Architecture case / 002 · Process architecture

Designing a global lead-to-customer operating model.

A process-first case for a fictional global B2B company: stages, decision rights, approvals, exceptions and measurement—designed before a single system is configured.

Fictional scenario20 min readUpdated 27 Sep 2026

Fictional scenario

Independently created. Contains no employer or client implementation detail, internal names or figures.

01Executive brief

The process is the first draft of the architecture.

The request arrived as a system change: “CRM should create customers in ERP automatically.” The problem underneath was a process with merged decisions, unowned handoffs and no designed path for ‘no’.

Problem

Take qualified interest to an active, transacting customer across Marketing, Sales, Commercial management and Finance—without losing accountability at each handoff.

Key decision

Separate commercial approval from financial validation: two decisions, two owners, two SLAs and defined return states.

Governing principle

Design stages as states with exit criteria and decisions with owners. Then decide which system carries each one.

02Current-state analysis

What the organization believed it did.

The documented process was clean. The observed process—reconstructed from handoffs, side spreadsheets and email—was not. Each gap is an assumption that the new design has to replace with a decision.

BelievedObservedConsequence

A1“Finance approves new customers.”Finance validates legal, tax and credit data. Nobody explicitly decides whether to commit commercially.Sales managers sign off tax data they cannot assess; Finance re-checks everything later.

A2“A lead becomes a customer when the deal closes.”Three transitions are merged: commercial commitment, legal validity and first transaction.Reports disagree on how many customers were won—and none is wrong.

A3“The CRM stage shows where the customer is.”Stages track seller activity. Validation state lives in email and in ERP.No one can see what is blocked, or by whom.

A4“Rejections are rare.”Returns happen regularly, by email, with no reason code.The same defects recur because nobody can see the pattern.

A5“‘Active customer’ is obvious.”Sales counts the first order, Finance the first invoice, Marketing the account record.Three conversion rates for one funnel.

03Target operating model

Eight stages, four roles, two systems.

The target model names every stage by what is true when it ends, places it in the lane that owns it, and shows what happens in CRM and ERP at that moment. Legal identity changes authority exactly once—between validation and creation.

MarketingDemand & qualification

SalesRelationship & opportunity

Commercial mgmtTerms, approval & lifecycle policy

FinanceLegal, tax & credit validation

CRMSystem of action — commercial lifecycle

ERPSystem of record — legal customer

Lane / stage

Data authority

Marketing → Sales

Commercial → Finance

Legal identity: CRM → ERP

Lead scored & routedAccount · prospectParty index lookupOpportunity & quoteApproval & audit recordValidation pendingValidation rulesNumber receivedOrder status visibleSales orderLifecycle · activeInvoice event

Human actionSystem actionDecisionApproval gateLifecycle stateSystem touchHandoffAuthority transferException return

Stage anatomy · 05 / 08

Financial validation

Approval gateAssist — person confirms

Trigger
Commercial approval complete and legal data submitted
Decision
Can this legal entity transact with us — tax, credit, sanctions, company code?
Owner
Finance & master data
System action
Integration submits a creation request; ERP applies validation rules; CRM shows ‘validation pending’
Data state
Account · Validation pending
Next stage
06 Customer created

1. Trigger
  Commercial approval complete and legal data submitted
2. Decision
  Can this legal entity transact with us — tax, credit, sanctions, company code?
3. Owner
  Finance & master data
4. System action
  Integration submits a creation request; ERP applies validation rules; CRM shows ‘validation pending’
5. Data state
  Account · Validation pending
6. Next stage
  06 Customer created
Information required
- Legal name and registration
- Tax identifiers
- Billing and delivery addresses
- Requested credit terms
Controls & SLA
- Sanctions screening before creation
- Credit limit set by Finance, never by Sales
- SLA Clock owned by Finance; ageing is visible to Sales in CRM
Exceptions
- Missing or invalid legal data — Returned with field-level reasons, not a generic rejectionDetected: ERP validation · Owner: Sales · Returns to 02 Potential customer
- Credit below requested terms — Terms renegotiated, then re-approvedDetected: Credit review · Owner: Commercial management · Returns to 04 Commercial approval
- Sanctions match — Process stops; no automated retryDetected: Screening · Owner: Compliance · Stops — compliance review
Automation suitability
Assist — person confirms. Completeness, format and screening checks are automated. Credit decisions above a threshold stay human.

