outbound prospect engagement across LinkedIn, Substack, email, and events
- Cross-department: CMO owns MQL definition + content/messaging; CRO owns SQL definition + execution/sequencing
- Qualification is account-level — at $50M+ ARR targets, multiple contacts at the same company aggregate signals against the company's Prospects board item, not tracked independently (council amendment #9)
- Operates upstream of SOP-REV-lead-qualification-v1.0 (which governs Assessment-tier qualification once a lead is SQL)
- Does not govern paid advertising or event marketing (premature at current stage)
3. Shared Qualification Ladder¶
┌─ DISQUALIFIED
PROSPECT → MQL → SQL → BRIEFING-READY → ASSESSMENT-QUALIFIED → WON │
↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ├─ RECYCLED (→ MQL nurture)
CMO CRO CRO CRO └─ ARCHIVED
owns owns owns owns
3.1 Prospect (Default)¶
A company or contact exists in the Monday.com Prospects or Contacts board with minimum data fields per SOP-REV-lead-qualification-v1.0 Section 5.
Owner: sales.ops (board hygiene) No qualification claim. Prospect is a name on a list.
3.2 MQL — Marketing Qualified Lead¶
A prospect is MQL when it meets ALL of the following:
| Criterion | Description | Verified by | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICP Gate Pass | Passes all 5 mandatory gates (G1-G5) from SOP-REV-lead-qualification-v1.0 Section 3.1. CRO may override a single gate failure with documented justification (see Section 3.6). | sales.ops (data), category.positioning (ICP research) | Monday.com Prospects board fields |
| Engagement Signal | At least ONE engagement signal observed in the trailing 180 days (full credit 0-90 days, half credit 91-180 days for attribution weighting). Strong signals may fast-track to SQL per Section 3.2.1. | category.positioning (content signals), mining.mind (LinkedIn signals) | Signal Note per SOP-REV-lead-qualification Section 7 |
3.2.1 Engagement Signal Tiers (council amendment #1; extended CMO co-sponsor amendment M1)¶
Not all engagement signals carry equal weight. Signals are classified as Strong (direct engagement indicating intent) or Standard (passive engagement indicating awareness).
Strong signals — fast-track eligible:
| Signal | Description | Detection source | Fast-track |
|---|---|---|---|
| E3 — Direct message | Sent a LinkedIn DM or email to Rick asking a specific question about ecosystem revenue, partner monetization, or the Assessment | Gmail MCP, LinkedIn DM | If ICP gates pass → skip to SQL qualification immediately |
| E4 — Briefing request | Explicitly requested an Ecosystem Revenue Architecture Briefing (free 45-min) | Gmail MCP, LinkedIn DM, website form | Auto-SQL — this is a buying signal, not just engagement. Bypass MQL, proceed directly to Briefing scheduling. |
| E6 — Event interaction | Attended a webinar, conference session, or roundtable featuring eco|monetize AND engaged (asked a question, stayed for Q&A, exchanged contact info) | Event registration/attendance + engagement confirmation | If ICP gates pass → skip to SQL qualification immediately |
| E7 — Referral (acknowledged) | Introduced by a mutual connection, existing client, or known industry contact AND the prospect acknowledged the intro (reply email, LinkedIn accept + message, scheduled meeting). Source and relationship documented. Refined per CMO co-sponsor amendment M1a — bare intro without acknowledgment no longer qualifies as strong. | Rick's direct report, email thread. Must log: who referred, their relationship to prospect, referral context, acknowledgment evidence. | If ICP gates pass → skip to SQL qualification immediately |
| E8 — Repeat engagement (CMO co-sponsor amendment M1b) | Same contact engages 2+ times across ANY signal type within 30 days (e.g., LinkedIn like + Substack subscribe; two LinkedIn comments on different posts; content download + event attendance) | mining.mind cross-signal correlation across LinkedIn, Substack, content analytics | If ICP gates pass → fast-track: CRO reviews within 1 business day (vs standard 2). Repeat engagement is the single strongest pre-conversation predictor of SQL conversion. |
