Pipeline coaching is a manager working through a rep's open deals to find the gap that repeats across them, then coaching that skill on the rep's live deals.
Between the pipeline review and the deal review
A pipeline review checks whether a book of deals is enough and real. Deal coaching works one deal to its next buyer conversation. Pipeline coaching sits between them: the manager looks across all of one rep's deals, staged by what each buyer has said and done, and asks what they have in common. If four of six deals have no number from the buyer on what the problem costs, that is a skill the rep has not used yet, and four deals that can each be fixed with one planned conversation. The coaching happens on those deals, usually in the weekly 1:1, until the pattern stops showing up.
It starts with one question: "Where do your deals stop, and is it the same place every time?" Reps often answer with something outside their control. The staged deals usually say something more useful. The wider practice is in our guide to deal coaching, and the full method is how to coach a rep's pipeline in one 1:1.
Five deals stuck at the same step
This example is illustrative. Casey, a rep, has seven open deals. Asked where they stop, Casey says, "Mostly timing. Buyers are slow this quarter." Staged by buyer evidence, the answer is plainer: five stop at the same place, because the person who signs has never been on a call.
- 01Stage every dealBy buyer evidence
- 02Find where they stopThe repeating gap
- 03Pick the nearest meeting
- 04Rep says the ask out loud
- 05Check next weekThen run it on the next deal
- 01Stage every dealBy buyer evidence
- 02Find where they stopThe repeating gap
- 03Pick the nearest meeting
- 04Rep says the ask out loud
- 05Check next weekThen run it on the next deal
The manager does not run five deal reviews. She picks the deal with the nearest buyer meeting, a demo follow-up on Wednesday, and they plan the conversation that gets the champion to bring the signer. Casey says the ask out loud until it sounds natural: "Before we send pricing, who else needs to be comfortable with this? Could we get 20 minutes with them next week, while there is still time to change the proposal?" Next week they check whether the meeting got booked, then run the same ask on the next deal.
Related terms
- Pipeline review: checking a book of deals for coverage, realism and risk.
- Deal review: one deal, worked down to its next buyer conversation.
- Pipeline review template: the one-page form that stages a book by buyer evidence.
FAQ
What is the difference between pipeline coaching and a pipeline review?
A pipeline review checks a book of deals and picks the ones that need work. Pipeline coaching looks for the gap that repeats across a rep's deals and coaches that skill on them, deal by deal, until it stops repeating.
How often should managers do pipeline coaching?
Managers usually do pipeline coaching weekly, inside the 1:1. Each session picks one repeating gap and one or two deals to work it on, then checks next week whether the planned buyer conversations happened.
Can AI help with pipeline coaching?
Yes, AI can help with pipeline coaching by staging each deal by buyer evidence and showing where a rep's deals keep stopping. Bryce, our expert that coaches managers, gives that read across a team, and reps work the gap on a call with Caty, or with Keenan or Val on a Gap Selling or ValueSelling Framework® team. If you want to see that read on your own pipeline, talk to us.