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Live · docs.airwai.com Last update 2026-05-17

Lead Lifecycle

How a lead moves from "name on a list" to "paying customer" to "expansion / referral / Rig opportunity." Every step has clear definitions, clear ownership, and clear next actions.

The 12 stages

Lead → Outreach → Engaged → Discovery Booked → Discovery Done
  → Demo Booked → Demo Done → Trial Active → Closed Won (Pro / Team)
  → [Customer states: Active / Expansion / Churn Risk / Churned]

Plus two terminal states: - Closed Lost (didn't convert, reason coded) - Disqualified (wrong fit, reason coded)

Stage definitions + entry/exit criteria

Stage 1 — Lead

  • Definition: A name is in HubSpot. Nothing else.
  • Entry: Lead sourced from any channel (cold outbound, inbound, referral, paid social, event)
  • Exit: First touch sent
  • Owner: Agent assigned at sourcing
  • SLA: First touch within 5 business days of sourcing

Stage 2 — Outreach

  • Definition: At least one touch sent (email, LinkedIn, phone)
  • Entry: First touch logged
  • Exit: Prospect replies, opens 2+ emails, accepts LI connection, or sequence completes
  • Owner: Sourcing agent
  • SLA: Full sequence completes within 14 days

Stage 3 — Engaged

  • Definition: Prospect has actively engaged (reply, multiple opens, accepted connection)
  • Entry: Engagement signal received
  • Exit: Discovery call booked OR prospect explicitly disqualifies
  • Owner: Sourcing agent
  • SLA: Convert to Discovery Booked within 7 days of first engagement

Stage 4 — Discovery Booked

  • Definition: 15-minute discovery call on calendar
  • Entry: Calendar event confirmed
  • Exit: Call completed (move to Discovery Done) OR no-show (move back to Engaged or Lost)
  • Owner: Sourcing agent
  • SLA: Call within 7 days of booking

Stage 5 — Discovery Done

  • Definition: Discovery call completed; prospect qualified
  • Entry: Call notes logged
  • Exit: Demo booked OR moved to Trial Active OR Closed Lost
  • Owner: Sourcing agent (often same as discovery caller)
  • SLA: Next action (demo or trial) within 5 business days

Stage 6 — Demo Booked

  • Definition: 30-minute demo on calendar
  • Entry: Calendar event confirmed
  • Exit: Demo completed
  • Owner: Discovery agent
  • SLA: Demo within 10 days of booking

Stage 7 — Demo Done

  • Definition: Demo completed
  • Entry: Demo notes logged
  • Exit: Trial activated OR closed on-the-spot OR moved to Closed Lost
  • Owner: Demo agent
  • SLA: Next action within 3 business days

Stage 8 — Trial Active

  • Definition: Customer is on a 30-day Pro trial
  • Entry: Trial activated (in product OR via promo code)
  • Exit: Trial ends with conversion OR trial ends without conversion
  • Owner: Trial-converting agent
  • SLA: Check-in touches at Day 3, Day 7, Day 14, Day 21, Day 26 (see sales-playbook/outreach-sequences.md)

Stage 9 — Closed Won (Pro)

  • Definition: Customer is paying for Pro (monthly or annual)
  • Entry: Stripe payment received
  • Exit: Customer churns OR upgrades to Team OR expands within firm
  • Owner: Closing agent retains relationship through Day 90; then routed to account management

Stage 10 — Closed Won (Team)

  • Definition: Customer is paying for Team tier (3+ seats)
  • Entry: Stripe payment received
  • Exit: Customer churns OR upgrades to Enterprise (escalate)
  • Owner: Closing agent retains relationship through Day 90

Stage 11 — Closed Lost

  • Definition: Customer did not convert; reason coded
  • Reason codes (required):
  • Price
  • Wrong product fit
  • Wrong device
  • Timing — re-engage [date]
  • Going with competitor — [name]
  • No budget
  • Internal politics
  • Lost contact / unresponsive
  • Re-engagement: auto-trigger 90-day re-engagement task for "Timing" code; otherwise dormant

