Your pipeline stages might look fine on the surface.
Discovery → Demo → Proposal → Negotiation → Closed
But here’s the real question:
“What exactly needs to happen before a rep moves a deal from one stage to the next?”
If your answer starts with “It depends…” or “Well, the rep decides…”
You're already leaking forecast accuracy, coaching value, and deal velocity.
This is where exit criteria come in — and why most HubSpot pipelines are missing this critical layer of RevOps discipline.
What Are Exit Criteria?
Exit criteria are the specific, agreed-upon conditions that must be met before a deal can move to the next stage in the pipeline.
They turn stage progression from a hunch into a standard.
Unlike stage names (which describe where a deal is), exit criteria describe how it gets there — and when it should move forward.
Why Exit Criteria Matter in HubSpot
HubSpot makes it easy to customise your pipeline stages. But too often:
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Stage progression is manual and inconsistent
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There’s no documentation on what qualifies a deal to move
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CRM hygiene suffers because there’s no logic enforcement
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Reps move deals based on what they’ve done — not what the buyer has confirmed
When this happens:
The Core Problem
You don’t just need well-named pipeline stages.
You need shared, enforced logic behind them.
As I wrote in this LinkedIn post, the real issue isn’t the stage labels — it’s the lack of structure beneath them:
“Most sales pipelines don’t have a deal problem.
They have an exit criteria problem.”
What Poor Exit Criteria Looks Like
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“Had a call” → does that mean they’re qualified?
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“Proposal sent” → was it requested or just pushed?
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“Verbal yes” → no timeline, no stakeholder buy-in, no deal
In most CRMs — including HubSpot — deals move forward without buyer-confirmed next steps. This leads to inflated pipeline, inaccurate forecasts, and wasted selling time.
How to Fix It in HubSpot
1. Define Clear Exit Criteria for Every Stage
Move beyond vague definitions. Document buyer-side actions that must occur before advancing.
Example:
| Stage |
Exit Criteria |
| Discovery |
Confirmed business pain and buying role |
| Demo |
Prospect explicitly agrees to next step or decision process |
| Proposal |
Budget confirmed, stakeholders aligned |
| Negotiation |
Legal or procurement review initiated |
| Closed Won |
Signed agreement or legal approval received |
These conditions should be mutually understood, not just seller-decided.
2. Use Custom Properties and Required Fields
In HubSpot, create custom properties like:
Use field requirements by pipeline stage to enforce discipline — and prevent deals moving without context.
3. Use Sidekick to Enforce the SOP in Real Time
At Project36, we don’t just define exit criteria — we embed and enforce them using Sidekick, our RevOps enablement assistant for HubSpot.
With Sidekick, we:
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Prompt reps with the exact questions to answer before a deal can move
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Surface SOPs in context, inside the deal view
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Flag skipped steps, missing data, or inconsistent progression
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Enable sales managers to coach based on real-stage health, not guesswork
This is how we turn pipeline structure from “theory” into “practice.”
4. Audit for Pipeline Drift
Over time, even great systems degrade. We recommend quarterly reviews of:
Our WaypointOS framework builds this governance into every RevOps delivery — so you stay ahead of the drift.
The Payoff: What Happens When Exit Criteria Work
When done right, clear exit criteria drive:
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Faster sales cycles (no wasted time on low-quality deals)
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Better coaching (stage-specific deal reviews)
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Accurate forecasts (based on evidence, not optimism)
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Stronger rep performance (clarity = confidence)
Final Thought
Your pipeline should be a system — not a suggestion.
Exit criteria are the invisible structure that separate high-performing sales teams from the rest.
HubSpot gives you the tools. But without clear SOPs, adoption and accuracy will always be at risk.
If you're done with pipeline fiction and want a system your team can trust — let's talk.
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📌 Read the original post: Exit Criteria in Deal Pipelines — Why You're Probably Doing It Wrong
📌 Explore Sidekick — the GTM assistant that enforces SOPs inside HubSpot
📌 Learn how we implement pipeline structure with WaypointOS