| E10 — Warm intro accepted (CMO co-sponsor amendment M1d) | Referral made AND prospect responded positively (distinct from E7 which only requires intro + acknowledgment). Prospect engaged substantively — asked about our work, shared their context, or requested a call. | Email thread with prospect's positive response; LinkedIn DM with substantive engagement beyond "thanks" | If ICP gates pass → skip to SQL qualification immediately. Strongest referral-path signal. |
Standard signals — MQL qualification:
| Signal | Description | Detection source | Threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 — LinkedIn content interaction | Commented on, shared, or saved an eco|monetize LinkedIn post. A single "like" alone does not qualify — requires comment, share, or save, OR 3+ likes within 30 days. | mining.mind signal extraction | Comment/share/save = 1 signal. 3+ likes in 30 days = 1 signal. Single like = logged but insufficient. |
| E2 — Substack subscription | Subscribed to eco|monetize Substack | Substack subscriber list | Binary — subscribed = signal |
| E5 — Content download | Downloaded a gated whitepaper, framework doc, or diagnostic tool (not ungated blog posts or public pages) | Website analytics (when available) | Must be gated content requiring email submission |
| E9 — Content-fuel attribution (CMO co-sponsor amendment M1c) | Contact's company or thesis appears in an eco|monetize content piece (referenced, quoted, case-studied) AND the contact subsequently engages. The attribution is causal, not coincidental. | category.positioning attribution log (track which published pieces referenced which companies/people); cross-reference with engagement events | Higher-credibility MQL (counts the same as E1/E2/E5 for threshold but flagged for CRO weight). 1 signal |
What MQL means: "This prospect fits our ICP and has shown interest. Marketing's job is done — this person is worth sales attention."
What MQL does NOT mean: "This prospect is ready to buy." MQL is a fit + interest signal, not a buying signal.
3.3 SQL — Sales Qualified Lead¶
An MQL becomes SQL when it meets the MQL criteria PLUS:
| Criterion | Description | Verified by |
|---|---|---|
| 3 of 4 buying signals | Passes 3 of 4 buying signal indicators (S1-S4) from SOP-REV-lead-qualification-v1.0 Section 3.2 | sales.ops (dossier), CRO (confirmation) |
The 4 buying signals (S5 reclassified per council amendment #5):
| Signal | Description | Verification method |
|---|---|---|
| S1 — Partner Revenue Dependency | >20% of revenue influenced by partners/channel | Apollo enrichment: company lists "Channel/Partner/Alliance" exec titles AND 500+ employees. OR: company website has dedicated Partners section with solution/technical resources. OR: public earnings disclose partner-influenced revenue. |
| S2 — GTM Restructuring | New CRO/VP Sales hire, sales/overlay restructure, or partner org realignment in last 120 days | LinkedIn executive changes, TechCrunch/press announcements. Observable, binary. |
| S3 — Ecosystem Complexity | 3+ hyperscaler partnerships (AWS/Azure/GCP), active co-sell motions, marketplace listings, SI delivery partners | Monday.com partner checkboxes, AWS/Azure/GCP partner directories, marketplace listings. Observable. |
| S4 — Performance Pressure | Missed revenue guidance by >5% OR reported YoY revenue growth <5% OR operating loss in last two earnings statements OR public cost-reduction program | Earnings reports (public companies), press/news (private companies with disclosed rounds), job posting velocity decline. |
S5 (Accessibility) reclassified (council amendment #5): LinkedIn connection depth, open profile, and posting activity are outreach feasibility factors, not buying signals. S5 is used for outreach priority ordering (SOP-REV-lead-qualification Section 8) but does NOT count toward the 3-of-4 SQL buying signal threshold.
SQL via strong-signal fast-track: Prospects entering via E4 (Briefing request) bypass MQL and are auto-SQL. Prospects entering via E3/E6/E7/E10 strong signals skip to SQL qualification (sales.ops compiles dossier immediately, CRO confirms within 1 business day). E8 (repeat engagement) accelerates CRO review to 1 business day but still requires SQL dossier completion.
What SQL means: "This prospect fits our ICP, has shown interest, AND has business timing/buying signals. Ready for Briefing scheduling and Assessment proposal."
