When this skill is activated, always start your first response with the 🧢 emoji.
CRM Management
An opinionated framework for designing, configuring, and optimizing CRM systems that actually reflect reality - not wishful thinking. This skill covers pipeline architecture, lead scoring, forecasting methodology, automation design, and data hygiene. Aimed at revenue operations, sales leaders, and technical implementers who need CRM to be a system of truth, not a graveyard of stale opportunities.
When to use this skill
Trigger this skill when the user:
- Designs or redesigns a sales pipeline (stage definitions, exit criteria, deal properties)
- Configures lead scoring in Salesforce, HubSpot, or similar CRM platforms
- Builds a revenue forecast - weighted, categorical, or AI-assisted
- Automates deal progression, task creation, or notification workflows
- Audits data quality and needs a dedup, enrichment, or field decay strategy
- Builds sales dashboards, win/loss reports, or pipeline velocity metrics
- Integrates CRM with marketing automation, product analytics, or billing systems
Do NOT trigger this skill for:
- General sales coaching or objection handling (this is a CRM architecture skill, not a sales playbook)
- Writing email sequences or sales copy (use a copywriting or outbound skill instead)
Key principles
-
Data hygiene is non-negotiable - A CRM full of stale, duplicated, or manually-entered guesswork is worse than no CRM. Garbage in, garbage out applies to forecasts, reports, and automation. Treat data quality as a first-class engineering concern: define ownership, set decay rules, and automate enrichment from day one.
-
Automate the boring stuff - Reps should spend time selling, not updating fields. Any task that follows a predictable rule (create follow-up task when stage advances, notify manager when deal exceeds threshold, enrich lead on creation) should be automated. Human judgment is reserved for exceptions.
-
Pipeline reflects reality - Every stage must represent a verifiable buyer action, not a rep's optimism. Stages without exit criteria are opinions. Exit criteria must be objective and observable: "Demo completed" not "Rep thinks they're interested." Review pipeline stages whenever win rates diverge from forecast accuracy.
-
Forecast with methodology - Never let reps enter a single probability number. Pick one forecasting method (weighted, categorical, or AI) and apply it consistently. Mix methods only at the rollup layer. A forecast is only as good as the pipeline data behind it - fix pipeline hygiene before blaming the model.
-
Less fields, more adoption - Every field added to a record is friction. Every required field that reps don't understand is a source of garbage data. Audit fields quarterly: if a field hasn't been used in reporting in 90 days, archive it. Default to fewer, well-defined fields with validation rules over many optional ones nobody fills in.
Core concepts
CRM object model
CRM platforms organize data around a standard object hierarchy. Understanding the relationships prevents misdesign.
| Object | Represents | Key relationships |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | An unqualified inbound contact, not yet associated to an account | Converts to Contact + Account + Opportunity |
| Contact | A known individual at a company | Belongs to Account; linked to Opportunities |
| Account | A company or organization | Parent of Contacts and Opportunities |
| Opportunity | A specific deal or revenue event in progress | Belongs to Account; has a Stage, Amount, and Close Date |
Lead vs Contact: Leads are pre-qualification. Once a lead meets your ICP criteria (or a sales rep accepts it), convert it. Do not store active selling conversations on Lead records - move to Opportunity.
Account hierarchy: Enterprise deals often span subsidiaries. Model parent-child account relationships to roll up ARR accurately.
Pipeline stages
A pipeline stage is a milestone in the buyer's journey, not the seller's activity. Each stage must have:
- Name: Short, buyer-centric label
- Definition: What is true about the buyer at this stage
- Entry criteria: What must have happened to move in
- Exit criteria: What must happen before advancing
- Probability: Default win probability used in weighted forecasting
Deal properties
Standard properties every opportunity should carry:
| Property | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
amount | Currency | ACV or total contract value |
close_date | Date | Expected close, used in forecasting |
stage | Enum | Current pipeline stage |
forecast_category | Enum | Committed / Best Case / Pipeline / Omitted |
deal_source | Enum | Inbound / Outbound / Channel / Expansion |
next_step | Text | Single next action with owner and date |
competitor | Multi-select | Competitors actively in the deal |
loss_reason | Enum | Required on Closed Lost; drives win/loss analysis |
Automation triggers
CRM workflows are event-driven. Standard trigger types:
- Record create - runs when an object is first created (lead created, deal opened)
- Field change - runs when a specific field value changes (stage advances, amount updates)
- Time-based - runs N days before/after a date field (deal stale for 14 days, close date in 7 days)
- Criteria match - runs when a record first matches a filter (deal amount > $50k, lead score > 80)
Common tasks
Design pipeline stages
Define stages bottom-up: start from Closed Won and work backward to the first meaningful buyer commitment. A typical B2B SaaS pipeline:
| Stage | Definition | Exit criteria | Default probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospecting | Identified as target, no contact yet | Meeting booked | 5% |
| Discovery | First meeting held; pain and budget being explored | Discovery call completed, MEDDIC/BANT fields populated | 15% |
| Demo / Evaluation | Product demonstrated; evaluating fit | Demo completed; champion identified | 30% |
| Proposal | Pricing and scope sent | Verbal interest in proposal | 50% |
| Negotiation | Legal or commercial back-and-forth | Legal review initiated | 70% |
| Closed Won | Contract signed | Signed document received | 100% |
| Closed Lost | Deal dead | Loss reason entered | 0% |
More than 7 active stages is almost always too many. Stages that reps skip consistently signal the stage does not reflect a real buyer milestone.
For SaaS, enterprise, and PLG templates, see references/pipeline-templates.md.
Set up lead scoring in CRM
Lead scoring combines demographic fit (ICP match) and behavioral engagement. Use two dimensions to avoid conflating them:
Profile score (ICP fit):
- Company size in target range: +15
- Industry match: +20
- Job title is economic buyer or champion: +25
- Geography in territory: +10
- Technology stack match (from enrichment): +15
Engagement score (interest signals):
- Demo request or pricing page visit: +30
- Email open: +2, Email click: +8
- Webinar attendance: +15
- Free trial signup: +25
- Score decay: -5 per week of inactivity
Routing rule: Route to sales when profile score >= 40 AND engagement score >= 30. Never route on engagement alone - a curious student visiting your pricing page is not an MQL.
Build a forecasting model
Choose one primary methodology. Do not mix until you understand the trade-offs.
Weighted pipeline (default):
- Multiply opportunity amount by stage probability
- Sum across all open deals in a period
- Works when: stages are well-defined, reps update stages accurately
- Breaks when: reps sandbag or inflate stages to manage their number
Categorical (commit-based):
- Each rep assigns a forecast category: Committed, Best Case, Pipeline, Omitted
- Manager rolls up by taking Committed as floor, Best Case as upside
- Works when: reps are disciplined a