SOP-SALES-001: Lead Qualification and Follow-Up

Document owner: Sales Manager
Effective date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
Review cycle: Quarterly
Version: 1.0

1. Purpose

This SOP defines how sales reps qualify new leads, update the CRM, run discovery, follow up, and hand off qualified opportunities.

2. Scope

Applies to inbound leads, outbound responses, demo requests, and partner referrals assigned to the sales team.

Does not apply to existing customer renewals unless the renewal creates a new expansion opportunity.

3. Roles and responsibilities

4. Prerequisites

• Assigned lead or account record
• Required CRM fields and qualification criteria
• Approved discovery questions
• Current pricing, packaging, and handoff rules

5. Procedure

1. Open the assigned lead or account in the CRM.
2. Confirm source, company, contact, role, territory, and duplicate status.
3. Review available context, including form details, website activity, or prior conversations.
4. Contact the lead using the approved outreach sequence.
5. During discovery, confirm pain, timeline, authority, budget, and next step.
6. Update the CRM with notes, stage, qualification status, next activity, and owner.
7. If qualified, create or update the opportunity and schedule the next meeting.
8. If unqualified, record the reason and apply the correct nurture or closed-lost status.
9. Send follow-up within one business day with recap, resources, and confirmed next action.
10. Hand off to the next owner when the opportunity meets the agreed criteria.

6. Quality checks

• CRM record has complete contact and company data
• Qualification notes are specific and current
• Next step has an owner and due date
• Unqualified leads have a documented reason
• Qualified opportunities meet handoff criteria
• Follow-up was sent within the required SLA

7. Exceptions and escalation

Escalate to the sales manager if ownership is unclear, the lead is strategic, the opportunity requires unusual terms, or qualification criteria conflict.

8. Revision history