The pillar page for this section states the test: if the consultant leaves, does the system keep running? That test is easy to agree with and hard to act on, because agreeing with it does not tell anyone what to write. This page is the document inventory behind the test. Seven documents. For each one, what it contains, where it has to live, and the single test it has to pass.
The Seven Documents
1. The qualification definition, written as disqualifiers
Most companies hold a description of their ideal customer. A description excludes nobody, which is why every account in the pipeline passes it. The document that works is a short list of conditions under which the company walks away from a buyer who wants to buy: below a revenue floor, in an industry the product does not fit, needing a deployment the delivery team cannot support, working to a timeline the company cannot meet.
Where it lives: as a required field on the account record, answered before the first meeting is booked. The test: a new hire can apply it in week one. An ideal customer description takes a year of pattern recognition to apply, and a disqualifier takes a reading.
2. Stage exit criteria, written as evidence
Every stage in a pipeline needs a written answer to one question: what has to be true for a deal to leave this stage? The durable form of that answer is evidence a third party could verify. A named economic sponsor who has confirmed a figure in writing. A security review with a scheduled date. A mutual action plan both sides have signed. A stage that advances on the rep's confidence depends on the rep, and the rep is the part of the system most likely to change.
Where it lives: as the gate itself, configured so the deal cannot advance until the evidence is attached. The test: a manager reviewing the pipeline can confirm or reject a stage from the record alone, without asking the rep.
3. The discovery question set, with the purpose of each question
A list of questions decays. A list of questions with the reason each one is on the list survives, because a rep under time pressure on a live call keeps the question whose purpose they understand and drops the one they are reciting. The purpose line is the part that transfers. Questions that establish what the buyer's current situation costs them, which is the practice this site calls Pain Amplification, need their purpose written next to them more than any others, because they feel intrusive to a new rep until they understand why they are asked.
Where it lives: as required fields on the opportunity record, with the question text as the field label. The test: a rep can state the purpose of any question in the set without looking it up.
4. The Plan Letter template, with one worked example
A Plan Letter is the written follow-up that carries the buyer's problem, the economic consequence of that problem in the buyer's own units, the agreed steps between the current meeting and the buyer's own deadline, and the owner of each step. The buyer confirms or corrects it, which makes it the record of what the seller understood.
A blank template transfers almost nothing. The worked example is what transfers, because it shows the register, the length, and how specific the economic figure has to be. One completed Plan Letter from a real deal, with the client details replaced, is worth more than a style guide.
Where it lives: attached to the opportunity record as a required artifact before the proposal stage opens. The test: a new hire produces an acceptable one in week two from the example alone.
5. The Power Message library
A Power Message is a statement linking a capability the seller has to a problem the buyer carries that costs the buyer money, with proof attached. It has three parts: the buyer problem, the money it costs, and the evidence that the capability addresses it. A claim missing any of the three is a feature description, and a feature description is something a competitor can repeat word for word.
The library is a living document because the proof changes. A reference that was current last year has to be replaced. Holding the library as a list with a date against each proof is what makes the decay visible.
Where it lives: in the tool the team opens daily, segmented by buyer problem so a rep searches by the buyer's situation. The test: every entry carries a problem, a figure, and a dated proof.
6. The mutual action plan template
A mutual action plan is a shared schedule of every step between today and a signed contract, with an owner and a date against each step on both sides. Its documentation value is separate from its selling value. When a rep leaves, the next rep reads the mutual action plan and knows where the deal stands. When a champion moves roles inside the buyer, the plan is the record of what was agreed.
Where it lives: as a shared document both parties can see, linked from the opportunity record. The test: a colleague who has never heard of the deal can state the next step and its date after reading it.
7. The deal review script
This is the document companies skip, and skipping it is why the other six decay. A sales process is enforced in the weekly pipeline review, and if the manager running that review asks whatever occurs to them, the process is whatever that manager happens to value. A written review script is a fixed set of questions asked of every deal in the same order, each question tied to one of the six documents above.
Where it lives: in the recurring review meeting itself, as the agenda. The test: a different manager can run the review from the script and reach the same conclusions about the same deals.
Where These Documents Have To Live
A shared drive is where process documentation goes to be forgotten. Every one of the seven belongs inside the tool the team already opens every day, in a form that the daily work runs through: discovery questions as required fields, stage criteria as the gate, templates attached to the record a rep is working in, the review script as a meeting agenda that recurs.
The distinction is between documentation a person has to remember to consult and documentation the workflow carries them through. Only the second kind survives a year.
The Test That Covers All Seven
Hand the set to a new hire in week one and ask them to advance a real deal using only what is written. Then log every question they have to ask a person. Each of those questions is a gap in the documentation, named precisely, by the only person qualified to find it. Running this with the first two hires produces the correction list for the whole set, and it costs nothing beyond writing the questions down.
Process Documentation: Common Questions
Which documents does a sales process need to survive a handover?
Seven: the qualification definition written as disqualifiers, the stage exit criteria written as evidence, the discovery question set with the purpose of each question, the Plan Letter template with one worked example, the Power Message library, the mutual action plan template, and the deal review script the manager reads from.
Why should qualification be written as disqualifiers?
A description of the ideal customer excludes nobody, so every account passes it. A disqualifier is a written condition under which the company walks away from an interested buyer. A new hire can apply a disqualifier in week one. An ideal customer description takes a year of pattern recognition to apply.
What makes stage exit criteria durable?
Writing them as evidence a third party could verify. A stage that advances when the rep feels good about the deal depends on the rep. A stage that advances when a named economic sponsor has confirmed a figure in writing depends on a document, and the document is still there after the rep leaves.
What is a Power Message?
A Power Message is a statement linking a capability the seller has to a problem the buyer carries that costs the buyer money, with proof attached. It has three parts: the buyer problem, the money it costs, and the evidence the capability addresses it. A claim missing any of the three is a feature description.
Where should these documents live?
Inside the tool the team already opens every day. A shared drive is where process documentation goes to be forgotten. Discovery questions belong as required fields that gate stage progression, stage criteria belong as the gate itself, and templates belong attached to the record a rep is working in.
How do you test whether the documentation is sufficient?
Hand the set to a new hire in week one and ask them to advance a real deal using only what is written. Every question they have to ask a person is a gap in the documentation. Logging those questions during the first two hires produces the correction list for the whole set.
Jeff Aragon, Founder, Jozu Revenue Systems