A manager should ask four kinds of questions in a pipeline review: is there enough pipeline to hit the number, is each deal as far along as the buyer's own actions show, what has moved since last week, and which two or three deals need a conversation with the buyer this week.
The short version
A pipeline review checks a book of deals. A deal review works one. Most lists of pipeline review questions are deal questions, which is how a pipeline review becomes a march through thirty opportunities. Start by dropping the questions that ask for a recital or a guess: is the close date up to date, did you email them back, what stage is it in, do we have a champion, what is the probability of this closing.
What replaces them are questions only buyer evidence can answer, asked across the book. On a committed deal, ask why it is in Commit, why that date, why that price, and what the buyer has done that says so. The review ends with a shortlist, and the deep questions go to the deal reviews that follow. Our guide to deal coaching shows how the two meetings fit together.
The questions, by what they check
| What it checks | Question | Answer that should worry you |
|---|---|---|
| Enough | "If every Commit deal closes, how far are you from the number?" | A gap the Best Case column has to fill on its own |
| Enough | "What did you add to the pipeline this month, and where did it come from?" | Nothing new in four weeks |
| Real | "For each Commit deal, what did the buyer do last, and when?" | A rep action ("sent the proposal") where a buyer action belongs |
| Real | "Which deals has the person who signs been on a call for?" | Late-stage deals where nobody who signs has spoken |
| Real | "Whose date is this close date, ours or theirs?" | A date the buyer has never said |
| Moving | "What changed since last week, on the buyer's side?" | "Nothing" on a deal still in Commit |
| Moving | "Which deal has had no buyer contact in two weeks?" | A large deal on that list that nobody has flagged |
| This week | "Which two deals would one conversation this week change?" | A rep who cannot pick |
| This week | "Which deal should we take out?" | Every deal defended equally |
The last two questions are the point of the meeting. The deals they produce get a full deal review, where the manager asks the questions on the gap; our deal review questions are sorted for that job.
An example (illustrative)
The rep and numbers are fictional. Ben's book shows $310,000 in Commit against a $250,000 quarter. His manager asks what the buyer did last on each Commit deal. Three of the five answers are rep actions: a proposal sent, a follow-up, a pricing call he asked for. Those three deals, $140,000 together, move to Best Case, leaving $170,000 backed by buyer actions.
"What changed since last week?" turns up one deal where the buyer booked a security review for Thursday. "Which two deals would one conversation change?" Ben picks the security review deal and the largest of the three he just moved, where the CFO has never been on a call. Both get a deal review on Tuesday. In 25 minutes, Ben's forecast went to $80,000 short, with two planned conversations aimed at the gap.
Follow-up questions when the first answer is thin
The first answer to a pipeline question is often a summary. These follow-ups get to the evidence without turning the review into a deal review.
| The rep says | Ask next |
|---|---|
| "They're really keen." | "What did they do that tells you that?" |
| "It's with procurement." | "Who in procurement, and what do they need from us?" |
| "The champion is taking it to the CFO." | "When, and what will the CFO see?" |
| "They said end of the month." | "What on their side has to happen by then?" |
| "We're waiting on legal." | "Is that their legal or ours, and when did it go?" |
| "Pricing went well." | "Did they push back on anything, and who was on the call?" |
| "No change this week." | "When is the next time the buyer has to do something?" |
One follow-up per deal is usually enough to tell a real deal from a hopeful one. If the second answer is still a summary, the deal goes on the shortlist for a deal review.
Questions that test process and risk
Late-stage deals often look real on buyer evidence and still slip on process: a procurement step nobody mapped, a buyer who has never bought anything like this, or a competitor the rep has not named. Two short sets of questions help. Ask them on Commit deals above your average size, and pick the one question that fits each deal.
| What it checks | Question | Answer that should worry you |
|---|---|---|
| Process | "What steps does their side go through between yes and a signature, and who runs each one?" | "Legal, then they sign," with no names |
| Process | "Has this buyer bought something like this before?" | No, and nobody has asked how they would go about it |
| Process | "Is there a written plan with dates that the buyer has agreed to?" | A plan only the rep has seen |
| Risk | "What would make them choose to do nothing this quarter?" | "Nothing," on a deal with no stated cost |
| Risk | "Who else are they talking to, and how do you know?" | "Nobody," with no evidence either way |
| Risk | "Has the person who approves the budget seen the price?" | The champion has the price, the approver does not |
A worrying answer here does not move the deal out of Commit on its own. It puts the deal on the shortlist, and the deal review plans the conversation that answers it.
Stage exit criteria the questions depend on
The "real" questions only work if the team agrees what each stage requires from the buyer. Without written exit criteria, "what stage is it in?" gets a different answer from every rep, and the review spends its time arguing about labels.
Write one line per stage, in buyer actions:
| Stage | The buyer has |
|---|---|
| Discovery | Described the problem and roughly what it costs |
| Solution | Seen the part of the product that addresses it and said whether it fits |
| Proposal | Received a price and named who approves it |
| Commit | Agreed the remaining steps and dates, with the approver involved |
Keep it to four or five stages and one line each. The questions in this guide then test whether a deal meets the line for the stage it sits in.
