Most founders trust their pipeline too much. The numbers look fine — until they don't. Run this checklist weekly to surface stuck and dying deals before they blow up your forecast.
Deal Qualification
For each active deal, ask yourself:
I can name the specific pain this prospect is trying to solve — not just "they want the product."
If you can't articulate their pain in one sentence, you don't have a real deal.
⚠ Flag this deal — go back to discovery before next touchpoint
I have spoken to or confirmed the actual decision maker — not just the champion.
Champions can lose their internal fight. Know who has final authority.
⚠ Flag this deal — single-threaded deals have a high ghost rate
There is a specific, agreed-upon next step with a date — not "they'll get back to me."
A deal without a committed next step is not a deal — it's a hope.
⚠ Flag this deal — re-engage within 48hrs with a direct ask
The prospect has articulated what happens to them if they don't solve this — and it's real.
No cost of inaction = no urgency = no close.
⚠ Flag this deal — book time to surface impact before presenting pricing
Budget is confirmed — either already allocated, or there's a clear path to approval.
"We'll figure it out" is not a budget. Confirm before investing more time.
⚠ Flag this deal — have the budget conversation directly in your next call
Momentum Signals
Deals die quietly. These are the early warning signs.
Every active deal has had meaningful contact in the last 10 business days.
Anything older than 2 weeks with no activity is decaying, not dormant.
⚠ Flag — send a re-engagement note today, not this week
The close date in your pipeline is based on a real date the prospect gave you — not a guess.
Self-assigned close dates are wish lists. Prospect-confirmed dates are real.
⚠ Flag — update close date based on actual evidence or move to nurture
The prospect has taken at least one visible action this week (replied, shared internally, asked a follow-up question).
You doing all the work is not momentum. They need to have skin in the game.
⚠ Flag — if they've gone passive, the deal is at risk. Send a pattern interrupt.
You know what the prospect's internal evaluation timeline looks like — and it aligns with your close date.
Misaligned timelines are the #1 source of late-stage surprises.
⚠ Flag — confirm their decision timeline explicitly in your next touchpoint
No deal has been in the same stage for more than 3 weeks without a documented reason.
Stage stagnation is almost always a signal — either the deal is stuck or it's already lost.
⚠ Flag — move it forward, re-qualify, or kill it. Stale deals waste forecast credibility.
Risk Flags
These patterns kill deals after you think they're won.
No deal in your pipeline has "maybe" as the primary buying signal — interest is confirmed.
Polite interest is not buying intent. If they haven't said yes to a next step, they haven't said yes.
⚠ Flag — requalify any deal where you're not sure they're actually buying
No deal is being held up by a vague "internal process" that has no timeline.
"We have a process for this" with no details is often a soft no.
⚠ Flag — ask directly: "What does that process look like and when does it conclude?"
You have not discounted more than 15% without a documented reason and a reciprocal commitment from the prospect.
Unsolicited discounting trains buyers to wait. Never give without getting.
⚠ Flag — if you've discounted freely, reset expectations and tie pricing to commitment
You are not in a competitive evaluation where you don't know your position.
If you're one of five vendors and you don't know why you'd win, you probably won't.
⚠ Flag — ask the prospect directly where you stand and what would make the decision easy
All key objections have been surfaced and addressed — nothing major is being avoided.
Unaddressed objections don't disappear. They show up as ghosting or a last-minute "not right now."
⚠ Flag — proactively name the unspoken objection in your next touchpoint
Pipeline Coverage
Zoom out. Look at the whole pipeline, not just individual deals.
Your pipeline has at least 3x coverage against your quota for this quarter.
Sub-3x coverage means you're counting on everything to close. That never happens.
⚠ Flag — go back to top of funnel immediately. Deals close slower than you think.
You added at least 2 new qualified opportunities to the pipeline this week.
Only working existing deals is how you end up with an empty pipeline in 60 days.
⚠ Flag — block time today for top-of-funnel activity. Prospecting is non-negotiable.
You can clearly separate your "commit" deals from your "upside" deals — and you're not counting upside as commit.
Blurring these two categories is how forecasts fail. Be honest with yourself.
⚠ Flag — go through every deal and categorize: commit, upside, or nurture. No maybes.
You've killed at least one deal this week that wasn't moving — and freed up that time for better opportunities.
Dead deals don't close. They just waste your forecast and your bandwidth.
⚠ Flag — review every deal over 45 days old. Anything without a clear path forward should be cut.
Your pipeline reflects reality — not optimism. If you're being honest, you'd bet money on your commit number.
This is the most important check. If you wouldn't bet on it, don't count it.
⚠ Flag — trim your commit to what you'd actually stake your reputation on
Reference
Lie 01
False Urgency
The prospect said "end of quarter" — but there's no external driver behind that date. It's a polite guess, not a real deadline.
Tell: Ask "what happens internally if this slips to next quarter?" If the answer is "nothing," it's fake urgency.
Lie 02
Single-Threaded Deals
You've only spoken to one person. They're enthusiastic. But they don't control the budget or the final yes.
Tell: You've never had a conversation with anyone else at the company, even though the deal is $10K+.
Lie 03
Stale "Next Steps"
Your CRM says "following up" as the next step, and it's been there for three weeks. That's not a next step — that's hope.
Tell: The last three touchpoints were outbound from you only. No response, no inbound action.
Submit your pipeline data and I'll walk through every deal — what to push, what to kill, and where to focus this week.
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