SOW Scoping & Creation Process
Phocas Software — Account Executive & Pre-Sales Consultant Guide | v1.0
First call
Lead first call
Qualify pain, ERP, modules of interest
Send follow-up & book next steps
Call recorded in Gong
Optional
Attend if needed
Technical listening only
SOW auto-drafted from Gong
Proposed scope based on transcript, cross-referenced against HubSpot line items
⚠ Scope approval required
✓Confirm included modules match HubSpot line items
✓Explicitly mark any discussed-but-excluded items
✓Flag items demoed but not sold (e.g. AR shown, not included)
Gong may infer scope from demo content — Pre-Sales must confirm what is actually in and out before the SOW is treated as valid.
Review, add to & amend SOW
Build on the auto-draft once scope is confirmed
Provisional SOW created
Auto-drafted from Gong — scope approval pending
20%
~$TBC
Indicative
🧮 Calculator output
Fast-track
Simple deals can skip the second & scoping calls — Pre-Sales finalises the SOW and moves straight to approval. Pre-Sales Consultant sign-off still required.
Second call
Co-lead second call
Deeper demo, surface open questions
Lead technical discussion
Data sources, integrations, user count
SOW updated from Gong transcript
Proposed changes cross-referenced against HubSpot line items
Review, add to & amend SOW
Accept, adjust or expand on proposed changes
SOW updated
Richer detail from second call added
50%
$XX,XXX
Refined
🧮 Calculator output
Scoping call
Facilitate scoping session
Ensure customer IT & business owner present
Lead scoping session
Firm up all requirements, classify complexity
SOW updated from Gong transcript
Proposed changes cross-referenced against HubSpot line items
Finalise SOW — add overrides if needed
Accept changes, flag effort adjustments with reason
SOW complete — ready for review
Full scope, assumptions & overrides noted
80%
$XX,XXX
Accurate
🧮 Calculator output
⚠ Override if needed
Approval
Commercial review
Pricing, margin, deal terms inc. any overrides
⬡ Pre-Sales Consultant sign-off
Scope, in/out items, calculator outputs & overrides all approved
SOW approved & locked
v1.0 in HubSpot — no further amendments
95%
$XX,XXX
Locked
🧮 Calculator + approved overrides
Sign-off
Present commercials & SOW to customer
Walked through together, not just emailed
✓ SOW countersigned
Attached to commercial agreement — deal closed in HubSpot
Brief Delivery team
SOW walkthrough inc. overrides, kickoff prep
SOW signed & filed
Countersigned & handed to Delivery
100%
Appendix
⚠ Gong auto-draft — scope validation
⚠
Gong captures what was discussed on a call — not necessarily what was sold. For example, a Pre-Sales Consultant may demo AR functionality to show breadth of the platform, but AR may not be a purchased line item. Without validation, Gong could auto-include AR in the SOW scope incorrectly. The auto-draft must always be cross-referenced against confirmed HubSpot line items, and the Pre-Sales Consultant must explicitly mark each module as included or excluded before the SOW is treated as valid. This approval is a required step — not optional — at every call stage.
👁 SOW visibility & access
👁
The SOW is live and visible to all internal teams in HubSpot throughout the entire process. Professional Services, Sales leadership, and any internal stakeholder can view it at any deal stage — no need to request a copy. The assigned AE and Pre-Sales Consultant are the only roles with edit access.
🧮 Pricing calculator & overrides
🧮
Pricing is generated by Phocas's pricing calculator — not manually set by Pre-Sales. The calculator produces the OTF based on confirmed modules, data sources, entities, and complexity. Pre-Sales can apply overrides where the calculator doesn't reflect real effort — for example, a known technical complexity that adds time, or a lift-and-shift migration where effort is lower than calculated. All overrides must include a written reason and are reviewed as part of the Pre-Sales Consultant sign-off gate.
💬 Internal collaboration panel
PS
Pre-Sales Consultant
Gong has picked up AR in the auto-draft — we demoed it but it's not a line item in HubSpot. I've marked it as excluded in the SOW.
PS
Pre-Sales Consultant
Customer is on SAP B1 with a custom GL structure — calculator has priced at standard. Flagging an override: +1 day for mapping complexity. Reason noted in SOW.
PS
Professional Services
Agreed on the GL complexity. Also — they're lifting and shifting from their old BI tool so config effort should be lower. Suggest reducing config days by 1.5.
AE
Account Executive
Confirmed — existing report templates can be reused. Pre-Sales to apply the reduction and note the rationale in HubSpot.
Any internal team member — AE, Pre-Sales, or Professional Services — can comment, ask questions, or flag scope and override issues directly against the SOW in HubSpot at any point during the process.