Buying Group Service-Level Agreements 101: Defining What To Pass Between Revenue Engine Teams

A service-level agreement (SLA) defines opportunities and outlines the requirements for passing an opportunity, with one or more buying group member attached, from one team to another in the context of the Forrester B2B Revenue Waterfall™. Buying-group-based SLAs, like lead-based SLAs, must be endorsed by both teams and be clearly documented to ensure clarity, accountability, and alignment. Organizations should have multiple SLAs — one for every team handoff that moves opportunities downstream toward close. SLAs also govern how and when to pass back stalled opportunities. In this report, we outline the basic elements of SLAs with a focus on buying group opportunities.