The moment a buyer shows interest, sales knows, knows why, and knows exactly what to send. No more leads dying in the gap.
Marketing generates a lead and emails it to sales. Sales sees a name and a company, no context, and sends the generic intro. The buyer who spent twenty minutes on your nurture content gets treated like a stranger, and the warmest moment in the journey is wasted.
The moment a buyer shows interest, sales knows, knows why, and knows exactly what to send. No more leads dying in the gap. Built once, documented in your standard work, and run by your own team week after week.
The most expensive leak in industrial marketing is the handoff. This playbook closes it: lead stages with clear triggers, follow-up scripts matched to what the buyer actually did, an asset matching guide so every touch adds value, and a feedback loop so marketing learns what sales sees.
Firms that responded to a web lead within 5 minutes were 21 times more likely to qualify it than firms waiting 30 minutes, and typical company response is measured in hours or days. The clock is the deal.
of trade show leads never receive any follow-up. The names a company pays the most to collect are the ones most often dropped in the handoff.
of a B2B buying group's total buying time is spent meeting with potential suppliers. When your few minutes arrive, a first touch that references what the buyer actually did is the difference between a conversation and a deletion.
The handoff gap does not close on its own. Every quarter it stays open, the same five things quietly happen.
The Proximity Audit traces this leak with real timestamps and puts a number on what it costs per quarter. That is the point of starting there.
An install only sticks when it has owners. Here is who this playbook belongs to inside your company, and what each of them walks away with.
The GM or owner who funds both teams and is tired of refereeing them.
OutcomeTwo numbers both sides accept, moving in the right direction on one scoreboard.
Holds the pen on stage names and sets every follow-up clock.
OutcomeLeads that arrive with a context card and a suggested play instead of a bare name.
Brings the lead context and proof assets marketing already collects.
OutcomeProof of what happens to every lead they hand over, and the buyer's voice back monthly.
Makes the rules real: fields that block, clocks that show.
OutcomeA configuration spec with capped fields instead of a memo nobody follows.
An illustrative composite drawn from real engagement patterns. Company details invented; the shape of the change is the point.
Stage design, scripts, and asset mapping.
CRM execution and daily follow-up.
Speed to follow-up and lead-to-meeting conversion.
Speed and context win the follow-up, and neither survives without rules both teams signed. Each week builds one agreement the next week depends on, so the sequence is fixed and the scope is too.
Five recent leads traced through the handoff with real timestamps; first touches read verbatim; both baselines set.
Why firstBoth teams have a story about the other. The traces replace stories with records, and nobody gets blamed.
A stage ladder in both teams' words, triggers your systems can see, and a definition of qualified signed in the room.
Why before scriptsA first touch can only be fast if a trigger starts a clock, and clocks only run on stages both sides believe.
A script card per trigger, each opening with what the lead actually did, inside clocks the sales lead sets.
Why nowSpeed without substance is faster noise. Referencing the buyer's own behavior is what makes a fast touch feel like service.
Buyer situations mapped to one asset each, with send lines a seller can copy unchanged, plus the before-the-meeting send.
Why after scriptsThe pilot shows where reps reach for proof and find a gap. Matching by situation fills the reach, honestly.
The context card the CRM enforces, ownership transfer with reassignment, and three follow-up clocks visible to sellers.
Why before the loopRules live in the CRM or they do not live. Visibility is what turns a clock into a promise a seller keeps.
The monthly 30-minute review installed; the Handoff Operating Manual assembled, signed, and owned.
Why lastEverything upstream produces data. The loop turns it into one shipped change a month, with both teams present.
Median speed to follow-up and lead-to-meeting conversion, measured against the Week 1 baselines; five first touches sampled.
Why it mattersTwo numbers both teams accept end the standoff for good. The system moved them, and the delta is the proof.
Every week compiles into the Handoff Operating Manual: the named product your team owns, reruns, and defends long after the install ends.
This playbook lives in System 04: Secure, the part of the method that answers one question: How does interest become a meeting? Most companies install it alongside one or two related playbooks in a 90-Day Install.
Share this page with your leadership team. If it names your problem, the Proximity Audit will tell you whether this playbook should be your first install or your third.
Installed on one product line first, then yours to rerun across every line you own. Not sure it's the right first move? Start with the Proximity Audit ($7,500, credited toward an install): all fifteen areas scored and a ranked roadmap.
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