Configuring Stages

This guide walks you through configuring stages for your business—from planning your customer journey to launching live stages with objectives.

Before you start

Prerequisites

Ensure you have:

Data integrations connected — CRM and product data flowing into Trig
Organisations in Trig — Customer accounts visible in the Audience view
Internal alignment — Agreement on what your customer journey looks like

Planning questions

Before creating stages, answer these for each stage of your journey:

Question	Example Answer
What period does this stage cover?	Days 1 to 30 after signup
What happens in this stage?	Initial setup, first value
How do customers enter?	First seen date within 30 days
How do customers exit?	After 30 days OR all objectives complete
What 4 to 7 milestones matter?	Created project, invited team, connected integration

Step 1: Map your customer journey

Identify your stages

Most B2B SaaS companies use four stages:

Onboarding → Adoption → Expansion → Renewal

For each stage, define:

Scope

What period of the journey? How long does it typically last?

Entry

What triggers entry? Time-based, event-based, or completion of previous stage?

Objectives

What 4 to 7 milestones define healthy progression?

Exit

When does this stage end? Completion-based, time-based, or hybrid?

Example: Onboarding stage

Attribute	Value
Name	Onboarding
Duration	Days 0 to 30
Entry criteria	`first_seen_date` within last 30 days
Exit criteria	Time-based: Auto-exit after 30 days
Objectives	Created first project, Invited team member, Connected integration, Generated first report

Step 2: Create your first stage

Navigate to Stages

Go to Dashboard > Stages in the main navigation

Create new stage

Click Create Stage and enter:

Name: Onboarding
Description: Initial setup and first value milestones

Configure entry criteria

Define when organisations enter:

first_seen_date is within last 30 days

Configure exit criteria

For your first stage, use time-based exit:

Auto-exit after 30 days

Save the stage

Review and save. Don’t launch yet—add objectives first.

Start with time-based exit. You can refine to completion-based exit once you understand typical customer patterns.

Step 3: Add objectives

Identify 4 to 7 key milestones

For each stage, identify the actions that indicate healthy progression: Onboarding stage example:

Created first project
Invited a team member
Connected an integration
Generated first report
Completed a full week of usage

Create each objective

Open your stage

Click into the stage you just created

Add objective

Click Add Objective and configure:

Name: Created First Project
Completion criteria: projects_created >= 1

Repeat

Add 3 to 5 additional objectives with clear completion criteria

Completion criteria examples

Objective	Criteria
Created First Project	`projects_created >= 1`
Invited Team Member	`team_members >= 2`
Connected Integration	`integrations_connected >= 1`
Generated First Report	`reports_generated >= 1`
Completed Full Week	`days_with_activity >= 7`

Objective best practices

Keep objectives simple. Each objective should track one clear milestone. Complex objectives with multiple AND conditions are harder to interpret.

Good objective:

Name: Created First Project
Criteria: projects_created >= 1

Too complex:

Name: Fully Onboarded
Criteria: projects_created >= 1 AND team_members >= 2 AND integrations >= 1

Better as three separate objectives.

Step 4: Configure additional stages

Create Adoption stage

Attribute	Value
Name	Adoption
Entry	`last_completed_onboarding_stage` has any value
Exit	Auto-exit after 90 days
Objectives	Feature depth, Team growth, Regular usage

Create Expansion stage

Attribute	Value
Name	Expansion
Entry	`last_completed_adoption_stage` has any value
Exit	Ongoing (no auto-exit)
Objectives	Premium feature exploration, Seat utilisation, Upgrade signals

Create Renewal stage

Attribute	Value
Name	Renewal
Entry	`renewal_date` within 90 days
Exit	Renewal complete or churned
Objectives	Engagement maintained, Health score stable, Renewal confirmed

Step 5: Validate before launch

Check data availability

For each objective, confirm:

The event or attribute exists in your data
It’s flowing into Trig correctly
It updates when customers take the action

Review audience size

In the stage configuration:

Check how many organisations would enter
Verify this matches your expectations
Spot-check individual organisations

Test with sample organisations

Look at 3 to 5 specific organisations:

Would they enter this stage correctly?
Would objectives mark complete when expected?
Are there edge cases you haven’t considered?

