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In Salesforce, sales representatives or account executives are typically responsible for moving Opportunities through different stages in the sales cycle. The movement of an Opportunity through these stages is usually driven by the activities and interactions between the sales rep and the prospect or customer.

Here’s how this typically works:

1. Sales Representatives (Reps):

• Initiation: The sales rep creates and manages the Opportunity after qualifying a lead or identifying a potential deal.

• Progression: As they interact with the prospect (through meetings, calls, proposals, etc.), they update the Opportunity’s status to reflect the current stage (e.g., from “Prospecting” to “Needs Analysis” or “Proposal/Quote”).

• Customization: In some organizations, sales reps are required to update certain fields or information to reflect key milestones, such as budget, timeline, or customer objections.

• Closure: The sales rep is responsible for marking the Opportunity as “Closed Won” or “Closed Lost” based on the outcome of the deal.

2. Sales Managers:

• Supervision: Sales managers often oversee and support their team of reps by ensuring that Opportunities are progressing through the stages correctly and in a timely manner.

• Support/Adjustment: Sales managers might help with strategic decision-making during negotiation or review stages and may make adjustments or provide guidance on opportunities that are stuck in one stage for too long.

• Opportunity Review: Managers may review Opportunities regularly in meetings, providing insight or advice on how to move deals forward or close them out.

3. Sales Operations or Admins:

• Automation: In some cases, Salesforce Admins or Sales Operations teams may set up automations, workflows, or triggers that move Opportunities to certain stages based on specific criteria. For example, once a certain task or meeting is marked as completed, the Opportunity might automatically advance to the next stage.

• Stage Customization: Sales admins can help customize the Opportunity stages to align with the business process and define when an Opportunity should be moved based on inputs from the sales rep.

4. Collaborative Team Effort:

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: In some cases, different team members, such as customer success managers or technical support, may be involved in helping to progress the Opportunity, especially during the negotiation and post-sale stages.

• Manager Input: Sales managers may also step in to move the Opportunity if it’s stuck in a certain stage for too long or needs to be requalified.

Summary:

• The primary responsibility of moving the Opportunity through the stages typically lies with the sales rep. However, sales managers, admins, and cross-functional teams may also play key roles in guiding and assisting the process.