Pomio CRM keeps deals visible in a shared pipeline the team can see, with owners and tasks beside the work. Exit criteria belong with the stage rules — so the team advances deals for the same reasons, not because someone liked the story in the review.
Exit criteria turn a stage name into a gate
A stage without exit criteria is only a label. The checklist answers when a deal is allowed to leave: discovery done, budget confirmed, decision-maker engaged, proposal sent. Without that gate, "Proposal" can mean anything from a draft attached to a real buyer conversation.
Shared stage names are not enough
Sales and management can agree on stage names and still disagree on when to move. Shared stage definitions fix the vocabulary; exit criteria fix the hand-off. Both belong in the same pipeline rules the team can see.
What breaks when exit criteria are missing
Weekly reviews spend time translating language instead of coaching deals. Forecasts mix early hope with late certainty because deals sit in late stages without the proof those stages imply. Handovers stall when the next owner cannot tell what "done" meant in the previous stage.
Keep the checklist short and shared
Three to five must-be-true items per stage beat a long private playbook nobody opens. Write the checklist once, keep it next to the stage in the shared pipeline, and require the same proof before anyone advances a deal.
Exit criteria versus next-step dates
A next-step date says when you act again. Exit criteria say whether the deal has earned the next stage. You need both: a dated next step keeps work alive; exit criteria keep stage meaning honest.
How Pomio CRM keeps stage meaning shared
Deals stay in one shared pipeline with owners and tasks the team can see. Keep exit criteria next to those stage rules so reviews argue about evidence — not about what "Qualified" privately meant last week.
A practical habit
For each active stage, write a short exit checklist the team can open in the next review. Once a week, scan deals that moved stages without the checklist items filled. Pull back what the conversation still supports, and treat a blank gate as incomplete hygiene — not ready for a serious forecast review.
Go deeper
Do every stages need the same length of checklist?
No — early stages can stay light; late stages need clearer proof. What matters is that every stage has an explicit gate the team shares.
Who owns writing the exit criteria?
Sales leadership with the people who run the weekly review. Publish once in the shared pipeline rules; revise when the process changes — not per deal in private notes.
Does Pomio CRM invent exit criteria?
The product shows a shared pipeline with owners and tasks. Exit criteria are a hygiene habit the team owns; Pomio CRM keeps stage meaning visible — it does not invent your gates.