What to collect, every time
Everything the ten things need, grouped by kind. Fields can't be recovered backward, so build them first. Definitions and predictions cost nothing but a meeting.
Fields to build into the CRM
01 · CRM
Next step and its dateRule 1. Text without a date can't be checked.
01 · CRM
Close dateRule 2. A past close date on an open deal is a forecasting problem wearing an admin costume.
01 · CRM
Date the deal entered its current stageRule 3. Without it you can report where a deal is, not how long it has sat.
01 · CRM
Last activity dateRule 4.
01 · CRM
Amount, lead source, primary contactRules 5–7. Required at creation, or they stay blank.
02 · Sales
A dated milestone for each stageWithout dates you can count where deals are, not where they died.
04 · Ideal
Who fills in industry and company size, and whenBlank segments can't be analyzed.
05 · Channel
Lead source: one field, required at creation, from a picklistFree text and two competing fields both break this table.
06 · Activity
Which touches are captured automatically and which are typedAutomatic can be verified; typed can only be counted.
06 · Activity
Email and calendar sync: everyone, or only opt-ins?Uneven sync is corrected before anyone is compared.
07 · The
A recorded reason on every lost dealWho records it, and from what list.
08 · Forecast
Close-date history (push count)Starts the day field history is turned on.
08 · Forecast
The eight facts: metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, paper process, pain, champion, competitionMost CRMs have none of them as fields.
Definitions to write down once
02 · Sales
Your stages, in order, with what must be true about the BUYER to leave each oneExit criteria. Every conversion number is computed against them.
02 · Sales
When a lead becomes an opportunity, and who decidesSets the denominator for every rate downstream.
02 · Sales
When the stage list last changedSo conversion isn't computed across two different funnels.
03 · Pipeline
What “revenue” means in that numberBooked, recognized, annual or total contract value, or cash.
04 · Ideal
Which cuts matter: size, industry, geography, service lineDeclared before anything is computed, so no finding is manufactured afterward.
04 · Ideal
Segments deliberately entered or exitedSo a strategy change doesn't read as a performance change.
04 · Ideal
What disqualifies a deal, and who may apply itBecomes a written rule.
05 · Channel
First touch or last touch, and who stamps itDecides what “source” means.
06 · Activity
What counts as a touch: call, email, meeting, noteOne company's “call” is another's voicemail.
06 · Activity
What makes a conversation real and two-wayA recorded call, a prospect's reply, a confirmed meeting.
07 · The
Anything that broke comparability mid-historyPricing, product, a CRM rebuild. The model is fit around the break.
08 · Forecast
How the forecast is built: who submits, who rolls up, who signsEvery hand it passes through is a place it changes.
08 · Forecast
What “qualified” means, in one sentence, from two peopleIf the sentences differ, that is the finding.
09 · The
What a seller is expected to do each week, in writingThe floor, if one exists.
09 · The
What happens today when a week is missedWhether the floor has a consequence.
09 · The
The meeting that survives a busy weekThe scorecard lives inside it.
Inputs only the business can give
01 · CRM
Who owns the Friday sendA list that belongs to nobody is a report, and reports go stale.
01 · CRM
A clean-slate dateEverything before it is forgiven. Everything after it is measured.
03 · Pipeline
The annual plan, in writing, and whether it includes renewalsThe only outside number. Never mix new business and renewals.
03 · Pipeline
Who carries a quota, and the quotas by monthThe roster the plan is divided across.
03 · Pipeline
Working weeks per seller per yearAfter holidays, kickoff and training.
05 · Channel
Spend by channel, last twelve monthsWith it, cost per won dollar. Without it, yield only, and the page says so.
07 · The
How many deals have closed, won or lost, in three yearsThe sample floor.
09 · The
Who enforces the floor, and are they willingA floor nobody enforces is worse than none.
09 · The
Base and variable pay, and what triggers payoutThe scorecard rows and the money must point the same way.
10 · The
The interview set: sellers, the sales leader, the executive, operations, 2–3 clients, a partnerFour to six internal, 30–60 minutes each.
10 · The
The non-attribution commitment, said out loud in front of the teamOne breach and every interview after it is worthless.
10 · The
Any history that would make people guardedRead alongside the answers so caution isn't scored as dysfunction.
Predictions to write down before anything is computed
01 · CRM
What share of open deals have a next step? Say a number.Checked against the export.
02 · Sales
Which stage do most deals die in? Which seller converts best?Written now, scored against the table.
03 · Pipeline
Your win rate and average deal size, from memoryChecked against the export. The gap is useful.
03 · Pipeline
The coverage multiple you run on today, and where it came fromPlaced next to the multiple your win rate requires.
04 · Ideal
Your ideal customer in one sentence; your best and worst segmentScored against your own closed deals.
05 · Channel
Which channel produces your best customers? Which gets the most effort?Placed side by side.
06 · Activity
How many quiet days means a deal is going cold?Placed next to your own 75th percentile.
07 · The
Your top three predictors of a winPlaced next to the model's list.
08 · Forecast
Last quarter's commit versus actual, in dollarsForecast error is the number this exists to shrink.
10 · The
Leadership's prediction of the team's answers, 1–5 per statementWritten before the first interview.