3.4 Why This Prevents Finger-Pointing¶
| Scenario | Under this SOP |
|---|---|
| Marketing sends 50 MQLs, sales says "these aren't qualified" | Impossible — MQL definition is shared. If they pass G1-G5 + engagement signal, they're MQL by definition. The question becomes "do they have buying signals?" which is sales's job to verify, not marketing's job to predict. |
| Sales says marketing isn't generating enough leads | Measurable — MQL count is objective (ICP gates + engagement signals). First-touch attribution shows which content/channel produced each MQL. If MQL count is low, the diagnosis is either (a) content isn't generating engagement or (b) ICP pool is too narrow. Both are actionable. |
| A deal doesn't close and someone blames qualification | The ladder shows exactly where the prospect was qualified and by whom. MQL = marketing verified fit + interest. SQL = sales verified timing + signals. If the deal fails after SQL, it's a deal execution issue, not a qualification issue. |
| Marketing and sales disagree on ICP definition | Impossible — both reference the same G1-G5 gates from SOP-REV-lead-qualification-v1.0. One definition, one source of truth. |
3.5 Disqualification, Regression, and Recycling (council amendment #3)¶
Disqualification criteria — remove from pipeline entirely:
| Trigger | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Company in bankruptcy, acquired, or shutting down | DQ — archive with reason | sales.ops |
| Prospect is at a direct competitor (Crossbeam, Reveal, PartnerStack employee) | DQ — archive. (Note: competitor's customers are valid per SOP-REV-lead-qualification Section 3.3 override rules.) | sales.ops |
| Explicit opt-out or hostile response | DQ — archive, add to suppression list, never re-engage this contact | sales.ops |
| Company confirmed to have no ecosystem/partner motion after research | DQ — fails G2 on investigation | sales.ops, CRO confirms |
Regression rules:
| Trigger | Action | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| SQL with no engagement for 30+ days | Revert to MQL, enter nurture sequence | sales.ops flags, CRO confirms |
| MQL with no engagement for 90+ days (engagement signal expired) | Revert to Prospect, remove MQL status | sales.ops |
| Deal lost after Briefing/Assessment-Proposed | 90-day cooldown, then recycle to MQL nurture pool under marketing ownership | CRO initiates, sales.ops executes |
Recycling: Lost deals and regressed SQLs return to marketing's nurture pool after a cooldown period. Marketing owns re-engagement. If the prospect re-engages (new strong signal), they re-enter the SQL fast-track.
3.6 CRO Override (council amendment — CRO Buyer finding)¶
The CRO may override a single ICP gate failure with documented justification. Use cases: a 180-person company with exceptional ecosystem complexity (fails G1, passes everything else), a company in a non-standard industry with strong partner revenue signals.
Requirements: CRO logs the override in Monday.com Comments with: (a) which gate failed, (b) why the override is justified, (c) which compensating signals are present. Chief of Staff audits overrides in the weekly sweep. Overrides exceeding 10% of MQL classifications in any month trigger a gate calibration review.
4. MQL→SQL Handoff Procedure¶
4.1 Signal Detection (Session-Start Sweep)¶
- mining.mind monitors LinkedIn engagement and surfaces signals per SOP-REV-lead-qualification Section 7 (Signal-Note format). "Continuous" = checked at every session start + whenever dispatched. mining.mind also runs cross-signal correlation for E8 detection (same contact, 2+ signals within 30 days across any signal type).
- category.positioning monitors Substack subscriptions and content engagement metrics. Also maintains the content-fuel attribution log for E9 (which published pieces referenced which companies/people; joined against engagement events). Checked at session start.
- Both file Signal Notes to sales.ops via
#agent-handoffsper Section 9 Rule 6
4.2 MQL Classification (sales.ops, within 1 business day of signal)¶
- sales.ops receives Signal Note
- sales.ops verifies ICP gate pass (G1-G5) using Monday.com Prospects board data + Apollo enrichment
- Strong signal (E3/E4/E6/E7/E8/E10): If ICP gates pass, skip MQL — proceed directly to Section 4.3 SQL dossier. E4 (Briefing request) is auto-SQL; schedule Briefing immediately. E8 (repeat engagement) fast-tracks CRO review to 1 business day.