04Stage anatomy

One owner, one system of action, one resulting state.

The same model read as a table. This is the artefact system designers work from: if a row cannot be completed, the process is not ready to be configured.

StageAccountableSystem actionData stateAutomation

01Lead qualificationMarketing operationsCRM scores and routes the lead, and checks it against existing accountsLead · QualifiedAssist — person confirms

Accountability transfers — Marketing → Sales

02Potential customerSalesCRM converts the lead into a prospect account and searches the ERP party indexAccount · ProspectAssist — person confirms

03OpportunitySalesCRM tracks the opportunity against stage exit criteria and prices the quote from the price bookOpportunity · ProposalAssist — person confirms

04Commercial approvalSales manager — delegable within recorded limitsCRM routes the request by policy and records the evidence, the decision and the policy versionAccount · Commercially approvedAssist — person confirms

Accountability transfers — Commercial → Finance

05Financial validationFinance & master dataIntegration submits a creation request; ERP applies validation rules; CRM shows ‘validation pending’Account · Validation pendingAssist — person confirms

Data authority transfers — Legal identity: CRM → ERP

06Customer createdFinance (accountable) · Platform operations (delivery)ERP creates the customer and issues the canonical number; an outcome event returns to CRMCustomer · CreatedAutomate

07First orderSales (entry) · Finance (credit hold)Order captured against the ERP customer; credit checked at releaseCustomer · OrderingAssist — person confirms

08Active customerCommercial operations (definition) · Finance (consent)The ERP invoice event sets the CRM lifecycle status and reaches the data platformCustomer · ActiveAutomate

05Ownership & decision rights

The approval problem was a decision-rights problem.

Every decision gets exactly one accountable role. Where the old process had one ‘customer approval’ carrying four decisions, the matrix makes each visible—and shows who is merely informed.

Decision rights for Lead to customer
Decision	Marketing	Sales	Sales mgmt	Commercial ops	Finance	Platform ops
01Accept or reject a qualified lead	C Consulted	R Responsible	A Accountable	I Informed	Not involved	Not involved
02Confirm or reject a probable duplicate	Not involved	C Consulted	Not involved	A Accountable	C Consulted	Not involved
04Approve commercial terms	Not involved	R Responsible	A Accountable	C Consulted	I Informed	Not involved
04Change approval thresholds	Not involved	Not involved	A Accountable	R Responsible	C Consulted	Not involved
05Validate legal and tax data	Not involved	R Responsible	Not involved	I Informed	A Accountable	Not involved
05Set the credit limit	Not involved	I Informed	C Consulted	Not involved	A Accountable	Not involved
06Repair a failed or unknown creation	Not involved	I Informed	Not involved	Not involved	C Consulted	A Accountable
08Define ‘active customer’	I Informed	Not involved	C Consulted	A Accountable	C Consulted	I Informed

01Accept or reject a qualified lead
AAccountable
Sales mgmt
RResponsible
Sales
CConsulted
Marketing
IInformed
Commercial ops
02Confirm or reject a probable duplicate
AAccountable
Commercial ops
CConsulted
Sales · Finance
04Approve commercial terms
AAccountable
Sales mgmt
RResponsible
Sales
CConsulted
Commercial ops
IInformed
Finance
04Change approval thresholds
AAccountable
Sales mgmt
RResponsible
Commercial ops
CConsulted
Finance
05Validate legal and tax data
AAccountable
Finance
RResponsible
Sales
IInformed
Commercial ops
05Set the credit limit
AAccountable
Finance
CConsulted
Sales mgmt
IInformed
Sales
06Repair a failed or unknown creation
AAccountable
Platform ops
CConsulted
Finance
IInformed
Sales
08Define ‘active customer’
AAccountable
Commercial ops
CConsulted
Sales mgmt · Finance
IInformed
Marketing · Platform ops

