A deal review is a call between a sales manager and a rep about one live opportunity, held to agree on what the deal is missing and plan the next buyer conversation.
Running a deal review
Most teams run deal reviews weekly, inside or next to the one-on-one, on the one or two deals a pipeline review flagged. The rep tells the deal from the buyer's side. The manager asks for the evidence behind each claim (a quote, an email, a calendar entry) and stages the deal by what the buyer has said and done, which is often a stage behind the CRM.
- 01The rep tells the dealFrom the buyer's side
- 02Evidence checkA quote, an email, a calendar entry
- 03Name one gap
- 04Plan the next conversationThe rep says the opening
- 05Set two datesThe conversation and the next review
The difference shows in how the rep tells it. A weak account: "The champion loves it and says it's in budget." A strong one: "The champion said on Tuesday that finance signs anything this size, and nobody in finance has heard from us." The second gives the manager something to check and a gap to plan around.
They name one gap, such as a signer who has never been on a call, and the rep says the opening of the conversation that fills it. A good review ends with two dates: that conversation, and the next review. It is the core meeting of deal coaching, and the full agenda is in how to run a deal review.
A Proposal-stage deal with no CFO
This example is illustrative. A rep has a deal at Proposal. In the review, the manager asks when the CFO last spoke to anyone on the seller's side. The answer is never: the champion "will take it upstairs". The real stage is one stage back, the gap is the CFO, and the rep leaves with an opening line for the champion: "Before this goes to your CFO, can we work out together what she'll need to see?" The dashboard shows a smaller deal afterwards, and the rep has a specific reason to call.
Related terms
- Pipeline review: the meeting that chooses which deals get a review.
- Deal inspection: reading the data on a deal to flag what looks wrong.
- Mutual action plan: the buyer-owned plan a review often checks.
- Deal review template: one page, staged by buyer evidence.
FAQ
What is a deal review for?
A deal review exists to find the one thing a live deal is missing and plan the buyer conversation that supplies it. It replaces opinion about the deal with what the buyer has said and done.
How long does a deal review take?
A deal review takes about 30 minutes for one deal. That covers the rep's account of the deal, an evidence check, naming the gap, planning the next conversation and setting dates.
Who runs a deal review?
The frontline sales manager usually runs it with the rep who owns the deal. A rep can also run it as a call with one of our AI sales experts, such as Caty, and Bryce gives the manager a Monday read of which deals need attention this week.