Lead Stage Automation & Progression
Overview
Lead stages in Salesforce should reflect a clear, linear qualification journey — not a sprawling list of overlapping statuses. The goal is to enforce process discipline: every prospect starts as a lead, moves through defined qualification gates, and only converts to an opportunity once it has earned that status.
This pattern was developed and validated during Quarra Stone's Salesforce implementation, where the existing stage set (new, working, nurturing, converted) was found to be ambiguous and insufficiently enforced.
Recommended Stage Set
| Stage | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Unqualified | Lead exists; qualification work has not yet begun or is incomplete |
| Qualified | BANT criteria sufficiently met; lead is a confirmed worthy pursuit |
| Working | Actively engaged with the lead; conversion in progress |
| Converted | Lead has been converted to an opportunity |
Why Remove "Nurturing"?
"Nurturing" and "Working" describe the same underlying state from different emotional angles — one implies passive follow-up, the other active pursuit. In practice, reps use whichever feels right in the moment, which erodes reporting consistency. Collapsing them into a single Working stage eliminates ambiguity without losing meaningful information.
"I don't even understand the difference between working and nurturing." — Lincoln Durham, Quarra Stone
Automation Rules
Stage Progression Triggers
Automations should enforce forward movement through stages based on objective criteria, not manual rep judgment alone.
- Unqualified → Qualified: Triggered when BANT scoring reaches a defined threshold (e.g., minimum total score across all four dimensions). See [1] for scoring model details.
- Qualified → Working: Can be manual or triggered by a follow-up activity being logged after qualification.
- Working → Converted: Standard Salesforce lead conversion flow; prospect number carries forward to the opportunity.
Enforcement: Leads Before Opportunities
A key process decision is to require all prospects to begin as leads — disabling the ability to create a standalone opportunity without a prior lead record. This prevents reps from bypassing the qualification process.
"If we allow people to just go straight to an opportunity, we're going to find that more and more that's all they do." — Lincoln Durham
The primary objection to mandatory leads had historically been the lack of a prospect number at the lead stage. Once prospect number automation is in place (see [2]), this objection is resolved and the enforcement becomes practical.
BANT as the Qualification Gate
BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) fields live on the lead record only. They serve as the qualification instrument that determines when a lead is ready to advance to "Qualified" status.
- Each BANT dimension is scored 0–3 (not a simple yes/no)
- A calculated total BANT score can drive the stage automation
- BANT fields do not carry forward to the opportunity — once converted, the lead has already been deemed a worthy pursuit and scoring is no longer needed
See [1] for field definitions and scoring rubrics.
Related Patterns
- [1] — Scoring model for each BANT dimension
- [2] — Auto-generation and persistence of prospect numbers across lead → opportunity conversion
- [3] — Lead naming and structure driven by project name rather than contact name
- [4] — Client context for this implementation
Implementation Notes (Quarra Stone)
- Karly Oykhman is responsible for updating lead status picklist values in Salesforce to: unqualified, qualified, working, converted
- Automations for stage progression based on BANT scoring are to be configured alongside the BANT field build-out
- The "industry segment" field was flagged as a candidate for a mandatory field on lead creation