Step 6: Launch your stages

Review configuration

Double-check entry criteria, exit criteria, and all objectives

Launch the stage

Click Go Live to activate the stage

Monitor initial data

Watch the first few days to ensure:

Organisations are entering correctly
Objectives are completing as expected
No unexpected edge cases

After launch

Monitor key metrics

In the first few weeks, watch:

Metric	What to Look For
Entry rate	Are organisations entering as expected?
Objective completion	Are objectives completing when they should?
Average times	Are averages building as data accumulates?
Edge cases	Any organisations stuck unexpectedly?

Refine based on data

After 2 to 4 weeks, review:

Objectives with 0% completion: Maybe too hard or wrong criteria
Objectives with 100% instant completion: Maybe too easy or automatic
Objectives that predict success: Prioritise in interventions
Objectives that predict churn: Add early warning jobs

Iterate

Stages improve over time:

Add new objectives as you learn what matters
Adjust thresholds that are too easy or hard
Remove objectives that provide no signal
Refine exit criteria based on observed patterns

Common configuration patterns

PLG / self-serve

Stage: Onboarding
Entry: first_seen_date within 14 days
Exit: Auto-exit after 14 days
Duration: Short, focused

Objectives:
- Completed signup flow
- Explored core feature
- Returned second day
- Invited first team member

Sales-led / enterprise

Stage: Onboarding
Entry: contract_signed = true
Exit: All objectives complete OR 60 days
Duration: Longer, more objectives

Objectives:
- Kickoff call completed
- Admin users configured
- SSO connected
- First use case deployed
- Training completed
- Business owner engaged

Hybrid

Stage: Onboarding
Entry: first_seen_date within 30 days
Exit: Auto-exit after 30 days

Objectives vary by segment:
- Self-serve: 4 objectives, simpler criteria
- Sales-led: 6 objectives, include manual steps

Troubleshooting

”No organisations entering stage”

Check entry criteria—are they correct?
Verify data is flowing for the criteria attributes
Confirm organisations exist that should match

”Objectives not completing”

Verify the attribute/event name is correct
Check that data is updating when customers act
Test with a known customer who should have completed

”Too many organisations stuck”

Review exit criteria—is there a path forward?
Consider time-based exit as safety net
Check if objectives are too difficult

Summary

Configuring stages:

Plan first — Map your journey, identify stages and objectives
Start simple — One stage with 4 to 5 objectives, time-based exit
Verify data — Ensure attributes exist and flow correctly
Launch and monitor — Watch initial data, catch issues early
Iterate — Refine based on observed patterns

Once configured, stages become the foundation for pattern discovery, Signals, and job interventions.

​Before you start

​Prerequisites

​Planning questions

​Step 1: Map your customer journey

​Identify your stages

​Example: Onboarding stage

​Step 2: Create your first stage

​Step 3: Add objectives

​Identify 4 to 7 key milestones

​Create each objective

​Completion criteria examples

​Objective best practices

​Step 4: Configure additional stages

​Create Adoption stage

​Create Expansion stage

​Create Renewal stage

​Step 5: Validate before launch

​Check data availability

​Review audience size

​Test with sample organisations

​Step 6: Launch your stages

​After launch

​Monitor key metrics

​Refine based on data

​Iterate

​Common configuration patterns

​PLG / self-serve

​Sales-led / enterprise

​Hybrid

​Troubleshooting

​”No organisations entering stage”

​”Objectives not completing”

​”Too many organisations stuck”

​Summary

Before you start

Prerequisites

Planning questions

Step 1: Map your customer journey

Identify your stages

Example: Onboarding stage

Step 2: Create your first stage

Step 3: Add objectives

Identify 4 to 7 key milestones

Create each objective

Completion criteria examples

Objective best practices

Step 4: Configure additional stages

Create Adoption stage

Create Expansion stage

Create Renewal stage

Step 5: Validate before launch

Check data availability

Review audience size

Test with sample organisations

Step 6: Launch your stages

After launch

Monitor key metrics

Refine based on data

Iterate

Common configuration patterns

PLG / self-serve

Sales-led / enterprise

Hybrid

Troubleshooting

”No organisations entering stage”

”Objectives not completing”

”Too many organisations stuck”

Summary