Questions by point in the quarter
The same four kinds of question apply all quarter, and the weight shifts as it goes.
Early in the quarter: is there enough?
- "What will you add to the pipeline in the next four weeks, and from where?"
- "Which deals from last quarter slipped into this one, and what is different about them now?"
- "Which accounts have you not spoken to that look like the deals you won?"
Mid quarter: is it moving?
- "Which deals advanced a stage on the buyer's evidence since we last met?"
- "Which deal has been in the same stage longest, and why?"
- "Where is the person who signs not yet involved?"
Late in the quarter: will it close?
- "For each deal in Commit, what are the remaining steps on the buyer's side, with names?"
- "What has to happen this week for each one to sign on time?"
- "Which deal should we move out now, before it falls out at the end?"
Early-quarter reviews that only ask late-quarter questions leave next quarter's pipeline to chance.
One-to-one or team review: which questions where
In a one-to-one review of a rep's book, all four kinds of question fit, and the shortlist comes out of the conversation. Thirty minutes is enough.
In a team review, the "enough" and "moving" questions work as a round: each rep gives their gap to the number and the one deal that changed most. Keep the "real" questions short, one per rep, on their largest Commit deal. The "this week" questions end the meeting, with each rep naming their two deals out loud. Anything longer goes to a one-to-one or a deal review. A team review that works through one rep's deals while seven others wait spends everyone's time on one book.
Asking without it feeling like an interrogation
The questions above are direct, and they can land as an audit. A few habits keep them useful.
- Send the questions ahead. A rep who knows the review will ask what the buyer did last checks before the meeting, and often finds the gap alone. A rep who walks in with those answers turns a 30-minute review into a 15-minute one.
- Ask about the buyer, not the rep. "What did the buyer do?" is easier to answer honestly than "What did you do?"
- Reward an honest downgrade. When a rep moves a deal out of Commit before being asked, say so. The next one comes sooner.
- End on the plan. Every deal that moves down leaves with a named conversation and a date, so the review produces work as well as a smaller number.
Where the questions fit in a 30-minute review
| Minutes | Questions | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | Last week's shortlist: did the planned conversations happen, and what did the buyer say? | Deals moved back up, or not |
| 5 to 10 | Enough: the gap if every Commit deal closes; what was added this month | One gap figure |
| 10 to 20 | Real: what the buyer did last on each Commit deal; whose close date it is | Deals confirmed or moved |
| 20 to 25 | Moving: what changed on the buyer's side; which deals have gone quiet | A short list of stalled deals |
| 25 to 30 | This week: the two deals one conversation would change; the one to take out | The shortlist, with deal reviews booked |
Reps learn that a planned conversation will be asked about seven days later, and the plans get more specific.
Mistakes that waste the questions
- Asking every question on every deal. Thirty deals at four questions each is two hours. Ask the "real" questions on Commit deals and the large Best Case ones, and scan the rest.
- Coaching in the review. When a deal is weak, the urge is to work it there. Book the deal review and move on, or the last reps get two minutes each.
- Accepting a rep action as evidence. "Sent the proposal" tells you what the rep did. The question was what the buyer did.
- Skipping the shortlist. A review that ends without two named deals and booked conversations has produced a number and no plan.
- Different questions each week. If the questions change, reps cannot prepare for them. Use the same set every week and let the answers change.
Where this goes further
The one-page form is the pipeline review template, and the team format is how to run a pipeline review meeting.
The pipeline review only pays off if the shortlisted deals get worked before the buyer conversation. Our AI sales experts run those deal reviews as calls with each rep, and Bryce, the expert that coaches managers, gives the manager a read across the team of what each deal is missing. For Ben's three deals that dropped to Best Case, that read is the next agenda. See how Bryce works.
FAQ
What is the difference between pipeline review questions and deal review questions?
Pipeline review questions check a whole book: is there enough, is each deal real, what is moving, and which deals need work. Deal review questions work one deal down to its next buyer conversation. A pipeline review that asks deal questions on every deal runs out of time before it picks the deals that matter.
How long should a pipeline review take?
About 30 minutes for a one-to-one review of a rep's book, and 60 minutes as a team. Longer usually means deal-level questions have crept in; move them to the deal reviews it schedules.
How many questions should a manager ask per deal in a pipeline review?
A manager should ask one or two questions per deal in a pipeline review: what the buyer did last, and one follow-up if the answer is thin. Any deal that needs more than that goes on the shortlist for a deal review.
How often should pipeline reviews happen?
Pipeline reviews should happen weekly for most front-line teams, in a one-to-one or a team format. Weekly matches the pace at which buyers act and gives each shortlisted deal time for one conversation before the next review.
What should happen after a pipeline review?
The shortlisted deals each get a deal review before the next buyer conversation, where the manager and rep work out what is missing and plan the call that gets it. Deals that moved down get a named conversation and a date, and next week's review opens by asking whether those conversations happened.
What questions should managers stop asking in pipeline reviews?
Managers should stop asking pipeline review questions that the CRM already answers or that invite a guess. Those include whether the close date is current, whether the rep followed up, what stage the deal is in, whether there is a champion, and the probability of closing. Ask what the buyer did last instead, and when.