Weekly pipeline review

A weekly pipeline review is a short meeting about open deals. The head of sales and the sellers go through the pipeline and agree on what happens next. The goal is decisions on deals, not status reports.

It runs from the CRM, not from memory. Before the meeting, each seller updates stages, amounts, decision dates and next steps. The meeting then works from short lists: deals with no next step, overdue steps, stalled deals and changes in the forecast.

For example, the list holds a deal whose next step is two weeks overdue. The seller calls the customer that afternoon, or the deal closes as lost with a reason.

Hold it on the same day and at the same time each week, and keep it short. Start with forty-five minutes and test whether that is enough. The head of sales leads, and each seller speaks for their own deals. The owner joins rarely and reads a short summary instead.

Each deal on the lists leaves with one decision. Move it with a new dated next step, fix what is missing, or close it as lost with a reason. Deals that moved this week need no time at all. The meeting ends with an updated forecast for the period.

The review is the core of the management rhythm. It catches a stalled deal while it can still be saved, enforces next steps and keeps the forecast honest. Coaching on skills belongs in one-to-one meetings, so keep this review on deals and decisions.

• Going round the room. Each seller tells the story of every deal, and the hour is gone. Work from the exception lists, and skip the deals that moved.
• Updating the CRM during the meeting. The meeting turns into data entry while everyone waits. Make the update a rule for the day before the review.
• Coaching one seller in front of the team. It takes the meeting away from deals and puts the seller on the spot. Note the topic and take it to the next one-to-one.
• Leaving decisions unwritten. Agreements said aloud are forgotten by the next week. Before the meeting ends, each decision becomes a next step in the CRM with an owner and a date.

By Friday, the head of sales fixes the day and time of the review and sends sellers one rule. The CRM is updated by the end of the previous day. Before the first meeting, pull three lists. Deals with no next step, overdue next steps, and deals without movement for several weeks. Run the meeting from those lists only, and write every decision into the CRM before people leave.

A weekly meeting on stuck deals that ends with a decision and an owner for each.