This deal review template fits one live deal on one page. It stages the deal by what the buyer has said and done, names the single thing the deal is missing and plans the next buyer conversation. Copy it into your doc or CRM notes, then read how to use it below. It is the working form behind our guide to deal coaching.
The deal review template
DEAL REVIEW Date:
Rep: Manager: Deal:
CRM stage: Close date: Value:
1. LAST WEEK
Planned conversation:
Did it happen? Y / N What did the buyer say?
2. THE DEAL FROM THE BUYER'S SIDE (rep, 5 lines max)
Who has the problem:
What they said it costs (their words):
Who decides / who signs:
Last buyer action and date:
3. EVIDENCE LADDER (first row with no evidence = real stage)
Rung Evidence (quote, email, date) Source
a. Buyer described the problem in own words
b. A named person put a number on it
c. Buyer said which criteria we meet / miss
d. The signer has been on a call
e. Buyer walked us through approval steps
f. A dated buyer step is on their calendar
Real stage: Matches CRM? Y / N
4. THE ONE GAP (one sentence, about the buyer)
5. NEXT CONVERSATION
With (name, role):
Why they will take it:
Opening line (rep's words, said out loud):
Likely pushback:
Reply:
Leave with (date / name / number / intro):
6. DATES
Conversation on: Next review on:
Six sections, one page. Sections 1 and 6 make the review a loop: each one opens with what happened to last week's plan and closes with the date it will be checked.
- Last week: did the planned conversation happen?
- The deal from the buyer's side
- Evidence ladder: first empty row is the real stage
- The one gap, in one sentence
- Next conversation, with the opening line
- Dates: the conversation and the next review
If your team runs a methodology, rename the rungs in section 3 to its vocabulary. A MEDDPICC team can map them to metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria and decision process (MEDDPICC). A Gap Selling team can ask for the current state and its cost in the buyer's words (Gap Selling). A ValueSelling Framework® team can ask for the business issue and the person with the power to buy (ValueSelling). Keep the evidence and source columns whatever the labels say.
How to use it
- Pick the deal before the meeting. Use the pipeline review to choose one or two deals per rep where a conversation this week changes the outcome. Our pipeline review template produces that shortlist.
- The rep fills sections 1 and 2 before the call. Five lines, in the buyer's words where possible. Ten minutes of prep is enough.
- Fill section 3 together, on the call. The rep says the evidence out loud; the manager writes it in. If the rep cannot point to a quote, an email or a calendar entry, the cell stays empty. A cell with a claim but no buyer evidence counts as empty; flag it. Start at row a and stop at the first empty row.
- Write the gap in one sentence. It names something the buyer has not yet said or done: "The CFO has not heard the cost of the problem."
- Plan the conversation in section 5, and hear the opening. The rep says the opening line out loud. If it starts with "just checking in", go again.
- Put both dates in the CRM. The conversation, and the next review.
- Start the next review with section 1. Did it happen, and what did the buyer say?
A review using the template takes about 30 minutes. The step-by-step agenda is in how to run a deal review.
When to run a deal review
Run one before any conversation that decides the deal, and whenever the evidence stops matching the stage. The usual triggers:
- The first meeting with the person who signs.
- A pricing, proposal or procurement call.
- The deal is in commit and section 3 has an empty rung below the real stage.
- The close date has moved twice, or the deal shows two of the red flags below.
- A new name appears on the buyer's side, or a known one goes quiet.
A deal that triggers nothing this week does not need the template. It stays on the pipeline review.
Who should be in the room
Keep it small. The rep and the manager are the review. Add a sales engineer when the gap is technical, such as a security review or an integration question, and a senior leader only when the next conversation needs one, for example a peer call with the buyer's executive. Anyone who joins should leave with a task in section 5 or not come.
The rep talks most. If the manager is doing more of the talking by section 3, the review has turned into an inspection, and the rep will start filling the page with what the manager wants to hear.
The manager's 15-minute prep
Before the call, the sales manager reads three things and writes down one question.
- Last week's section 5. What conversation was planned, with whom, by when.
- The CRM activity since. Emails, meetings and any buyer replies. Note the date of the last thing the buyer did.
- The last call recording or notes. Find the buyer's own words on the problem and on who decides.
- Your one question. The rung you expect to be empty, phrased as a question about the buyer: "What has Robin said about the $30k?"
Managers who skip the prep tend to ask about everything. Managers who prep tend to ask one question and let the rep work through the answer.
Red flags that move a deal out of commit
Any two of these and the deal goes to best case until the evidence changes:
- Nobody who signs has been on a call.
- The number on the problem came from the rep, not a named buyer.
- The approval steps are a guess.
- The last buyer action is more than two weeks old.