Stage 12 — Disqualified

  • Definition: Prospect was never the right fit; do not pursue
  • Reason codes:
  • Anti-persona (hobbyist, indoor-only, etc.)
  • Wrong industry
  • Too small
  • Hostile / abusive
  • Compliance / sanction risk
  • Re-engagement: none

Post-purchase customer lifecycle

Once a customer is Closed Won, they enter the customer lifecycle:

Active

  • Definition: Customer is using LAIRA regularly, subscription is in good standing
  • Owner: Closing agent (Day 1–90); then account management
  • Trigger to next stage: Churn signal OR expansion signal

Expansion

  • Definition: Customer is using LAIRA enough that adding more seats / upgrading is in scope
  • Signals: 3+ paying Pro users at the same firm; usage > 90th percentile; explicit mention of "we need more seats" / "my team also wants this"
  • Owner: Closing agent
  • Action: Pro → Team conversion conversation, or Team seat-expansion close

Churn Risk

  • Definition: Customer is showing churn signals
  • Signals: No login in 30 days; NPS 0–6; explicit cancellation conversation; complaint pattern
  • Owner: Closing agent + Amir if revenue is meaningful
  • Action: Save-the-account play. Recovery call. Address the specific concern. Escalate as needed.

Churned

  • Definition: Customer has cancelled
  • Reason codes (required):
  • Price
  • Product gap
  • Switched to competitor
  • Internal change (laid off, role change, company dissolved)
  • Project ended
  • Other
  • Action: Mandatory exit interview within 7 days
  • Re-engagement: auto-trigger 6-month win-back task

Stage transition SLAs (target)

Transition Median target Stretch target
Lead → Outreach 2 days <1 day
Outreach → Engaged 7 days <3 days
Engaged → Discovery Booked 5 days <2 days
Discovery Done → Demo Booked 3 days Same day
Demo Done → Trial Active 1 day Same day
Trial Active → Closed Won 14 days <7 days

Total median funnel: ~30 days from sourcing to paid customer.

Funnel volumetrics (year 1 floor)

The year-1 target is ~1,200 paying customers (mix per persona in sales-playbook/icp-and-personas.md). The funnel math:

Stage Volume Conversion to next
Lead 100,000 15% to Outreach
Outreach 100,000 (all leads worked) 25% to Engaged
Engaged 25,000 16% to Discovery Booked
Discovery Booked 4,000 65% to Discovery Done (35% no-show / cancel)
Discovery Done 2,600 75% to Demo Booked
Demo Booked 1,950 80% to Demo Done
Demo Done 1,560 75% to Trial Active
Trial Active 1,170 50% to Closed Won (Pro / Team)
Closed Won 585 —

Wait — that's 585 not 1,200. The realistic year-1 floor is closer to 600 paying customers assuming conservative conversion. The 1,200 target is the stretch goal assuming above-baseline conversion + inbound contribution. Both numbers are useful — 600 is "we did our job," 1,200 is "we exceeded."

Pipeline coverage requirement

At any time, the call center should have 3x pipeline coverage of the current quarter's revenue target.

If Q3 2026 target is $50K of new ACV, pipeline at start of Q3 should be $150K of open opportunities in HubSpot.

If coverage drops below 2x, that's a leading indicator of revenue miss the following quarter — sound the alarm in the next weekly report.

Stage-by-stage owner accountability

  • Lead → Demo Done: Source / discovery / demo agent (often same person)
  • Trial Active → Closed Won: Conversion-focused agent (may be same)
  • Closed Won → Day 90: Closing agent (retention + first-90-day success)
  • Day 90+: Account management (Airwai-owned for high-value customers; call center for long-tail)
  • Expansion / Rig signals: Closing agent (Rig signals → escalate immediately for +5% commission)