Lead Disposition Standard
Create one canonical status taxonomy so every inquiry has a known state and a known next action, and so reporting is trustworthy — no lead sits in a vague or terminal-but-meaningless status.
Link
3
Link Name
Qualification
Role
standard
Loop Step
Repair
Purpose
Create one canonical status taxonomy so every inquiry has a known state and a known next action, and so reporting is trustworthy — no lead sits in a vague or terminal-but-meaningless status.
Governing Principle
Every lead is always in exactly one known state with a defined next action or a defined exit. Vague statuses (OPEN, WORKING, OTHER, CLOSED) are not allowed as terminal values unless paired with a meaningful disposition/reason. 'NOT A FIT' is never a catch-all for process failures.
Status Vs Disposition
- Status
- Where the lead is in the process (its current stage).
- Disposition
- The reason/outcome that explains a status — especially for closed or held states.
- Rule
- A closed or held lead requires BOTH a status and a disposition/reason. Status alone (e.g. 'CLOSED') is never sufficient.
Canonical Taxonomy
NEW
- Id
- new
- Definition
- Inquiry received, not yet worked.
- Entry Criteria
- Lead created
- Required Fields
- source; received_at
- Next Action
- Attempt contact (Link 2)
- Owner
- Intake
- Automation Behavior
- Trigger first-response per RLR-11
- Follow Up Behavior
- Immediate
- Exit Criteria
- Contact attempted
- Reporting Treatment
- Top of funnel
CONTACT ATTEMPTED
- Id
- contact_attempted
- Definition
- One or more contact attempts made, no two-way contact yet.
- Entry Criteria
- First attempt logged
- Required Fields
- first_attempt_at; attempts
- Next Action
- Continue attempts per cadence
- Owner
- Intake
- Automation Behavior
- Advance attempt cadence
- Follow Up Behavior
- Per Link 2 cadence
- Exit Criteria
- Contact made or unreachable
- Reporting Treatment
- In-progress
CONTACTED
- Id
- contacted
- Definition
- Meaningful two-way contact occurred; qualification not yet started.
- Entry Criteria
- Two-way contact logged
- Required Fields
- first_two_way_at
- Next Action
- Begin qualification (RLR-17)
- Owner
- Intake
- Automation Behavior
- Prompt qualification
- Follow Up Behavior
- Prompt
- Exit Criteria
- Qualification started
- Reporting Treatment
- In-progress
QUALIFICATION IN PROGRESS
- Id
- qualification_in_progress
- Definition
- Actively gathering fit/intent/urgency evidence.
- Entry Criteria
- Qualification started
- Required Fields
- responder
- Next Action
- Complete required categories
- Owner
- Intake/sales
- Automation Behavior
- Track missing fields
- Follow Up Behavior
- Active
- Exit Criteria
- Classified via RLR-18
- Reporting Treatment
- In-progress
QUALIFIED
- Id
- qualified
- Definition
- Fit and need established; classified per RLR-18.
- Entry Criteria
- Classification = qualified/high_intent
- Required Fields
- classification; routing_destination; next_action
- Next Action
- Route (RLR-20) toward booking
- Owner
- Assigned owner
- Automation Behavior
- Assign + notify owner
- Follow Up Behavior
- Standard/prompt
- Exit Criteria
- Appointment ready or booked
- Reporting Treatment
- Qualified pipeline
APPOINTMENT READY
- Id
- appointment_ready
- Definition
- Qualified and ready to book; not yet on a calendar.
- Entry Criteria
- Readiness confirmed
- Required Fields
- owner
- Next Action
- Book (Link 5)
- Owner
- Assigned owner
- Automation Behavior
- Offer booking
- Follow Up Behavior
- Prompt
- Exit Criteria
- Booked
- Reporting Treatment
- Qualified pipeline
APPOINTMENT BOOKED
- Id
- appointment_booked
- Definition
- Appointment scheduled.
- Entry Criteria
- Booking confirmed
- Required Fields
- appointment_at; owner
- Next Action
- Confirm + prepare handoff (Link 5)
- Owner
- Assigned owner
- Automation Behavior
- Confirmation/reminder sequence
- Follow Up Behavior
- Reminder cadence
- Exit Criteria
- Attended / handed off
- Reporting Treatment
- Booked
NURTURE
- Id
- nurture
- Definition
- Potential fit, not ready now.
- Entry Criteria
- Classification = nurture
- Required Fields
- revisit_date
- Next Action
- Enroll in nurture (Link 4)
- Owner
- Nurture owner
- Automation Behavior
- Long-term sequence
- Follow Up Behavior
- Scheduled touchpoints
- Exit Criteria
- Re-qualifies or opts out
- Reporting Treatment
- Nurture
NOT A FIT
- Id
- not_a_fit
- Definition
- Evidenced genuine non-fit ONLY.
- Entry Criteria
- Positive evidence of non-fit recorded
- Required Fields
- disqualification_reason
- Next Action
- Refer out where possible
- Owner
- Handling responder
- Automation Behavior
- Close with reason
- Follow Up Behavior
- None
- Exit Criteria
- Closed
- Reporting Treatment
- Closed — non-fit
- Guard
- Must NOT be used for could-not-reach, incomplete qualification, wrong timing, no immediate response, or no appointment availability.
