When and how should I escalate this sales deal?

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    "name": "When and how should I escalate this sales deal?",
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    "description": "Determine when and how a sales rep should escalate a deal to leadership, legal, or finance to prevent stalls, reduce risk, and accelerate the path to close. This tree routes based on deal stage, competitive pressure, procurement complexity, and contractual exceptions to ensure the right resources are deployed at the right moment.",
    "mode": "decision",
    "entry": "Q1",
    "tags": [
      "sales",
      "deal management",
      "escalation",
      "enterprise sales"
    ],
    "image": "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1600880292203-757bb62b4baf?w=1200&q=80"
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  "questions": [
    {
      "id": "Q1",
      "text": "What is the current stage of this deal in your sales cycle?"
    },
    {
      "id": "Q2",
      "text": "Is there active, credible competitive displacement risk that could end the opportunity early?"
    },
    {
      "id": "Q3",
      "text": "Is the deal stalled due to internal procurement complexity, multi-stakeholder disagreement, or a lack of internal champion momentum?"
    },
    {
      "id": "Q4",
      "text": "Does the deal involve non-standard contractual terms, data processing agreements, regulatory compliance requirements, or indemnification clauses outside your standard template?"
    },
    {
      "id": "Q5",
      "text": "Has the prospect given a verbal or written commitment to move forward, but the deal is now blocked by internal approval processes on their side?"
    }
  ],
  "outcomes": [
    {
      "id": "INDEPENDENT",
      "label": "Handle Independently"
    },
    {
      "id": "MANAGER",
      "label": "Bring in Sales Manager"
    },
    {
      "id": "EXEC_SPONSOR",
      "label": "Executive Sponsor Engagement"
    },
    {
      "id": "LEGAL_FINANCE",
      "label": "Legal / Finance Review Required"
    }
  ],
  "dsl": "dag: When and how should I escalate this sales deal?\nversion: 1.0.0\nimage: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1600880292203-757bb62b4baf?w=1200&q=80\ndescription: Determine when and how a sales rep should escalate a deal to leadership, legal, or finance to prevent stalls, reduce risk, and accelerate the path to close. This tree routes based on deal stage, competitive pressure, procurement complexity, and contractual exceptions to ensure the right resources are deployed at the right moment.\ntags: sales, deal management, escalation, enterprise sales\nentry: Q1\n\nQ1: What is the current stage of this deal in your sales cycle?\n  hint: Deal stage is a proxy for urgency and investment level. Early-stage deals rarely require executive involvement unless they are unusually strategic or at risk of being lost before discovery is complete. Late-stage deals in negotiation or legal review are where escalation has the highest leverage — the right executive call or legal intervention can unblock a deal that would otherwise stall for weeks. Be honest about stage rather than overstating progress to justify escalation resources.\n  A: Early stage — prospecting or discovery -> Q2\n  B: Mid stage — proposal or evaluation -> Q3\n  C: Late stage — negotiation or legal review -> Q4\n\nQ2: Is there active, credible competitive displacement risk that could end the opportunity early?\n  hint: Competitive risk at early stage is worth escalating only when there is clear evidence — a competing proof-of-concept underway, a named competitor being evaluated in parallel, or a procurement process that has already short-listed others. Vague fear of competition does not justify pulling in leadership resources. If you have evidence that a key competitor has executive-level sponsorship inside the account, that changes the calculus significantly and warrants a conversation with your manager immediately.\n  yes -> [MANAGER]\n  no  -> [INDEPENDENT]\n\nQ3: Is the deal stalled due to internal procurement complexity, multi-stakeholder disagreement, or a lack of internal champion momentum?\n  hint: Mid-stage stalls are the most common deal killers in enterprise sales and the hardest to diagnose from the outside. Signs include consistently rescheduled meetings, vague feedback on proposals, and the prospect going quiet after an enthusiastic start. A Sales Manager or Executive Sponsor can often unlock momentum by engaging peer-level counterparts on the customer side. Before escalating, make sure you've done your own diagnostic — ask the champion directly what is blocking progress and listen carefully to the answer.\n  yes -> [EXEC_SPONSOR]\n  no  -> Q4\n\nQ4: Does the deal involve non-standard contractual terms, data processing agreements, regulatory compliance requirements, or indemnification clauses outside your standard template?\n  hint: Contractual exceptions that deviate from your standard MSA or order form require legal review regardless of deal size — the risk is not in the dollar amount but in the precedent set for future agreements. Common triggers include custom SLA commitments, unlimited liability clauses, source code escrow requirements, HIPAA or GDPR data processing addenda, and IP ownership modifications. If a customer's legal team has redlined your contract beyond standard modifications, route immediately to Legal and Finance before responding to their markup.\n  yes -> [LEGAL_FINANCE]\n  no  -> [MANAGER]\n\nQ5: Has the prospect given a verbal or written commitment to move forward, but the deal is now blocked by internal approval processes on their side?\n  hint: A committed deal that is blocked by internal process is different from a deal that is still being evaluated — the sales strategy shifts from persuasion to facilitation. Your executive sponsor can often connect directly with the customer's CFO or CPO to accelerate internal approvals in a way that a rep cannot. Document the verbal commitment in your CRM and get the expected approval timeline in writing from your champion so you can hold the close date accountable.\n  yes -> [EXEC_SPONSOR]\n  no  -> [INDEPENDENT]\n\n[INDEPENDENT]: Handle Independently\n  color: #16a34a\n  description: Based on the current situation, you have the tools and authority to manage this deal without escalation. Continue your standard sales motion — advance the mutual close plan, maintain cadence with your champion, and address objections using your available resources and competitive playbooks. Log all activity in CRM and flag any change in competitive status, stakeholder access, or contractual complexity immediately so escalation can be triggered quickly if circumstances shift. Revisit this assessment at the next stage transition.\n  code: SALES-DE-001\n\n[MANAGER]: Bring in Sales Manager\n  color: #2563eb\n  description: Your Sales Manager should be looped into this deal at the next available touchpoint, either in your regular one-on-one or a dedicated deal review. Prepare a concise deal brief covering stage, key stakeholders, competitive landscape, risks, and your recommended next action — this makes the conversation productive rather than exploratory. Your manager can provide coaching on objection handling, help you access internal resources, and apply management-level pressure on stuck deals through peer outreach. Set a specific outcome for the escalation conversation so you leave with clarity on next steps.\n  code: SALES-DE-002\n\n[EXEC_SPONSOR]: Executive Sponsor Engagement\n  color: #f59e0b\n  description: This deal requires Executive Sponsor involvement to unlock momentum, neutralize competitive risk, or reinforce strategic commitment at the customer's leadership level. Identify the right internal executive — typically the CRO, VP Sales, or a named exec sponsor for strategic accounts — and brief them with a one-page deal summary before any customer interaction. Executive engagement works best when it is purposeful and time-boxed: a specific call with the customer's C-suite, a joint business value review, or an executive briefing at a company event. Follow up within 24 hours to capture any commitments made during the engagement.\n  code: SALES-DE-003\n\n[LEGAL_FINANCE]: Legal / Finance Review Required\n  color: #dc2626\n  description: This deal contains contractual, regulatory, or financial terms that require formal review by your Legal and Finance teams before any commitments are made to the customer. Submit the contract redlines or exception request through your standard legal intake process immediately — do not attempt to negotiate non-standard terms directly with the customer's legal team without internal alignment. Communicate to the customer that you are in internal review and provide a realistic timeline so they don't interpret silence as indifference. Escalate to your manager if the legal review timeline threatens the close date so they can facilitate an expedited review process.\n  code: SALES-DE-004\n"
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