Lead lifecycle templates by sales motion

The canonical six-state lead lifecycle (NEW, CONTACTED, QUALIFIED, PROPOSAL, NEGOTIATION, WON) is what most CRMs ship as the default. It fits a generic mid-funnel B2B sales motion well. It fits specific motions less well, and the mismatch produces reporting theater.

Four motion-specific templates fit most real operations.

Template 1: PLG with usage gates

For product-led growth motion, the lifecycle is shaped by user behavior in the product rather than by sales-team conversation.

The states:

• SIGNUP. Free-tier user just created an account. No qualification yet.
• ACTIVATED. User completed the activation milestone (typically a specific feature use, team invite, or workflow completion).
• ENGAGED. User shows ongoing usage past a defined threshold (sessions per week, feature breadth, team size).
• QUALIFIED_PLG. Usage signal meets the threshold for sales engagement. PQL.
• CONTACTED. Sales rep has reached out.
• PROPOSAL. Formal offer made.
• NEGOTIATION. Terms back-and-forth.
• WON. Closed.

Plus orthogonal: CHURNED (user stopped using), UNQUALIFIED (PQL did not convert), LOST.

The defining property: SIGNUP, ACTIVATED, and ENGAGED happen without sales involvement. The product produces the lifecycle progression. Sales engages only at QUALIFIED_PLG.

Routing rules consult usage signal alongside firmographic data. SLA targets are different: a SIGNUP lead does not have a 1-hour response SLA; an ENGAGED lead might have a 24-hour SLA on the activation conversation; a QUALIFIED_PLG lead has a 1-hour SLA on initial outreach.

Template 2: traditional outbound with multi-touch outreach

For sales-led motion driven by SDR outreach, the lifecycle reflects the cadence of outreach.

The states:

• NEW. SDR-sourced lead, no outreach yet.
• ATTEMPTING. SDR has attempted contact (calls, emails). Not yet responsive.
• RESPONDED. Prospect has engaged. Started conversation.
• QUALIFIED. BANT or equivalent qualification confirmed.
• HANDED_OFF. SDR has handed to an AE.
• PROPOSAL. AE has made a formal offer.
• NEGOTIATION. Terms discussion.
• WON. Closed.

Plus: UNQUALIFIED, LOST, ON_HOLD.

The defining property: ATTEMPTING is its own state because much SDR work happens there. Without it, reports lump all pre-response work into NEW or CONTACTED and lose the operational visibility.

The handoff from SDR to AE is also explicit: HANDED_OFF. The lifecycle reflects the team structure.

Template 3: channel-driven with partner stages

For partner-driven motion, the lifecycle includes partner-specific states.

The states:

• PARTNER_REGISTERED. A partner has registered the deal opportunity but no engagement yet.
• PARTNER_QUALIFIED. Partner confirms the prospect is real and ready for joint engagement.
• JOINT_ENGAGED. Partner and vendor jointly working the deal.
• VENDOR_LED. Deal has moved to vendor-led (typically for technical or pricing reasons).
• PROPOSAL. Formal offer.
• NEGOTIATION. Terms.
• WON. Closed.
• PARTNER_PAID. Partner compensation has been processed.

Plus: PARTNER_DECLINED (partner decided not to pursue), LOST, ON_HOLD.

The defining property: the lifecycle tracks partner involvement explicitly. Partner economics depend on knowing what stage the partner was active in when the deal closed.

Template 4: enterprise with formal procurement stages

For large enterprise sales, the lifecycle includes procurement-specific stages that smaller motions do not need.

The states:

• NEW. Initial contact.
• DISCOVERY. Discovery conversation completed.
• TECH_EVAL. Technical evaluation in progress (POC, security review, integration assessment).
• TECH_APPROVED. Technical evaluation passed.
• COMMERCIAL. Pricing and commercial terms under negotiation.
• LEGAL. Legal review of contract.
• SIGNED. Contract signed but not yet closed for revenue recognition.
• CLOSED. Revenue recognition complete.
• WON. Same as closed; provided for compatibility.

Plus: LOST, ON_HOLD, DISQUALIFIED.

The defining property: TECH_EVAL, COMMERCIAL, and LEGAL are separate stages because they typically happen in sequence and stall in specific ways. Without these stages, reports cannot show where deals are bottlenecking.

The lifecycle is longer than the canonical six states. For enterprise motion, this is appropriate.

Picking the right template

Match the template to the motion:

• PLG motion with self-serve onboarding: Template 1.
• Outbound-heavy with SDR teams: Template 2.
• Partner-channel-driven: Template 3.
• Large-deal enterprise with formal procurement: Template 4.

Organizations with multiple motions (most growth-stage SaaS) need composite handling: leads from different sources may flow through different lifecycle subsets.

In practice, the platform supports one lifecycle definition with branches by source. A PLG signup follows Template 1's stages; an outbound lead follows Template 2's; a partner-registered lead follows Template 3's; an enterprise deal follows Template 4's. The reports filter by lifecycle template per source.

What to avoid

Three patterns to avoid:

Generic lifecycle for everything. Forces every motion through the six-state default. Reports lose motion-specific visibility.

Too many states. A 15-state lifecycle is impossible to operate. Stages start to mean the same thing; reps stop distinguishing.

Frequent lifecycle changes. The lifecycle should be stable. Tuning the SLA targets and routing rules is fine; changing the lifecycle structure disrupts everything downstream.

Operationalizing

Three things to do:

1. Pick the template that matches your dominant motion. Customize the state names and definitions to fit your terminology.
2. Document what progresses each state. What action takes a lead from one state to the next. Specific and explicit.
3. Configure in the platform. State machine, valid transitions, SLA targets per state.

For how the lifecycle is expressed in MegatronLead, see how to design a lead lifecycle for multi-touch sales.