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Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: src/handbook/sales/edge-connect-process.md
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navTitle: Edge Connectivity Sales Process
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navGroup: Sales department
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---
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# Edge Connectivity Sales Process
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**Owning function:** Sales
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**Owning function:** Sales
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**Contributing functions:** Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Professional Services
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**Typical deal profile:**
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- Duration: 3–6 months
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**Typical deal profile:**
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- Duration: 3–6 months
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- Meetings: 6–10
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**Deal Characteristics:**
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**Goal:** Determine whether the customer has a meaningful, organization-level problem that warrants a standardized edge connectivity approach, and whether it is worth deeper technical and business evaluation.
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Sales stage: 1-Discovery
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Lifecycle stage: SQL
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Forecast stage: Best case
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Sales stage: 1-Discovery
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Lifecycle stage: SQL
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Forecast stage: Best case
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**Agenda:**
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- Introductions & context (5 min)
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Next Step: Schedule Impact Analysis / Technical Deep Dive.
## **Meeting 1b:** Impact / Technical Deep Dive (45–60 min)
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**Goal:** Validate that the identified problems have material operational and business impact, establish a credible business case, and confirm a time-bound trigger that justifies deeper evaluation and stakeholder involvement.
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Sales stage: 1-Discovery
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Lifecycle stage: SQL
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Forecast stage: Best case
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Sales stage: 1-Discovery
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Lifecycle stage: SQL
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Forecast stage: Best case
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**Agenda:**
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- Review problems identified in Discovery (5 min)
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**Goal:** Equip the champion with a clear narrative and concrete evidence to confidently represent the Edge Connectivity approach internally and secure alignment for broader stakeholder evaluation.
**Goal:** Align cross-functional stakeholders on the problem, proposed Edge Connectivity approach, and expected impact, while identifying and addressing risks or objections that must be resolved before committing to a PoC.
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Sales stage: 2-Diagnose (possibly later)
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Lifecycle stage: SQO
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Forecast stage: Forecast
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Sales stage: 2-Diagnose (possibly later)
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Lifecycle stage: SQO
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Forecast stage: Forecast
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**Agenda:**
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- Executive alignment (5–10 min)
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**Goal:** Establish shared success criteria, ownership, and execution plan for the PoC in order to reduce delivery risk and enable a confident go/no-go decision.
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Sales stage: 3-Solution
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Lifecycle stage: SQO
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Forecast stage: Forecast
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Sales stage: 3-Solution
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Lifecycle stage: SQO
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Forecast stage: Forecast
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**Agenda:**
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- Review PoC objectives (10 min)
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- Confirm timeline & checkpoints (10 min)
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- Next Step: Schedule PoC review.
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Resource:
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Resource:
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FlowFuse Enterprise POC Template
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## **Meeting 4:** PoC Review (45–60 min)
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**Goal:** Confirm that the PoC has met agreed success criteria, validate solution fit and business impact, and establish readiness to proceed to a commercial proposal.
**Goal:** Confirm alignment on commercial terms, contractual structure, and implementation timeline in order to enable executive and procurement approval.
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Sales Stage: 5-Commit
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Lifecycle stage: SQO
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Forecast stage: Commit
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Sales Stage: 5-Commit
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Lifecycle stage: SQO
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Forecast stage: Commit
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**Agenda:**
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- Walkthrough proposal & pricing (20 min)
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**Goal:** Confirm executive and procurement approval by resolving any remaining commercial, legal, or risk considerations and authorizing contract execution.
The Account Executives at FlowFuse are responsible for leading customer-facing commercial engagements from initial qualification through contract execution.
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Account Executives own opportunity progression, commercial outcomes, and deal accountability, while working in close collaboration with other functions across the Commercial Organization.
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Account Executives at FlowFuse are not a transactional function. They operate as the primary orchestrators of complex, multi-stakeholder buying processes and are accountable for guiding customers toward informed, high-confidence decisions.