- Standard signal (E1/E2/E5/E9): If ICP gates pass, sales.ops updates Monday.com status to MQL, tags the engagement signal type and first-touch source. E9 contacts flagged for CRO weight (higher-credibility MQL).
- If gates don't pass: signal is logged but prospect stays at Prospect stage. Disqualify if investigation confirms no ecosystem fit (G2 failure).
- sales.ops posts MQL classifications to
#cro-updates(daily batch, not per-lead)
4.3 SQL Qualification — Two-Tier Process (council amendment #4)¶
Tier 1: sales.ops dossier (within 1 business day of MQL or strong-signal fast-track)
- sales.ops compiles a qualification dossier for each new MQL using Apollo enrichment, Monday.com data, and public sources
- Dossier covers S1-S4 buying signals with evidence: revenue data, executive changes, partner directory listings, earnings/press
- sales.ops scores each signal as CONFIRMED / LIKELY / UNVERIFIED / NOT PRESENT
- If 3+ signals score CONFIRMED or LIKELY: sales.ops flags as SQL-Pending Review and posts dossier to
#cro-updates - If <3 signals: lead stays MQL, enters nurture sequence
Tier 2: CRO confirmation (within 1 business day of SQL-Pending Review; same-day for E8 fast-track)
- CRO reviews the dossier (target: 10 minutes per lead, not 30 minutes of ground-up research)
- CRO can: Confirm (status → SQL), Dispute (reverts to MQL, logs reason for signal calibration), or Flag for Immediate Outreach (high-priority SQL, CRO engages same day)
- CRO carries SQL conversions in daily check-in per Section 3 cadence
SLA enforcement: MQLs pending >1 business day and SQLs pending >1 business day are flagged in the CRO's daily check-in. Chief of Staff audits in the daily sweep per Section 3.3.
4.4 Handoff Report¶
The MQL→SQL transition does NOT require a full Section 6C Handoff Report (it's a status change within the same pipeline, not a change of ownership). However:
- The MQL classification (who verified, which signals, first-touch source, date) must be logged in Monday.com item Comments
- The SQL qualification dossier (signal evidence, CRO confirmation, date) must be logged in Monday.com item Comments
- Both are auditable by chief.staff in the daily cadence sweep
5. Email Sequence Governance¶
5.1 Ownership Bisection¶
Per R&R Matrix v1.0 cross-department rows C6a/C6b:
| Activity | Owner (R) | Accountable (A) | Consulted (C) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email sequence content and messaging (templates, copy, brand voice, value propositions) | category.positioning | cmo | cro (sales context) |
| Email sequence execution and cadence (send timing, recipient selection, response tracking, sequence logic) | sales.ops | cro | category.positioning (brand compliance) |
Single-R, single-A per activity. category.positioning writes what the emails say. sales.ops decides when they send and to whom.
Stakes-appropriate approval flow (CMO co-sponsor amendment M3): Nurture and Re-engagement sequences move at content velocity (lower stakes — awareness content, no pricing). Activation sequences move at deal velocity (higher stakes — includes Assessment pricing and positioning). Section 5.4 bifurcates the approval flow accordingly.
CRO narrative approval is GO/NO-GO on Activation templates (council amendment #15): For Activation sequences, CRO can approve or reject the CMO-approved template. CRO cannot line-edit brand-approved copy. If CRO rejects, the template returns to category.positioning with specific feedback on what the sales narrative needs. This prevents brand-approved category language from being stripped out in favor of feature/benefit selling. For Nurture + Re-engagement, CRO reviews the recipient list in parallel, not the content.
Capacity allocation (council amendment #10; CMO co-sponsor amendment M2): category.positioning allocates 15% of weekly capacity to sequence authoring, prioritized by CMO. When allocation is consumed, new sequence requests queue — they are NOT written by sales.ops or bypassed. No self-service. This protects brand integrity and prevents the queue-backup-then-bypass failure mode.
Sequence-type ceiling: 4 sequence types (Nurture-MQL + Activation-SQL + Re-engagement + Post-Briefing) is the sustainable ceiling at current capacity. 6+ sequence types triggers a capacity review per Section 9 scaling triggers.
