B2B means business to business: one company sells to another. A B2B sale is rarely one conversation. Several people at the buying company take part, the sums are often large, and a purchasing department may have its own rules. That is why sales teams describe their work as a sales process: a fixed series of stages that every deal goes through, from the first research to a long customer relationship.
Each stage has an exit criterion. That is a fact about the buyer that must be true before the deal may move to the next stage. "We sent an offer" is something the seller did. "The buyer has read the offer and agreed to discuss it" is something the buyer did, and only that kind of fact shows that the deal really moved. Teams that use exit criteria get a pipeline (the list of all open deals by stage) that tells the truth.
The sales researcher Neil Rackham called a step the buyer commits to an advance, for example a meeting with the head of finance or a trial with the buyer's own data. When a conversation ends friendly but with no commitment, he called it a continuation: the deal is still alive, but it has not moved.
The tasks below follow one fictional seller, Fabrikam, which sells delivery planning software to other companies. Work through them in order. Each task gives you feedback when you check it.
The eight stages at a glance
Stage | Typical activity | Exit criterion |
|---|---|---|
1. Research | Check whether a company fits, find the right contact | Fits the ideal customer profile, contact known |
2. First contact | Email, call or meeting at an event | A first conversation is agreed |
3. Discovery | Questions about situation, problems, goals | A problem worth solving, the decision makers and a timeline are known |
4. Demo or proposal | Show the solution, write the offer | The buyer has the offer and agrees to discuss it |
5. Negotiation | Price, scope, terms | Both sides agree |
6. Close | Signatures, order confirmation | The contract is signed |
7. Onboarding | Set up, training, first results | A first agreed result is reached |
8. Account growth | Reviews, renewals, new needs | Renewal, or a new deal opened |
Real companies name their stages differently, and some merge or split them. The idea stays the same: each stage ends with something the buyer has done.
Teacher notes
How to run it. Give learners 5 minutes to read the introduction, then 15 to 20 minutes for the exercise. It works alone or in pairs. If you want the results, open "Use it with a class" and share the class link.
Common mistakes.
Putting "Demo or proposal" before "Discovery". Ask: how can you show the right solution before you know the problem?
Treating "Close" as the last stage. In B2B, renewals and further sales often matter as much as the first order.
Sorting "the buyer asks for information" as an advance. It can be a polite way to end the call. It becomes an advance only when the buyer says what they need and agrees what happens next.
Writing exit criteria about the seller ("offer sent") instead of the buyer ("offer discussed").
Follow-up questions.
Choose one stage. What could go wrong if a deal skips it?
Write exit criteria for a business you know, such as a driving school selling a course to a company.
Why might a manager want to see how long deals stay in each stage?
Next steps. The sales funnel exercise adds conversion rates between stages. The Northwind pipeline case study shows a company introducing stages. The discovery call lesson practises stage 3.