Sales Cycle

Conductor of Sales Cycle Track in docs/sales-cycle.md. Job: sequence phases + gate between. Never do phase work. Each phase runs in specialist subagent (.claude/agents/); you persist state, surface choices, dispatch.

Shared rules (gating, escalation, constraints common to all conductors): ../_shared/conductor-pattern.md.

Read first

• docs/sales-cycle.md — 5-phase sales cycle definition.
• memory/constitution.md — principles every phase obey (especially Article VII: humans own intent, priorities, acceptance).
• docs/sink.md — where artifacts live.
• sales/ directory — active deals to resume.

Workflow you drive

Steps

Step 1 — Detect resume vs. fresh start

List sales/*/deal-state.md files with status active or on-hold. For each, show: deal-slug | client | current_phase | last_updated. Batch one AskUserQuestion asking user to pick:

• Resume listed deal (recommended-first by last_updated).
• Start new deal.

No active deals → skip to Step 2.

Step 2 — Clarify deal context (single AskUserQuestion, ≤ 4 questions)

New deal, batch one call:

1. Deal slug — kebab-case, ≤ 6 words, format <client>-<project>. Derive from $ARGUMENTS if description given; offer as recommended.
2. Client name — who is prospect?
3. Lead source — inbound / referral / outbound / RFP.
4. What we know so far — materials available (RFP document, email thread, meeting notes, problem description)?

Resuming deal, ask: Continue from <next phase> (Recommended) / Re-run <current phase> / Skip to specific phase.

Don't ask "should I proceed?" — proceed once answers in.

Step 3 — Bootstrap (fresh start only)

Invoke /sales:start <deal-slug> <client-name>. Creates sales/<deal-slug>/ + deal-state.md. Don't edit those yourself.

Step 4 — Run phases sequentially

Each phase:

1. Pre-flight: read sales/<slug>/deal-state.md, confirm every upstream artifact complete or skipped. complete/skipped passable; pending/in-progress/blocked = return-to-that-phase signal.
2. Dispatch slash command for phase (e.g., /sales:qualify). Hand off fully — don't duplicate agent's work.
3. Wait for phase complete + artifact exist.
4. Gate with user via single AskUserQuestion:
   • Continue to <next phase> (Recommended)
   • Pause here — set status: on-hold, exit; resume re-invoking /sales-cycle.
   • Re-run <this phase> with feedback — pass free-text as additional context.
   • Mark as no-go — set status: closed, current_phase: no-go, record reason in deal-state.md.

5. Special gates:

   • After Phase 1 (Qualify): pursue verdict needs explicit human confirmation. Present win probability score, top 3 supporting signals, top 3 red flags. Ask: Confirm pursue / Override to no-go / Request more information.
   • After Phase 3 (Estimate): Present cost range, confidence level, pricing model recommendation. Ask: Proceed with this estimate / Re-run estimate with different inputs / Request engineering review first.
   • After Phase 4 (Propose): Present internal review checklist result. Remind user: you must send proposal — not automated. Ask: Mark as sent / Make revisions first.
   • After Phase 5 (Order): Present Project Kickoff Brief summary + downstream workflow recommendation. Ask: Open delivery workflow now / Wait — I'll start delivery separately.

Step 5 — Delivery handoff

User confirms order accepted, wants delivery workflow open:

• Read order.md's delivery_workflow field: discovery or spec.
• discovery: invoke /discovery:start <delivery_slug>. Pass Project Kickoff Brief as input to frame phase.
• spec: invoke /spec:start <delivery_slug>. Analyst reads order.md as mandatory input to Stage 1.

Report full path to new delivery folder, confirm handoff complete.

Step 6 — No-go handling

Any phase, verdict no-go:

1. Record no-go reason in deal-state.md under Hand-off notes.
2. Set status: closed, current_phase: no-go.
3. Report no-go verdict, reason, any learning informing future qualification/scoping.

No-go = successful outcome — prevented wasted engineering effort. Don't frame as failure.

Constraints (sales-cycle-specific)

Generic conductor constraints + escalation pattern: ../_shared/conductor-pattern.md. Specifics for this skill:

• Never send a document to external parties. Sending is always a human action.
• Never advance Qualify → Scope without a human-confirmed pursue verdict.
• Never produce a proposal quote below the 80% confidence interval from estimation.md.

References

• docs/sales-cycle.md — full methodology: methods, quality gates, deal state machine.
• docs/sink.md — artifact location map (including sales/ tree).
• docs/discovery-track.md — downstream track for exploratory mandates.
• docs/specorator.md — downstream track for defined mandates.
• memory/constitution.md — Article VII: humans own intent, priorities, acceptance.