AAccountableRResponsibleCConsultedIInformedExactly one A per decision

Decision record · ADR 004Separate commercial approval from financial validation

06Approval model

Two approvals, because there are two decisions.

Stage 04

Commercial approval

Decision: Should we commit to this customer on these terms?
Accountable: Sales manager — delegable within recorded limits
Evidence: Terms and deviation from policy · Margin band · Strategic rationale · Known risk flags
Controls: Approval limits by role; delegation recorded with dates · No one approves their own proposal · Decision stored with the policy version applied
SLA: Clock starts on submission. Reminder, then escalation one level up. Silence never approves.
After ‘no’: Rejected: Returns to Opportunity with a reason code · No response within SLA: Escalates to the next approval level

Stage 05

Financial validation

Decision: Can this legal entity transact with us — tax, credit, sanctions, company code?
Accountable: Finance & master data
Evidence: Legal name and registration · Tax identifiers · Billing and delivery addresses · Requested credit terms
Controls: Sanctions screening before creation · Credit limit set by Finance, never by Sales
SLA: Clock owned by Finance; ageing is visible to Sales in CRM
After ‘no’: Missing or invalid legal data: Returned with field-level reasons, not a generic rejection · Credit below requested terms: Terms renegotiated, then re-approved · Sanctions match: Process stops; no automated retry

Commercial approval decides whether to commit on these terms. Financial validation decides whether this legal entity can transact. A credit outcome that changes the terms returns to commercial approval—not to the start of the process.

07Exceptions & failure modes

Design the return path before the happy path.

Each exception has a detector, an owner and a destination. Nothing ends in an inbox; nothing is retried blindly.

01 Lead qualificationLead belongs to an existing customer

Routed to the account team — no new acquisition journey

Detected by: Account match
Owner: Account owner
Route: Redirected to the account team

01 Lead qualificationRejected by Sales

Returned to nurture with a reason code that feeds the criteria

Detected by: Sales review
Owner: Marketing operations
Route: Stays in stage

02 Potential customerProbable duplicate

Match review: merge, link to group, or confirm as new

Detected by: Match rule
Owner: Commercial operations
Route: Paused for match review

03 OpportunityTerms outside policy

Sent to approval with the deviation highlighted

Detected by: Pricing rules
Owner: Commercial management
Route: Flagged into approval

04 Commercial approvalRejected

Returns to Opportunity with a reason code

Detected by: Approver
Owner: Sales
Route: Returns to 03 Opportunity

04 Commercial approvalNo response within SLA

Escalates to the next approval level

Detected by: SLA clock
Owner: Commercial management
Route: Escalates one level

05 Financial validationMissing or invalid legal data

Returned with field-level reasons, not a generic rejection

Detected by: ERP validation
Owner: Sales
Route: Returns to 02 Potential customer

05 Financial validationCredit below requested terms

Terms renegotiated, then re-approved

Detected by: Credit review
Owner: Commercial management
Route: Returns to 04 Commercial approval

05 Financial validationSanctions match

Process stops; no automated retry

Detected by: Screening
Owner: Compliance
Route: Stops — compliance review

06 Customer createdTimeout — outcome unknown

Reconcile by request key before any retry

Detected by: Integration monitor
Owner: Platform operations
Route: Held — reconcile, then continue

07 First orderOrder exceeds credit limit

Credit hold; Sales notified with the reason

Detected by: ERP credit check
Owner: Finance
Route: Held — credit review

08 Active customerOrder cancelled before invoicing

Status stays ‘ordering’; no activation event

Detected by: ERP event
Owner: Commercial operations
Route: Returns to 07 First order

08Process ↔ system boundary

Decide the process question first. Then the system question has an answer.