5.2 Sequence Types¶
| Sequence | Target | Goal | Cadence | Content owner | Execution owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nurture — MQL | MQLs not yet SQL (missing buying signals) | Build awareness, share relevant content, surface buying signals | Burst-then-fade: 3 touches in Week 1-2 (Day 1, Day 3, Day 7), then 2 value-delivery touches over Weeks 3-6. 5-touch total in 6 weeks. (council amendment #12) | category.positioning | sales.ops |
| Activation — SQL | SQLs ready for Briefing | Book a free 45-min Ecosystem Revenue Architecture Briefing | 5 touches over 3 weeks (Day 1, Day 4, Day 8, Day 14, Day 21). Last touch is a "closing the loop" email. Then CRO direct outreach. | category.positioning (initial), cro (follow-up) | sales.ops (initial), cro (direct) |
| Re-engagement | Stale MQLs (no engagement in 60+ days) or recycled lost deals (after 90-day cooldown) | Resurface with new content or event invitation | 1 email, then 30-day wait, then 1 more. If no response, archive. | category.positioning | sales.ops |
| Post-Briefing | Briefing completed, Assessment not yet proposed | Move to Assessment proposal | CRO direct. Uses a CRO Post-Briefing framework template (authored by category.positioning for brand consistency) but personalized by CRO with specific conversation references. | cro (personalization), category.positioning (framework template) | cro |
5.3 Email Sequence Content Requirements¶
All email sequence content must meet these standards before sales.ops executes:
- Brand voice compliance — reviewed by category.positioning per SOP-MKT-content-approval-workflow (when authored)
- No pricing in nurture emails — Assessment pricing ($2,500) only appears in Activation sequence after SQL qualification
- Trademark compliance — all 7 canonical terms used correctly per brand guidelines
- Personalization by sequence type (council amendment — Enterprise Sales):
- Nurture-MQL: Company name + contact first name + one company-specific ecosystem insight (minimum 1 sentence that could not apply to any other company)
- Activation-SQL: All of above + reference to their specific engagement trigger + one competitive or market timing hook
- Post-Briefing: Fully bespoke, references specific conversation points, no generic language
- Unsubscribe/opt-out — every sequence email includes opt-out mechanism (CAN-SPAM compliance per COO/legal.exec)
- Value-first framing — lead with quantified insight or specific company observation, not product pitch. Emails are 4-7 sentences max. Write as peer, not vendor. First person. No "we help companies" language.
- Low-friction CTA — not "book a 30-minute call." Instead: "Worth a 10-minute conversation?" or "I can send the benchmark data — want me to?"
- Parallel-axis positioning (CMO co-sponsor amendment M5) — Email content must frame Ecosystem Revenue Intelligence as a parallel governance axis to RevOps, never as a successor or "next evolution." Per brand guidelines Section 18 and drift-detection phrases #15-#16 (ratified 2026-04-19, R16 ruling). This is especially load-bearing for Activation emails where we position the Assessment. The "RevOps handles one axis, ERI handles the other" frame is our strongest pitch angle. Common drift to watch: "the next generation of RevOps," "post-RevOps," "what comes after RevOps," "RevOps 2.0."
5.4 Sequence Template Approval Flow — Stakes-Bifurcated (council amendment #2; CMO co-sponsor amendment M3)¶
Approval flow depends on sequence stakes. Nurture and Re-engagement are awareness content (lower stakes — no pricing, no positioning lock-in). Activation is sales content (higher stakes — Assessment pricing, positioning commitment).
5.4.1 Nurture + Re-engagement — Simplified Flow¶
Initial approval (new template or major revision):
category.positioning drafts → CMO approves messaging + brand (1 business day) → sales.ops loads + executes
↓ (parallel, not sequential)
CRO reviews recipient list (1 business day)
CRO reviews the recipient list, not the content. Content is CMO's call — brand voice and messaging on awareness content is the marketing function. CRO's gate is "are these the right recipients?" and "does the recipient list match our ICP definition?" — applied asynchronously to the CMO-approved template.
