Marketing-Ops Handoff (Lead Lifecycle + Sales Routing) Skill

Marketing-Ops Handoff (Lead Lifecycle + Sales Routing)

Position in workflow: v0.8 Monitoring Setup → v0.8 Marketing-Ops Handoff → v0.9 Launch Channels (ORB), v0.9 Cold Outreach

Execution Mode

Default is standard. See .claude/rules/08-skill-execution-modes.md for selection logic.

| Mode | What this skill produces | |------|--------------------------| | quick | 3-stage lifecycle (Anonymous → Lead → Customer); single handoff rule; SLA per stage | | standard | Full 5-stage lifecycle (Anonymous → MQL → SQL → Opportunity → Customer); entry/exit criteria; handoff payload spec; SLAs | | deep | Full lifecycle + per-segment routing (by ICP / region / size); scoring model; rejection-loop rules; SLA monitoring + escalation |

What This Does

Defines the lifecycle stages a lead passes through from first touch to customer (or churn), plus the handoff rules at each transition. Without this, marketing-captured leads get dropped, double-worked, or never followed up. With this, you have an auditable definition of who owns what at each moment.

This skill applies primarily to B2B and prosumer products with a human-touch sales motion (founder-led sales, BDR/SDR teams, customer-success-led expansion). Pure self-serve products use a simpler version: lifecycle = Anonymous → Trial → Paid, with no human handoff.

How It Works

Pick the lifecycle shape — Match the product:
- Self-serve: Anonymous → Signup → Activated → Paid → Expanded
- Sales-assisted: Anonymous → MQL → SQL → Opportunity → Customer
- Hybrid (PLG + Sales): Anonymous → Signup → Activated → Paid → SQL → Opportunity → Expansion
Define entry criteria per stage — What event/behavior moves a lead into this stage? Examples:
- MQL: filled out a high-intent form, downloaded gated content, hit usage threshold
- SQL: explicit "talk to sales" or scoring threshold reached
- Opportunity: discovery call held, budget + authority confirmed
Define exit criteria per stage — Two paths out: progress (to next stage) and disqualify (back to nurture or out). Disqualification rules matter as much as progression.
Map ownership — Who owns the lead at each stage:
- Anonymous: marketing automation
- MQL: BDR/SDR
- SQL: AE / founder
- Opportunity: AE / founder
- Customer: CS / founder
Define handoff payload — When a lead moves between owners, what context goes with them? At minimum:
- Source (which GTM-* channel produced this lead)
- Touchpoint history (what they've engaged with)
- Best-fit signals (firmographic match, behavioral fit)
- Disqualifiers (anything that ruled out an earlier stage)
- Open questions (what the next owner should clarify)
Set SLAs per stage — How fast must the new owner respond after handoff? MQL → BDR typically <1 business hour for high-signal, <1 business day for low-signal. SQL → AE typically <30 minutes.
Plan rejection routing — When SQL → AE handoff is rejected ("not a fit"), where does the lead go? Back to nurture, disqualified, requeued? Without this rule, leads die in limbo.

Example

B2B SaaS, $200/month entry price, sales-assisted motion.

| Stage | Entry criteria | Exit criteria | Owner | SLA | |-------|----------------|---------------|-------|-----| | Anonymous | Any first touch | Filled form OR signed up | Marketing | n/a | | MQL | Filled high-intent form (demo request, pricing page) | BDR qualifies in OR disqualifies | BDR | 1 business hour | | SQL | BDR confirms fit + intent | AE accepts OR rejects | BDR → AE | 30 min | | Opportunity | AE held discovery, budget + authority confirmed | Closed-won OR closed-lost | AE | 24 hr per touch | | Customer | Closed-won contract signed | Churn OR expand | CS | Onboarding kickoff <1 business day |

Handoff payload at MQL → SQL (BDR → AE):

Source: GTM-002 (Product Hunt) + retargeting
Touchpoints: 3 blog posts, demo video, pricing page (3×)
Best-fit signals: 50-person SaaS (matches PER-001), VP Eng signed up
Disqualifiers: none
Open questions: confirm budget owner; confirm timeline

Rejection routing at SQL → AE rejection ("too small"): lead returns to MQL queue with "small-team" tag; BDR can re-engage in 90 days if size signal changes.

What You Get Back

BR-MOPS-* lifecycle rule entries — One per stage with entry/exit/owner/SLA
GTM-MOPS-* handoff flow entries — One per transition (MQL→SQL, SQL→OPP, etc.) with payload spec
Rejection-routing rules — Disqualifier-aware routing back to nurture
SLA monitoring plan — Hooks into MON-DRIFT-* for SLA drift watching

When to Use It

| Trigger | Mode | |---------|------| | B2B / sales-assisted product, pre-launch | standard | | Hybrid PLG + Sales motion | deep | | Pure self-serve consumer product | skip — overkill | | Adding human sales to existing self-serve | standard | | Sales velocity issues (leads dying in queue) | deep (rebuild with SLAs) | | Pre-Series A audit (investor wants to see process) | deep |

Consumes

PER-* best-fit characteristics (sharpened by v0.9 Positioning when available) — Defines what fit-signal scoring looks like
GTM-* channel mix (from v0.9 Launch Channels ORB, when available) — Lead sources feed into Anonymous stage
GTM-* offer card (from v0.9 Offer Construction) — Determines what "qualified" means (price tier sets bar)
BR-PRICING-* (from v0.3 + v0.9) — Sets stage thresholds (above $X/year → SQL; below → self-serve)
KPI-* baseline targets — Stage conversion targets feed into KPI- entries

When this skill runs before v0.9, channel and offer references use placeholders that get reconciled when v0.9 finalizes.