DUPLICATE
- Id
- duplicate
- Definition
- Same prospect/inquiry already exists.
- Entry Criteria
- Match to existing record
- Required Fields
- primary_record_id
- Next Action
- Merge to primary
- Owner
- Intake
- Automation Behavior
- Link to primary
- Follow Up Behavior
- n/a
- Exit Criteria
- Merged
- Reporting Treatment
- Excluded from funnel
INVALID / SPAM
- Id
- invalid_spam
- Definition
- Not a real inquiry.
- Entry Criteria
- Confirmed invalid/spam
- Required Fields
- reason
- Next Action
- Close
- Owner
- Intake
- Automation Behavior
- Suppress
- Follow Up Behavior
- None
- Exit Criteria
- Closed
- Reporting Treatment
- Excluded from funnel
UNREACHABLE
- Id
- unreachable
- Definition
- Could not establish contact after the defined attempts — a contact failure, NOT non-fit.
- Entry Criteria
- Contact cadence exhausted without two-way contact
- Required Fields
- attempts; last_attempt_at
- Next Action
- Move to no-response recovery / nurture (Link 4)
- Owner
- Intake
- Automation Behavior
- Recovery sequence
- Follow Up Behavior
- Recovery then nurture
- Exit Criteria
- Contact made or nurture
- Reporting Treatment
- Held — unreachable
- Guard
- Never record UNREACHABLE as NOT A FIT.
ESCALATED
- Id
- escalated
- Definition
- Handed to a senior/named owner per RLR-20.
- Entry Criteria
- Escalation triggered
- Required Fields
- escalation_owner; reason
- Next Action
- Owner assumes ownership
- Owner
- Escalation owner
- Automation Behavior
- Notify owner
- Follow Up Behavior
- Owner-directed
- Exit Criteria
- Owner accepts / resolves
- Reporting Treatment
- Escalated
CLOSED / RETAINED / WON
- Id
- won
- Definition
- Prospect became a client/customer.
- Entry Criteria
- Engagement/retention confirmed
- Required Fields
- outcome; owner
- Next Action
- Fulfillment + attribution (Link 6)
- Owner
- Owner
- Automation Behavior
- Mark won; feed attribution
- Follow Up Behavior
- Onboarding
- Exit Criteria
- n/a
- Reporting Treatment
- Won
LOST
- Id
- lost
- Definition
- Qualified opportunity that did not convert.
- Entry Criteria
- Decision not to proceed / lost to alternative
- Required Fields
- loss_reason
- Next Action
- Nurture where appropriate
- Owner
- Owner
- Automation Behavior
- Close with reason
- Follow Up Behavior
- Optional nurture
- Exit Criteria
- Closed
- Reporting Treatment
- Lost
- Guard
- Requires a loss reason distinct from non-fit and from unreachable.
Forbidden Catch All Rule
NOT A FIT must not absorb: could-not-reach, incomplete qualification, wrong timing, no immediate response, or no appointment availability. Each of those has its own state (UNREACHABLE, QUALIFICATION IN PROGRESS / INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION, NURTURE, and routing/booking follow-up respectively).
Crm Mapping Guidance
This is a canonical taxonomy to MAP onto the business's existing CRM stages, not necessarily to replace them. Map each existing status to exactly one canonical state + disposition; any existing status that maps to a vague catch-all must be split.
What To Measure
Whether every record has a valid status + disposition, the ambiguous-disposition rate, and misuse of NOT A FIT / CLOSED as catch-alls.
How To Interpret
A high ambiguous-disposition rate or NOT-A-FIT used for could-not-reach means the taxonomy is not enforced and reporting cannot be trusted.
Action That Follows
Split catch-all statuses into the correct canonical states, require a disposition on every closed/held record, and correct mislabeled records.
Owner
Revenue operations owner owns the taxonomy and its CRM mapping.
How To Implement
Map existing CRM statuses to the canonical taxonomy, enforce required fields per state, block closing a lead without a disposition, and train the team on the forbidden-catch-all rule.
How To Test
Audit a sample of closed/held records: confirm each has a status + valid disposition, and that no NOT A FIT or UNREACHABLE is mislabeled.
When To Remeasure
Re-audit with RLR-16 at 14 and 30 days; review disposition quality weekly in RLR-38.
How To Know It Improved
Ambiguous dispositions fall, NOT-A-FIT misuse falls, every lead has a known state + next action, and funnel reporting reconciles cleanly for Link 6 attribution.
Handoff To Downstream
Provides the disposition + status vocabulary Link 4 (Follow-Up) and Link 5 (Booking + Handoff) consume, and the clean closed/won/lost states Link 6 (Attribution) reconciles.
Delivery Status
content_ready_delivery_pending
How to implement
Install the change exactly as the playbook describes; log it on the Repair Plan.
How to verify
Installing a workflow is implementation, not closure. QA the repair before you trust it.
Related in this link
Rather not do this part yourself?
You can repair your Revenue Chain yourself with this Kit — or bring in ShiFt at any point. You do not need to finish the DIY path first.
Done with you
Revenue Leak Scan
A ShiFt specialist runs the diagnosis with you and hands you a prioritized repair plan.
Get My Revenue Leak ScanDone for you
ShiFt RevenueOS
ShiFt installs and operates the full Revenue Chain system for you — ConvertOS included.
See RevenueOS