---
title: "One stage-gated sales process across two regional teams"
type: case-study
evidence_type: proof
category: "CRM Architecture & Migration"
publisher: "LeanScale"
date_modified: 2026-08-08
word_count: 251
topics: ["revenue-operations"]
canonical_url: https://knowledge.leanscale.team/customers/rebuilding-the-opportunity-lifecycle-as-one-stage-gated-process/
source: "LeanScale Knowledge Hub — https://knowledge.leanscale.team"
license: "Free to quote and cite with attribution to LeanScale."
---

# One stage-gated sales process across two regional teams

**Evidence type:** proof (what happened)

A growth-stage workforce-technology company ran two regional sales teams on inconsistent processes with no forecasting discipline. LeanScale rebuilt the Salesforce opportunity lifecycle as a single stage-gated model, trained both teams, and took it live with the open pipeline mapped into it.

## The challenge

The sales process differed between the company's two regional teams, so the same deal was managed and reported differently depending on who owned it. Stages had no exit criteria, qualification was inconsistent, approvals were ad hoc, and there was no reliable basis for forecasting. Leadership wanted one measurable process the whole organization would actually run.

## The approach

One opportunity model
Rebuilt the opportunity lifecycle in Salesforce as a single eight-stage model with explicit stage exit criteria, structured qualification gates, segment-aware approvals and validation rules, plus per-stage guidance for reps written into the record itself.

Pilot handling and stage SLAs
Added a dedicated object for pilots so they are tracked as their own motion rather than distorting the main pipeline, and defined an SLA matrix covering how long a deal may sit at each stage.

Rollout and enablement
Trained both regional sales teams on the new process, published a stage-guidance assistant reps can consult mid-deal, and took the model live with the existing open pipeline mapped into it rather than stranded behind it.

## Outcomes

One process live across both teams
A single stage-gated opportunity lifecycle went live in Salesforce across both regional sales teams, replacing two divergent processes.

Open pipeline migrated at go-live
Roughly 40 early-stage opportunities sitting in the pipeline at go-live were mapped into the new stage model rather than left behind in the old one.

Guidance where the work happens
Every stage now carries exit criteria and written guidance on the record, with a stage-guidance assistant available to reps during the deal.

## Quotes

> Lean Scale is a company that have been supporting us with this build along with other kind of rev ops projects... He is definitely the sort of one of the brains behind this.
>
> — Customer, Revenue Operations


## Canonical

https://knowledge.leanscale.team/customers/rebuilding-the-opportunity-lifecycle-as-one-stage-gated-process/