Journey Stages Guide

What is Journey Stages

Journey Stages is a RollWorks feature to track how the accounts in your Account Lists are progressing along the buying journey from unaware to won opportunity and into renewal opportunity. You can target the accounts that are on a specific Journey Stage as your audience for your RollWorks advertising campaigns and playbooks to drive pipeline progression. The most common use case is to target accounts that reach a sales ready or qualified lead stage.

In the example below you can see the number that accounts in an Account List that progressed through journey stages in comparison with the accounts that regressed (moved up the funnel), or the ones that remained unchanged.

Watch this 3-minute video for a quick overview of Journey Stages and its benefits and features.

Out of the box, your RollWorks account will be configured with 5 default stages: unaware, aware, engaged, open opportunity/deal, and won opportunity/deal. For best results, it is required to customize the default stages by changing their definition and adding new stages that align with your specific buyer journey.

Below is an example of customized journey stages, expanded from the 5 default stages to 8 stages including top of the funnel, customer acquisition sales process, and renewals.

Who can access

Journey Stages is available under all RollWorks packages: Starter, Standard, Professional, and Ultimate. Adding more than 5 stages, deleting, and cloning stages is not available under Starter.

Journey Stages feature	Starter	Standard, Professional & Ultimate
Customize Stage definitions	✅	✅
Change Stage order	✅	✅
Add new Stages, delete, and clone Stages	❌	✅
Use Stages to create Account Groups	✅	✅
Export Accounts on a Stage	✅	✅

Some Journey Stages features require the following integrations:

• Using the default stages Open Opportunity and Won Opportunity, and defining stages with Salesforce data requires completing the Salesforce integration.
• Using the default stages Open Deal and Won Deal, and defining stages with HubSpot data requires completing the HubSpot integration.
• Customizing stages with G2 buyer intent data requires completing the G2 Integration.

 

View account progression

Before beginning to use Journey Stages, there are a few required onboarding steps:

• • • Install the Pixel.
    • Create at least one Account List using the RollWorks Account List Builder.
    • Integrate your CRM with RollWorks, either Salesforce or HubSpot. 
    • (Optional) Integrate your Marketing Automation Platform with RollWorks, either Marketo or HubSpot.

Once these onboarding steps are complete, you're ready to start using Journey Stages:

1. Log in to RollWorks and go to Insights > Journey Stages on the left side navigation panel.
2. Select a specific Account List and Account Group.
3. Select a date to view the distribution of your accounts through Journey Stages on the specific date chosen. In the example below you can see how the 479 Accounts included in the Account List 'Tier 1 FitA' were distributed through the Journey Stages on February 1st. This is a point-in-time snapshot of the stage that these accounts were in on February 1st.
4. Add a comparison date to see how your accounts are progressing through your defined journey stages compared to a previous point in time.

By adding a comparison date the Journey Stages dashboard will show the following insights based on the comparison between the 2 dates selected:

Account Progression
Total	The total number of accounts in any stage on both selected dates. If an account is removed from an Account List on the dates selected, it will not be included in the comparison on Journey Stages.
Progressed	The number of accounts that move forward in your journey stage funnel between both dates.
Regressed	The number of accounts that moved backward in your journey stage funnel between both dates.
Unchanged	The number of accounts that did not move in your journey stage funnel between both dates.

In the example above you can see how the 479 Accounts included in the Account List named 'Tier 1 FitA' on both selected dates were distributed through the Journey Stages on January 1st compared to February 1st. The account progression is calculated based on the changes in the stage distribution of your accounts between the 2 dates selected.

 

Default Journey Stages

By default, your RollWorks account will be configured with 5 default stages: unaware, aware, engaged, open opportunity/deal, and won opportunity/deal.

 

Below are the definitions used for the 5 default stages:

Stage	Default Value	Customizable?	Notes
Unaware	Page Views ≥ 0 in the last 30 days	✅	Based on website engagement data from Accounts.
Aware	Page Views ≥ 1 in the last 30 days	✅	Based on website engagement data from Accounts.
Engaged	Page Views ≥ 3 in the last 30 days	✅	Based on website engagement data from Accounts.
Open Opportunity OR Open Deal	Salesforce Opportunity Closed = False HubSpot Deal Is Deal Closed? = False	✅	Based on the Salesforce Opportunity object or HubSpot Deal object. Requires the Salesforce Integration or the HubSpot Integration.
Won Opportunity OR Won Deal	Salesforce Opportunity Won = True HubSpot Deal Is Closed Won? = True	✅

 

Next, you should customize Journey Stages to align with your own customer buying cycle by editing each stage and changing the definition:

• If you have a Starter package jump here.
• If you have Standard, Professional, or Ultimate jump here.