Rationale: Nurture emails move at content velocity, not deal velocity. Gating nurture content through CRO approval creates a bottleneck that benefits nothing. CMO brand + CRO list = stakes-appropriate two-gate model.
5.4.2 Activation — Full Flow¶
Initial approval (new template or major revision):
category.positioning drafts → CMO approves messaging (1 business day) → CRO GO/NO-GO on sales narrative (1 business day) → sales.ops loads into execution tool
↓
CRO approves recipient list (1 business day)
Activation templates touch pricing, positioning, and the Assessment commitment — CRO narrative approval is a sequential gate, not parallel. CRO can reject (returns to category.positioning with feedback); CRO cannot line-edit CMO-approved copy.
5.4.3 Pre-approved template sends (both flows)¶
Once a sequence template has passed initial approval, subsequent sends to new recipients require ONLY: - CRO approves recipient list (1 step, 1 business day) - sales.ops executes
This reduces the approval chain to 1 step for routine sends. New templates or major copy changes go through full initial approval above.
5.4.4 SLAs and escalation¶
Each approval step has a 1-business-day SLA. If any step exceeds 48 hours, escalate to chief.staff. Repeated SLA misses trigger a capacity review.
Templates are versioned at /Claude/content/campaigns/email-sequences/ with naming:
5.5 Execution Tools and Deliverability¶
Email sequences execute through: - Gmail MCP — primary send channel (Rick's email, personalized) - Apollo.io MCP — sequence automation, open/reply tracking, cadence management - Monday.com MCP — recipient selection, status tracking, sequence stage logging
Send volume limits (council amendment #13): Maximum 25 emails/day from Rick's Gmail during Week 1-2 warmup period, scaling to 50/day maximum by Week 4. Beyond 50/day: evaluate domain-delegated sending or dedicated email infrastructure. sales.ops monitors deliverability (bounce rate, spam complaints) and pauses sequences if bounce rate exceeds 5%.
Tool synchronization: Apollo.io sequence stage must sync to Monday.com contact stage. sales.ops owns the sync — any discrepancy between the two systems is flagged in the daily pipeline sweep.
5.6 Response Handling (council amendment #6 — expanded to 10 categories)¶
| # | Response type | Example | Handler | Action | SLA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot positive | "Let's talk this week" | CRO | Engage within 4 hours. Pull from all sequences. Move to Briefing. | 4 hours |
| 2 | Warm positive | "Interesting, send me more info" | CRO | Send Assessment one-pager + calendar link within 24 hours. Pause sequence. Follow up in 5 days if no booking. | 24 hours |
| 3 | Interested but not now | "Not a priority this quarter, maybe Q3" | CRO | Acknowledge. Remove from active sequence. Set calendar trigger for 6 weeks before their stated timeline. Send one value piece in interim. | 48 hours |
| 4 | Wrong person, gives referral | "Talk to [name], they handle this" | CRO | Thank immediately. Add referral to warm-intro flow with original contact as reference. | 24 hours |
| 5 | Wrong person, no referral | "Not my area" | sales.ops | Thank them. Research org for correct contact. Start fresh sequence with new contact. | 2 business days |
| 6 | Objection / pushback | "We already have this covered" | CRO | Respond personally with tailored acknowledgment. Do NOT auto-continue sequence. Log objection type for pattern analysis. | 48 hours |
| 7 | Negative / hostile | "Stop emailing me" | sales.ops | Immediate removal. Add to suppression list. Log. Never re-engage this contact. | Same day |
| 8 | Opt-out / unsubscribe | Unsubscribe link clicked | sales.ops | Immediate removal from ALL sales sequences. Flag in Monday.com. Note: Substack subscription is separate consent context — sales opt-out does not auto-unsubscribe from marketing content. | Same day |
| 9 | OOO with return date | Auto-reply with date | sales.ops | Pause sequence. Resume 2 days after return date (not the day they return). | Auto |
| 10 | No response (sequence complete) | Silence after all touches | sales.ops | 30-day cooldown → Re-engagement sequence. After Re-engagement completes with no response → archive. | Auto |
6. Reporting and Metrics¶
6.1 MQL/SQL Pipeline Metrics (Weekly)¶
| Metric | Owner | Reported in |
|---|---|---|
| New MQLs this week | sales.ops | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| First-touch attribution (which E-signal originated each MQL) (council amendment #11) | sales.ops | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| Marketing-influenced pipeline % (what % of SQL pipeline had prior marketing engagement) | sales.ops | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| MQL→SQL conversion rate | sales.ops | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| SQL→Briefing conversion rate | CRO | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| Email sequence open rate | sales.ops | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| Email sequence reply rate | sales.ops | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| Time from MQL to SQL (median days) | sales.ops | CRO Friday Weekly Close |
| SLA compliance (MQLs pending >1 day, SQLs pending >1 day) | sales.ops | CRO daily check-in, chief.staff audit |
6.2 Shared Dashboard¶
A Monday.com view showing all prospects by qualification stage (Prospect / MQL / SQL / Briefing-Ready / Assessment-Qualified / Disqualified / Archived) is maintained by sales.ops. Both CRO and CMO have visibility. Chief of Staff audits weekly.
