Tactical Tuesday breaks down the real challenges sellers face and gives you a practical way to attack them. Short, sharp, and built for the field — not the classroom.
THE BIG PROBLEM
Most pipeline reviews are theater.
Rep pulls up the CRM. Scrolls through deals. Says “this one’s at 70%, we sent the proposal, waiting to hear back.” Manager nods. Next deal.
Nothing got diagnosed. No friction got surfaced. No momentum got tested.
You just spent 45 minutes reciting pipeline instead of coaching it.
And then you wonder why your forecast misses every quarter.
HOW MOST PEOPLE SOLVE IT
They add more fields to the CRM.
They require reps to update stages before the call. They build a slide template. They make the meetings longer.
Some go deeper - MEDDIC, MEDDPICC, rigid qualification scorecards. Good frameworks. But even those break down when the culture of the review is still built around “walk me through your top deals.”
The format changes. The conversation doesn’t.
WHY IT DOESN’T WORK
Because stage updates tell you where a deal is. They don’t tell you why it’s stuck, what’s missing, or whether it belongs in the pipeline at all.
A deal sitting in “Proposal Sent” for three weeks tells you nothing.
Can the rep name the economic buyer? Is there a Mutual Action Plan? Has Legal been looped in? What happens if the prospect does nothing?
CRM stages don’t answer those questions. Your pipeline review should.
Stage ≠ progress. Reviewing hope isn’t a strategy.
A BETTER WAY
It starts with one question before you review a single deal:
“What real movement happened since our last call?”
Real movement isn’t “I followed up.” Real movement is: a new stakeholder engaged, a MAP updated, Legal initiated, budget confirmed, or friction surfaced and addressed.
No real movement? That’s your coaching moment. Right there. Before you’ve even looked at the next step.
From there, diagnose by Zone - not by stage:
🟡 Yellow Zone — Is this deal actually qualified? Does the rep know the economic buyer, the top-3 priority, what happens if they do nothing?
🟢 Green Zone — Is there momentum? A MAP in place? Multi-threading happening? Micro-commitments being made every 7–14 days?
🔴 Red Zone — Are we leading or reacting? Has Legal seen the MSA? What friction is still outstanding that could kill this deal at the one-yard line?
Change the questions. Change the culture.
❌ Theater. ✅ Diagnosis
”Walk me through your top 5 deals”. “Which deal has the most risk right now and why?”
“Is it still on track?” “What moved backward this week?”
“How are you feeling about it?” “What friction have you preloaded?”
“What stage is it in?” “What real movement happened since our last call?”
“What’s the close date?” “What is the next scheduled commitment?”
Make reps defend momentum. Make them explain friction. Make them name blockers.
That’s how you build closers and not reporters.
ACTION STEPS
Start every deal review with the movement question. “What real movement happened since our last call?” If the rep can’t answer it cleanly, you have your coaching agenda.
Diagnose by zone, not by stage. Pull up your zone framework before the call. Yellow questions are different from Green questions. Red questions are different from both.
Require confident answers to the 5 Deal Questions. Zone, movement, friction, missing stakeholders, next scheduled commitment. If a rep can’t answer all five — the deal isn’t healthy. It’s hopeful.
Kill deals that aren’t moving. A smaller, real pipeline beats a bloated fantasy pipeline every quarter. Give your team permission to disqualify.
Close every deal review with a locked commitment. Not “I’ll follow up.” A specific date, a specific person, a specific action. No commitment = no next step = no deal.
DEAL DIAGNOSIS SCORECARD
Run this on your next pipeline review. Score each deal 1–5.
Criterion Score (1–5)
Rep can clearly articulate the economic buyer and their priority
Real movement occurred since the last review
A Mutual Action Plan exists and is actively updated
Friction has been identified and a plan exists to address it
Next step is a scheduled commitment — not a follow-up
20–25 — Healthy deal. Keep moving.
13–19 — Proceed with caution. Fill the gaps now.
Below 12 — Diagnose hard or disqualify. Don’t carry hope.
What’s the one question you wish your manager asked in every pipeline review? Drop it in the comments.
— Vince Beese | Red Zone Selling™
Book a free consultation → calendly.com/vbeese
📘 Red Zone Selling — available on Amazon
Now let’s start winning! 🏈
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.