 

Customize Journey Stages

You should customize the Default Journey Stages by editing the filters that define each stage. You can use your own CRM and MAP data, Intent, and website and ad engagement data.

 

If you have a Starter package: Create a Sales Ready Stage

Edit the default Engaged stage and rename it Sales Ready.

Then change the logic for this stage based on your company's definition of what constitutes an account being ready for the sales team.

The logic you use to define Sales Ready should include:

1. Ready-to-buy engagement signals and/or
2. CRM activity that shows the account is raising its hand and ready to talk to sales.

If you have a Standard, Professional, or Ultimate RollWorks package

We recommend customing journey stages as follows to expand the funnel beyond customer acquisition into customer renewal. You can go even further and break down your Opportunity Won stage into the stages of your own sales process.

Stage Name	Recommended Criteria
Unaware	Defined based on engagement: Page views ≥ 0 within the last 30 days
Aware/Engaged	Defined based on engagement: Page views ≥ 3 within the 30 days OR ≥ 1 Ad clicks within the 30 days OR ≥ 1 Outgoing email within last 30 days
Sales Ready or Lead	Defined based on CRM activity, engagement and/or intent: CRM Stage = MQA  OR ≥ 2 High-Value pages (i.e. Pricing page and Demo page) within last 30 days OR ≥ 1 Marketo Form Fill within last 30 days OR ≥ 1 G2 Buyer Intent Profile views within last 30 days OR ≥ Salesforce/Hubspot: At least 1 incoming email within last 30 days
Early Stage Opportunity (Unqualified)	Define based on CRM Lead or Opportunity/Lead records: CRM Lead Stage = SAO, Discovery Call, Demo Request, Meeting Booked OR CRM Opp Stage = SDR Appointment
Late Stage Opportunity (Qualified)	Define based on CRM Opportunity/Deal: CRM Stage = Proposal, Negotiation
Recent Closed Won	Define based on CRM Opportunity/Deal fields: CRM Record Type = New Business Opportunity AND CRM Stage = Closed Won
Upsell / Cross-Sell Candidate	Define based on CRM Opportunity/Deal fields: Example: CRM Record Type = Current Customers
Retention Cycle (Renewal)	Define based on CRM Opportunity/Deal fields: Example: Opportunity Stage = Renewal, Opportunity Type = Renewal

In the platform you will need to customize each Journey Stage individually:

1. Navigate to Insights > Journey Stages, you select Customize Stages.
2. Click on the stage you want to customize.
3. Combine the data sources available using "AND" and "OR" to customize your own definition of each Journey Stage. Jump here to view all the data sources available.

 

Logic Function	When to use
AND	Use it when adding multiple data sources within the same block. When all conditions are met the account will be under this Journey Stage.
OR	Use it when: Combining multiple blocks into your logic. Selecting multiple values within one filter. When either condition is met the account will be under this Journey Stage.

Once you’ve customized your Journey Stages funnel, you’re ready to pursue the main use cases of Journey Stages: measuring the impact of your account-based marketing efforts on your Target Account List.

 

Data Sources available to customize Journey Stages

Data Sources	Attributes available	Example
RollWorks Website Data	Page Views  Unique Visitors Conversions URL Visited
RollWorks Advertising Data	Ad Impressions Ad Clicks
HubSpot	HubSpot Deal fields. HubSpot Company fields. HubSpot Engagement fields. Requires a HubSpot Integration with RollWorks. Attributes available to you will vary based on your own HubSpot fields.
Salesforce	Salesforce Account fields. Salesforce Opportunity fields Salesforce Activity fields. Requires a Salesforce Integration with RollWorks. Attributes available to you will vary based on your own Salesforce fields.
Marketo	Marketo Activity Requires a Marketo Integration with RollWorks. Attributes available to you will vary based on your own Salesforce fields.
G2 Buyer Intent	Category views Comparisons Alternative Views Profile Views Requires a G2 Integration with RollWorks. Attributes available to you will vary depending on your G2 subscription.

 

Lookback period

The lookback period used to define your journey stages can be customized by changing the logic that defines each individual stage.

For default stages: Aware, Unaware, and Engaged

• Default stages are defined by RollWorks website activity during the last 30 days.
• Click on the first stage called aware.
• Click the dropdown within the last 30 days and change to desired lookback period (7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days).
• Click Done in the filter fox.
• Click Next and click Save.
• Repeat the same process for the other stages: unaware and engaged.

For Default Stages: Open Opportunity and Won Opportunity

• The Open Opportunity and Won Opportunity stages are based on a point-in-time metric Opportunity Closed = False and Opportunity Won = True
• These stages are not defined by a lookback window, they are defined by whether or not an Opportunity exists for the dates you enter in your comparison date.

 

Change Journey Stages order

In addition to customizing the logic that defines each stage, you can change the order of your stages by simply dragging and dropping the stage tile to the desired position.