Marketing attribution view (CMO co-sponsor amendment M7): Same qualification-stage board, filterable by engagement-signal type (E1-E10). For each MQL, surface which signal(s) triggered the classification. This lets CMO see which content channels generate MQLs — if 80% of MQLs come from E1 (LinkedIn) and 0% from E2 (Substack), content effort allocation is evidence-driven.
Implementation: Monday.com column addition (first-touch signal type per item), not a separate board. sales.ops already tags the signal type per Section 4.2 step 4 — just make it filterable in the shared view.
6.3 Quarterly Signal Calibration Review (council amendment #6; CMO co-sponsor amendment M4)¶
Every quarter, CRO and CMO jointly review: - Which engagement signals (E1-E10) produced the highest SQL conversion rate - Which buying signals (S1-S4) best predicted deal closure - Which signals generated noise (high MQL volume, low SQL conversion) - Whether ICP gates (G1-G5) need threshold adjustment
Delivery feedback loop: customer.success's quarterly post-mortem rollup is a mandatory input to the calibration review. Assessment delivery outcomes (won/delivered/churned/recommendations) surface which qualification signals predicted commercial success, which produced noise. Post-mortem learnings feed back into:
- MQL signal reweighting — if E8 (repeat engagement) correlated with every won Assessment, confirm fast-track treatment. If E2 (Substack subscribe) produced MQLs that never advanced, consider reclassifying.
- SQL signal recalibration — if every SQL with S3 (Ecosystem Complexity) closed but S4 (Performance Pressure) didn't predict, reweight or replace S4.
Output: signal weight adjustments, definition amendments, gate threshold changes. Filed as SOP Delta (Section 6E) if any criteria change. First review: Q3 2026 (after first quarter of live data + first batch of customer.success Assessment post-mortems).
7. Escalation¶
| Condition | Action |
|---|---|
| MQL definition dispute (marketing says qualified, sales disagrees) | Resolve against this SOP's Section 3.2 criteria — if gates + engagement signal are met, it's MQL by definition. If same dispute pattern occurs 3x, amend the SOP definition (don't re-adjudicate). chief.staff mediates. |
| Email content doesn't match brand voice | category.positioning flags to CMO; sequence paused. 48-hour resolution SLA — paused sequences are killed (not indefinitely paused) if unresolved after 48 hours. |
| Sequence sends to an opted-out contact | SEV2 incident, immediate investigation, CAN-SPAM compliance review by legal.exec |
| MQL volume drops below threshold for 2 consecutive weeks | Joint CMO/CRO review — is content engagement declining or ICP pool exhausted? |
| SQL conversion rate drops below 20% for 4 consecutive weeks | CRO reviews signal indicator calibration — are S1-S4 thresholds right? Trigger quarterly review early if needed. |
| CRO override rate exceeds 10% of MQL classifications in any month | Gate calibration review — the gates may be miscalibrated, not the edge cases. |
| Approval step exceeds 48-hour SLA | Escalate to chief.staff. Repeated SLA misses trigger capacity review. |
| Parallel-axis positioning drift detected in live email | sales.ops pauses sequence, category.positioning reviews, CMO approves correction. Flag as SEV3 brand incident. |
8. Relationship to Existing SOPs¶
| SOP | Relationship |
|---|---|
| SOP-REV-lead-qualification-v1.0 | This SOP's MQL/SQL definitions build on and reference (not replace) the gates and signals from lead-qual. Lead-qual governs Assessment-tier qualification; this SOP governs the upstream marketing→sales handoff. Note: S5 reclassification in this SOP does not amend lead-qual — S5 remains in lead-qual for outreach priority ordering but is excluded from the SQL buying-signal threshold here. |