Process question: P1Who should approve customer creation?: System question: S1Where does that approval happen, and how is it recorded?
Process question: P2What happens after a rejection?: System question: S2How is the returned state stored and shown to the requester?
Process question: P3Who owns the validation SLA?: System question: S3How is the clock measured, displayed and escalated?
Process question: P4What may Sales do while validation is pending?: System question: S4Which CRM actions are blocked in that state?
Process question: P5When is a customer ‘active’?: System question: S5Which event sets the status, and how does every consumer receive it?

The system side of this lifecycleCase 001 — Designing a CRM–ERP customer lifecycle

09Automation suitability

Automate what is deterministic, reversible and owned.

Automate

06Customer created
Deterministic and idempotent by design. Failures land in a queue with a named owner.
08Active customer
Deriving the status is a rule once the definition is agreed. Agreeing it is the hard part.

Assist — person confirms

01Lead qualification
Scoring and routing are rules. Acceptance stays with a person while the criteria are still judgement-heavy.
02Potential customer
Matching is automated. Confirming a match is a human decision because a wrong merge is expensive to reverse.
03Opportunity
Price calculation and policy checks are deterministic; the proposal itself is judgement.
04Commercial approval
Within-policy deals can be approved by rule and audited. Deviations need a named approver.
05Financial validation
Completeness, format and screening checks are automated. Credit decisions above a threshold stay human.
07First order
Checking against approved terms is automated; commercial exceptions go to a person.

Keep human

No stage is fully manual. Every human decision is assisted by a rule, a check or a prepared record—the judgement stays with a person.

10Measurement

Measure the waiting between stages.

Six measures, each with an owner and a triggered action. No values are shown: in a design, the definition is the deliverable.

LeadingStages 01 → 02

Lead acceptance time

Routing to accept or reject, by channel

Owner: Sales management
Triggers: Rebalance routing or capacity when ageing grows

LeadingStage 04

Approval ageing

Submission to decision, by approval level

Owner: Commercial management
Triggers: Review delegation limits and escalation paths

ControlStage 05

First-pass validation rate

Creation requests accepted by Finance without being returned

Owner: Commercial operations
Triggers: Fix data capture where it starts, not in Finance

ControlStage 06

Unknown outcomes open

Creation requests awaiting reconciliation

Owner: Platform operations
Triggers: Reconcile before any replay; investigate recurring causes

ControlAll stages

Returns by reason

Exceptions that send work back, grouped by reason code

Owner: Commercial operations
Triggers: Treat recurring reasons as process defects, not user errors

LaggingStages 01 → 08

Lead-to-active cycle time

Qualification to activation event — median and 90th percentile

Owner: Commercial management
Triggers: Locate the waiting time between stages

11Governance

Control change without freezing the process.

Stage definitions

Owned by Commercial operations. Validation rules need Finance consent; stage names and exit criteria are versioned.

Legitimate variation

Tax identifiers, credit thresholds and legal documents vary by legal entity. Extra approval steps and local stage names do not.

Exception review

Returns by reason are reviewed on a fixed cadence. A recurring reason becomes a process change, not a training reminder.

12When I would choose differently

The model should move when the premises move.

Merge the approvals

If one role becomes genuinely accountable for both commercial and credit risk—typically in a single-entity business.

Approve by rule

If pricing and terms are fully policy-bound, commercial approval becomes an audited rule and people review only deviations.

Create identity earlier

If an enterprise master-data service issues party identity at prospect stage, legal validation moves forward and ERP creation becomes routine.

Transferable principleDesign the process as decisions with owners. Only then decide which system should carry each one.

Five more process casesQuote to order, performance recovery, RFQ intake, global standardization, inbound leads