Produces

BR-MOPS-* entries (lifecycle stage rules) in SoT/SoT.BUSINESS_RULES.md
GTM-MOPS-* entries (handoff flow specs) — One per stage transition
CFD-* gaps surfaced — When stage criteria can't be cleanly defined, log as research gap

Output Template

BR-MOPS-XXX: Lifecycle Stage — [Stage name]
Type: Lifecycle-Stage
Order: [#]
Status: Active

Stage: [Anonymous | Signup | Activated | MQL | SQL | Opportunity | Customer | Expansion]

Entry criteria:
  - [Criterion 1 — e.g., "Filled out demo request form"]
  - [Criterion 2 — e.g., "Reached usage threshold X"]

Exit criteria (progression):
  - To [next stage]: [Criterion]

Exit criteria (disqualification):
  - [Criterion that routes back to earlier stage or out]

Owner: [Marketing automation | BDR/SDR | AE | CS | Founder]

SLA:
  Response time after entering this stage: [duration]
  Escalation: [What happens if SLA missed]

Linked IDs: PER-XXX (fit signals), GTM-YYY (source channels), BR-PRICING-ZZZ (tier threshold), KPI-AAA (conversion rate)

GTM-MOPS-XXX: Handoff — [Stage A] → [Stage B]
Type: Handoff
Status: Active

From: [Stage A] (owner: ...)
To: [Stage B] (owner: ...)

Trigger: [Specific event — e.g., "BDR marks lead as Qualified in CRM"]

Payload (what context transfers):
  - Source: [GTM-* channel]
  - Touchpoint history: [What they engaged with]
  - Best-fit signals: [Firmographic + behavioral match]
  - Disqualifiers: [Anything that ruled out earlier stages]
  - Open questions: [What new owner should clarify]

Rejection rule:
  Condition: [When does the new owner reject this handoff?]
  Routing: [Where does the rejected lead go? Nurture / disqualified / requeue]
  Re-engagement: [Conditions under which this lead can return]

SLA: [Response time required from new owner]

Linked IDs: BR-MOPS-AAA (Stage A rule), BR-MOPS-BBB (Stage B rule)

Anti-Patterns

| Pattern | Signal | Fix | |---------|--------|-----| | MQL = "anyone who filled a form" | High-volume MQLs with 1% SQL conversion | Tighten MQL entry criteria; add fit-signal scoring | | No rejection routing | Leads die when SQL → AE rejects | Define where rejected leads go (nurture, disqualified, requeue) | | SLA without escalation | "Respond in 1 hour" with no consequence if missed | SLA must have an escalation path | | Handoff without payload | New owner asks "who is this?" | Mandatory payload fields at every handoff | | Stages without owners | "We'll figure out who handles SQLs later" | One owner per stage; named role minimum | | Lifecycle for self-serve | $20/month consumer product with MQL/SQL/OPP | Use Signup → Activated → Paid; no human handoff | | No SLA monitoring | SLAs exist on paper, missed in practice | Drift-monitor SLA via MON-DRIFT- |

Quality Gates

Before activating handoff:

[ ] Lifecycle shape matches product motion (self-serve / sales-assisted / hybrid)
[ ] Every stage has entry, exit-progression, and exit-disqualification criteria
[ ] Every stage has a named owner (role minimum)
[ ] Every stage has an SLA with escalation path
[ ] Every transition has a handoff payload spec
[ ] Rejection routing defined for every owner-changing handoff
[ ] SLA drift monitoring set up via MON-DRIFT-

Downstream Connections

| Consumer | What it uses | Example | |----------|--------------|---------| | Launch Channels (ORB) | Each channel's leads enter the lifecycle at Anonymous | GTM-002 (Product Hunt) → Anonymous → MQL routing | | Cold Outreach (Tiered) | Tier 1/2/3 sequences map to lifecycle stages | Tier 1 = SQL-tier ABM; Tier 3 = MQL nurture | | Launch Metrics | Stage conversion rates become KPI- entries | KPI-MQL-to-SQL-conversion | | Feedback Loop Setup | Rejected leads' "why we passed" reasons feed CFD- | Pattern: "too small" rejections → CFD- pricing signal | | Drift Monitoring | SLA drift catches process decay | MON-DRIFT-MQL-response-SLA |

Detailed References

alirezarezvani's marketing-ops and revenue-operations skills (claude-skills)
Predictable Revenue (Aaron Ross) — sales handoff structure
From Impossible to Inevitable (Aaron Ross + Jason Lemkin) — stage discipline
SiriusDecisions lead-lifecycle framework (the canonical B2B reference)
(No bundled references/ — lifecycle shapes vary; this skill encodes the discipline, not a specific shape)

Agent Skills: Marketing-Ops Handoff (Lead Lifecycle + Sales Routing)

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