Sales Ops Checklist
CRM, pipeline stages, follow-up cadences, and reporting.
“Your sales ops do not need to be fancy. They need to be honest. A half-populated CRM is worse than a spreadsheet — it lies to you weekly.”
The Insight
At Stage 1, sales ops exists for two reasons: so you never forget to follow up, and so you can tell the truth about pipeline. Both require discipline, not software. The CRM is only as useful as the rigour of the humans typing into it.
01
The CRM Fundamentals
Pick a lightweight CRM (HubSpot free, Pipedrive, Attio, or even an Airtable) — tool choice matters far less than team adoption. Every opportunity has: a clear stage, a next action, a due date, and an owner. If any of those four are missing, the opportunity doesn't exist. Run a weekly 15-minute audit: every deal with no next action gets one or gets closed.
02
Pipeline Stages That Mirror Reality
Keep stages to six maximum: Lead, Qualified, Discovery, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed. Each stage has explicit exit criteria — what must be true for the deal to progress. Without exit criteria, founders move deals for the thrill of movement. With them, you get an honest pipeline that predicts close rates within 10%.
03
Cadences and Reporting
Three numbers that drive every board meeting.
The Takeaway
Sales ops is a weekly habit, not a software install. Build the five-minute discipline, run the 30-minute review, and the pipeline tells you the truth before the bank account does.
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