- The next step is "they will get back to us", with no date.
A filled-in example (illustrative)
The account, people and numbers are fictional.
DEAL REVIEW Date: Tue 3rd
Rep: Sam Manager: Lee Deal: Brightwell Foods
CRM stage: Proposal Close date: 28th Value: $72,000
1. LAST WEEK
Planned conversation: Ask Kai (Ops Director) for the approval steps
Did it happen? Y Buyer said: "Finance signs anything over $50k.
I'll need Robin in Finance on board."
2. THE DEAL FROM THE BUYER'S SIDE
Who has the problem: Kai, Ops Director, late supplier orders
What they said it costs: "We wrote off about $30k of spoiled
stock last quarter."
Who decides / signs: Robin, Finance Director
Last buyer action: Kai shared the approval policy, Thu 29th
3. EVIDENCE LADDER
a. Problem in own words Kai, call 1, "late orders kill us" notes
b. Number on it Kai, "$30k spoiled stock last Q" call 2
c. Criteria met / missed Kai: "demo covered it" (no criteria) FLAG
d. Signer on a call none
e. Approval steps Kai's email, 29th: Finance >$50k email
f. Dated buyer step none
Real stage: c (flagged), d missing Matches CRM? N
4. THE ONE GAP
Robin has never heard the $30k number from anyone.
5. NEXT CONVERSATION
With: Kai
Why Kai will take it: Kai needs Robin's sign-off to fix the problem
Opening: "Kai, you told me spoiled stock cost about $30k last
quarter. Before this reaches Robin, can we spend 20 minutes on
how Robin will want that number shown?"
Likely pushback: "I can just forward her the proposal."
Reply: "Happy for you to. Can I draft the one page Robin will
ask for, and join for ten minutes if questions come up?"
Leave with: a date for Robin, or Kai's agreement to the one page
6. DATES
Conversation on: Wed 4th Next review on: Tue 10th
The CRM said Proposal. The evidence says the solution criteria are unconfirmed and nobody who signs has been involved. Sam leaves with a specific call to make tomorrow.
Three ways teams misuse it
Filling it alone. A rep completes the whole page before the meeting and the manager reads it back. Section 3 becomes the rep's beliefs typed into an evidence column. Fix: the rep fills sections 1 and 2 only; section 3 is filled out loud, together.
Treating section 3 as a scorecard. The manager counts how many rows have something in them and scores the deal by the count of filled rows. The ladder is ordered for a reason: a deal with rows a, b and f filled and c to e empty is at row c. Fix: read from the top and stop at the first gap.
Skipping section 5's opening line. The team writes "Get to Finance" and moves on. That is a task. Fix: section 5 is not complete until the rep has said the opening sentence out loud and the manager has heard it.
Running the template on every deal
The template works when a manager has thirty good minutes for each deal that needs one. Most do not have that for every rep every week, and squeezing the review in does not fix it: frequent coaching from a less skilled manager was linked to worse results (Dahling et al. 2016, via our kickoff field study).
Our AI sales experts work the same questions on a call. The rep brings the deal to Caty and talks it through; she checks what the buyer has said against the team's method, names the gap, and has the rep say the opening line out loud. Next week she asks what the buyer said back. Teams on Gap Selling bring it to Keenan, and teams on the ValueSelling Framework® to Val. A rep who cannot talk can type it in. To see the ladder run on one of your own deals, talk to us, or see how deal execution works.
FAQ
What should a deal review template include?
A deal review template should include the buyer's view of the deal, an evidence ladder, the one gap, the next conversation and two dates. The ladder stages the deal by what the buyer has said and done, and the next conversation comes with its opening line. The page also opens with last week's planned conversation and what the buyer said.
What questions should I ask in a deal review?
Ask questions only buyer evidence can answer. What number did the buyer put on the problem, and who said it? Has the person who signs been on a call? What are the approval steps, in order? Which criteria did the buyer say we meet? What has changed since the last conversation?
How is a deal review template different from a pipeline review template?
A deal review template covers one deal in depth and ends in a planned buyer conversation. A pipeline review template covers a rep's whole book, one row per deal, and ends in a shortlist of deals that need a review. Teams usually use the pipeline template to choose deals for this one.
Should the rep fill in the deal review template before the meeting?
Only the first two sections: last week's conversation and the deal told from the buyer's side. The evidence ladder should be filled on the call, out loud, so a belief cannot slip into the evidence column. The manager writes; the rep talks.
Can I use this template with MEDDPICC or another methodology?
You can use this template with MEDDPICC or any other methodology by renaming the rungs to your method's terms and keeping the evidence and source columns. For MEDDPICC, the rungs become metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria and decision process. The template's job is to separate what the buyer has said from what the rep believes, whatever labels you use.