Name each stage precisely
An interested reply, a sales-qualified contact, a booked call, an attended call, and a proposal-stage opportunity are different events. Combining them into a single “lead” total makes campaign comparisons unreliable.
DFM’s PCPL definition counts booked meetings. Qualification and opportunity progression remain separate measures.
Preserve the reason for the route
The eligibility SOP has two paths. Suitable prospects proceed toward discovery, proposal review, and onboarding. Prospects who are not ready can be offered guidance on the gap.
A missing criterion should be recorded explicitly. “Not qualified” without a reason is difficult to learn from and unhelpful for any later review.
Hand over the conversation
A useful handoff includes the account context, the reason for outreach, what the prospect said, what has been established, what remains uncertain, and who owns the next action.
The meeting owner should not need to reconstruct the entire interaction from a calendar title.
Report what actually happened
Use consistent stage definitions in the CRM and reporting. Avoid using a high positive-response share to imply that the same share became meetings or customers.
A transparent report can show encouraging responses and unresolved qualification at the same time. That is a more useful basis for a decision than a flattering total.