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---
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## Scope and Responsibilities
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Account Executives own:
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- Managing all leads from [MQL stage](/handbook/sales/hubspot/#mql-follow-up-expectations) onwards, including daily review and outreach
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- Generating 30% of their own pipeline through [Cold Outbound](/handbook/sales/hubspot/#outbound) activities
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- Opportunity qualification and prioritization
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- Deal progression through defined sales stages
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- Commercial positioning and value articulation
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- Pricing, proposals, and contract negotiation
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- Forecast accuracy and pipeline discipline
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- Commercial close and handoff readiness
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Account Executives are accountable for **commercial outcomes**, even when execution involves Solution Engineering, Customer Success, Professional Services, or Sales Partnerships.
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---
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## Sales-Owned Processes
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Account Executives own the following customer-facing sales processes. These processes define *how* Account Executives engage customers in different buying contexts.
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-**Edge Connectivity Sales Process**
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Used when customers are evaluating how to standardize or modernize edge connectivity across systems or sites.
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→ [View process](/handbook/sales/processes/)
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-**Node-RED Scale Sales Process**
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Used when customers are already using Node-RED and need governance, security, and scale.
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→ _Coming soon_
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Each process defines meeting goals, exit criteria, and collaboration points with other functions.
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---
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## Collaboration Model
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Account Executives operate in close partnership with other functions in the Commercial Organization:
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-**Solution Engineering**
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Supports technical discovery, demos, and proof-of-concept delivery.
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-**Customer Success**
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Provides input on adoption risks, renewal considerations, and expansion opportunities.
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-**Professional Services**
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Supports scoped delivery planning, enablement, and services-led engagements.
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-**Sales Partnerships**
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Supports partner-led and co-sell opportunities.
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While collaboration is essential, **Account Executives remain accountable** for opportunity progression and commercial decision-making.
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---
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## Metrics and Accountability
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Account Executive performance is measured by:
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- Qualified pipeline coverage
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- Forecast accuracy by stage
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- Win rate and sales cycle duration
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- Average contract value and deal quality
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- Progression and conversion between stages
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These metrics reinforce disciplined execution and predictable outcomes.
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---
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## Tools and Systems
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Account Executives primarily use the following systems to execute their responsibilities:
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- CRM for opportunity management and forecasting
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- Proposal and quoting tools for pricing and contracts
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- Scheduling and communication tools for customer engagement
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- Documentation systems for value narratives and deal context
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Detailed guidance on tools and systems is documented separately.
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---
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## How This Page Is Used
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This page defines **what Account Executives own**.
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Detailed guidance on *how* Account Executives execute is documented in:
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- Sales process pages
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- Playbooks and enablement materials
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- Systems and tools documentation
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This separation is intentional to keep ownership clear and execution flexible.
The Commercial Organization at FlowFuse is responsible for guiding customers from initial engagement through adoption, expansion, and long-term success.
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It owns the customer-facing commercial motions that turn product capability into realized business value.
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This organization balances revenue responsibility with customer outcomes, ensuring that growth is durable, scalable, and aligned with how customers actually adopt and operate FlowFuse.
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---
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## Scope and Responsibilities
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The Commercial Organization owns:
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- Customer engagement from first commercial interaction through renewal and expansion
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- Commercial qualification, progression, and close
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- Technical validation and solution alignment
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- Customer onboarding, adoption, and renewal readiness
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- Scoped delivery and enablement services
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- Partner-led commercial motions
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While individual functions own specific processes, the Commercial Organization operates as a coordinated system with shared accountability for customer and commercial outcomes.
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---
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## Organizational Structure
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The Commercial Organization is composed of the following functions:
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-**Account Executives**
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Owns opportunity qualification, deal progression, and commercial close.
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-**Solution Engineering**
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Owns technical discovery, validation, demos, and proof-of-concept delivery.
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-**Customer Success**
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Owns onboarding, adoption, health monitoring, renewal readiness, and expansion signals.
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-**Professional Services**
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Owns scoped delivery, enablement engagements, and post-engagement handoff.
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-**Sales Partnerships**
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Owns partner identification, enablement, co-sell motions, and partner performance.
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Each function has clear ownership while operating in close collaboration with the others across the customer lifecycle.
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---
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## How to Navigate This Section
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- Function-specific responsibilities and mandates are documented under each department page.
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- Sales-owned customer-facing motions are documented in the **Processes** section.
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- Supporting guidance on systems, tools, working norms, and lifecycle alignment is documented in dedicated pages.
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This structure is intentional: ownership is explicit, collaboration is expected, and accountability is clear.
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