Tracing an IT services firm's opportunities back through the scoping workshop to outreach
Outbound and hyperscaler referrals sat in separate records, and both teams claimed the same deals. Workshop-aware stages and a written attribution rule now settle credit in the CRM.
- Challenge
Opportunities opened after scoping workshops, and outbound and co-sell referrals both claimed them.
- Approach
Stage definitions including the scoping workshop, and a written attribution rule enforced in the CRM.
- Result
Each opportunity traced through its workshop to the outreach or referral that started it.
The situation
IT services firms rarely open an opportunity at the first meeting: buyers first agree a scoping workshop, and the opportunity follows once scope is clear. Outbound sequences and co-sell referrals from AWS or Microsoft often reach the same account. The CRM cannot link a workshop to the outreach or referral behind it, so outbound and partner teams both claim the deal. Leadership funds both motions without knowing which opens opportunities.
The question that mattered
Which outreach and referrals lead to scoping workshops and opportunities, and how should the CRM record the credit?
What we did
- 1
Define the stages
Agree written entry criteria for engaged account, meeting held, workshop agreed, workshop held and opportunity created, so every team counts the same thing.
- 2
Write the attribution rule
Credit the motion that produced the account's first held meeting as the source. Every other motion that touched the account before the opportunity opened is logged as influence, whichever came first.
- 3
Connect and clean the records
Link the sequencing tool, calendar, referral log and CRM at account level. Merge duplicates, map subsidiaries to parents, and require source fields before a workshop is booked.
- 4
Run the monthly source review
Report workshops and opportunities by source, campaign and persona. The head of sales, outbound lead and partner manager settle disputed credit against the written rule.
What we delivered
The evidence and working documents the team kept.
- Stage definitions with entry and exit criteria, including the workshop
- Written attribution rule for outbound, co-sell and jointly worked accounts
- CRM field, deduplication and parent-account rules
- Monthly source report of workshops and opportunities
- Dispute log recording each contested credit and its resolution
The outcome
Opportunities
traced through the scoping workshop to the outreach or referral behind them
Partner managers
log co-sell referrals in the CRM before the first meeting
Disputed credit
settled against the written rule at the monthly review
Outbound planning
starts from which campaigns and personas lead to workshops
When a hyperscaler referral lands on an account already in sequence, the CRM records both, and the review asks what each contributed to the workshop.
What changed in the GTM motion
The CRM is now the system of record for where each opportunity came from, with the attribution rule built into its fields. Inside sales keeps its weekly rhythm on replies and meetings; the monthly source review reads the same records to set outbound and partner investment.
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