| SOP-REV-assessment-handoff-v0 | Downstream — once SQL→Briefing→Assessment-Qualified→Won, the assessment handoff SOP takes over. |
| SOP-MKT-content-approval-workflow | Email sequence content follows the same approval flow as all marketing content. (SOP not yet authored.) |
| SOP-EXEC-council-review-v1.0 | Council review applies to this SOP itself (cross-department, affects customer-facing communication). Individual email templates do not require council review. |
9. Scaling Triggers¶
| Threshold | Change required | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| >30 MQLs/week | Delegate SQL dossier compilation entirely to sales.ops; CRO validates only | CRO + sales.ops |
| >15 active SQLs simultaneously | Templatize Post-Briefing sequence (CRO personalizes from template, not blank page) | CRO + category.positioning |
| >50 emails/day | Evaluate domain-delegated sending or dedicated email infrastructure | sales.ops + CDO (code.platform) |
| >500 contacts in active pipeline | Evaluate dedicated CRM vs Monday.com | CRO + CDO |
| 6+ distinct sequence types in active rotation (CMO co-sponsor amendment M2) | Capacity review for category.positioning; evaluate expansion or sequence consolidation | CMO + chief.staff |
| 5-client structural review checkpoint | Per R&R Matrix v1.0 Section 9 — chief.staff convenes review of CRO absorption, category.positioning saturation, QA model | chief.staff |
Change log¶
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| v0 | 2026-04-20 | Initial draft by CRO (Marcus). |
| v0.1 | 2026-04-20 | Council review amendments (8-member panel, REVISE 6.4/10). 6 must-fix: (1) engagement signal tiering + E4 fast-track, (2) pre-approved template tier + approval SLAs, (3) lead recycling/regression/DQ, (4) two-tier SQL verification, (5) signal specificity + S5 reclassification, (6) expanded 10-category response handling. Plus: account-level qualification, CRO override, capacity allocation, first-touch attribution, burst-then-fade nurture, GO/NO-GO brand gate, Gmail send caps, 180-day trailing window, quarterly signal calibration, scaling triggers. |
| v0.2 | 2026-04-21 | CMO co-sponsor amendments (Michelle, 2026-04-20). M1: E8 repeat engagement (Strong/fast-track, 1-day CRO review), E9 content-fuel attribution (Standard), E10 warm intro accepted (Strong) added; E7 refined to require acknowledgment. M2: 4-sequence-type capacity ceiling documented + 6+ scaling trigger. M3: Approval flow bifurcated — Nurture + Re-engagement use simplified flow (CMO brand gate + CRO recipient list in parallel); Activation keeps full flow (CRO narrative GO/NO-GO sequential). M4: customer.success quarterly post-mortem rollup codified as mandatory input to Quarterly Signal Calibration Review. M5: Parallel-axis positioning added as Content Requirement #8 (per R16 ruling 2026-04-19). M7: Marketing attribution view added to shared dashboard (filterable by engagement-signal type). Ready for second council review wk of Apr 28. |
Owner: sales.ops (execution), category.positioning (content) Executive sponsor: cro (Marcus) Co-sponsor: cmo (Michelle) — APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS (incorporated in v0.2 above) Chief of Staff governance: chief.staff (Eva) — audits shared dashboard + SLA compliance weekly Council review: 2026-04-20, 8 members, REVISE → amendments applied in v0.1; second council review wk of Apr 28 on v0.2 Approved by: pending second council review + CEO approval Effective: TBD Version: 0.2