If the same account meets the criteria for multiple stages, the account will be added to the stage closer to the bottom of your funnel. The stages at the bottom of your funnel are closer to conversion and further down the sales pipeline.

 

Segment Account Lists using Journey Stages

Account Groups are a useful tool to segment your account lists for prioritization when launching advertising playbooks. A common use case is to create an Account group using the custom journey stage Sales Ready.

• Log in to RollWorks and go to Audiences > Account Lists.
• Click the name of the Account List you want to segment.
• If you do not have any Account Groups yet, click the prompt Group by Journey Stages to create an Account Group for each stage that you have.
• If you already have Account Groups created, you can select the Journey Stage attribute under RollWorks Company Attributes when creating the logic to define your Account Group. 

Learn more about how to create Account Groups in the Account List Builder help center guide.

 

Push Journey Stage data to your CRM

As part of the daily CRM data sync between RollWorks and Salesforce/HubSpot, we will push Journey Stages data. You can leverage this data to create reports and dashboards for your sales team, we suggest leveraging the Sales Ready stage.

You must ensure your RollWorks account is connected to your CRM:

CRM	How to connect this CRM to RollWorks
Salesforce	Salesforce Integration configuration guide: to sync data to the RollWorks Account Data Custom object.
HubSpot	HubSpot Integration configuration guide: to sync Journey stage to Company properties.

RollWorks will sync over Journey Stage data to your CRM follows:

Field Name in Salesforce	Field Name in HubSpot	CRM Sync details
'Journey Stage'	'RollWorks Journey Stage'	Journey Stage will not be pushed to Salesforce in the following scenarios: The Account is no longer on a RollWorks Account List The Account does not meet the criteria of any of your Journey Stages in RollWorks.
'Journey Stage as of Last Update'	'RollWorks Journey Stage as of'	The last time the Journey Stage was updated for this Account record. You should always use Journey Stage as of last update in combination with the Journey Stage field to ensure you are using recent data that is still relevant.

To learn about all the different RollWorks data that is synced to your CRM visit one of the following articles:

• RollWorks data available in Salesforce.
• RollWorks data available in HubSpot.

 

View Journey Stage in your CRM with the Sales Insights Widget

Your sales reps can view the Journey Stage for any existing Accounts/Company record directly in your CRM through the Sales Insights Widget.

First, you will need to ensure that you complete the setup steps below to grant access to your sales reps to the Sales Insights widget:

CRM	How to enable Sales Insights for my sales team
Salesforce	Sales Insights for Salesforce configuration guide: to show Journey Stage to sales reps through the RollWorks CRM widget.
HubSpot	Sales Insights for HubSpot configuration guide: to show Journey Stage to sales reps through the RollWorks CRM widget.

After you enable Sales Insights for your sales reps they will be able to view the widget, which includes Journey Stage and much more.

 

To learn about how sales Reps can use the Sales Insights Widget directly on your CRM visit one of the following articles:

• Using the RollWorks Sales Insights Widget in Salesforce.
• Using the RollWorks Sales Insights Widget in HubSpot.

 

Troubleshooting Journey Stages

Some CRM/MAP values are not available to edit Journey Stages

When customizing your Journey Stages using Salesforce, HubSpot, or Marketo you may encounter an issue when you are not able to select the specific field values you want to use. The example below depicts this issue - the value 60% Probability for the field Deal Stage is missing from the RollWorks Journey Stage logic builder.

This will happen when:

1. Your CRM/MAP field values are not defined as a picklist.
2. No records exist for a value in your CRM/MAP.

In the example above, RollWorks does not show 60% Probability because the Deal Stage field values in HubSpot have not been defined as a picklist and there are no records with a Deal Stage equal to 60% Probability currently.

When you are missing a value when customizing Journey Stages you can adjust your logic by adding a new block with OR logic. Add the filter using 'contains' instead of 'equals'.

 

Some Accounts are missing under Journey Stages

In order for an Account to be visible under Journey Stages so that you can track its progression all the following must be true:

1. The Account must be part of an existing Account List. If you do not see a specific account in Journey Stages the most common reason is that you may not have added that specific Account to any of your Account Lists.
2. The Account must meet the criteria of at least one of your Journey Stages. If a specific Account is part of your Account Lists but doesn't meet the criteria for any of your Journey Stages:
   • The account will not be added to any Journey Stage.
   • In your CRM (Salesforce or HubSpot) the Journey Stage will be blank.
   • In RollWorks we will flag these accounts as 'excluded' from Journey Stages:

The same account is added to multiple stages

If the same Account meets the criteria for multiple Journey Stages the account will be added to the stage closer to the bottom of your funnel. The stages at the bottom of your funnel are closer to conversion and further down the sales pipeline. Learn more about Journey Stages Best Practices here.