Key takeaways
- Keep the same agenda every week so trends are easy to spot.
- Look at new pipeline created, not just deals closing this quarter.
- Spend most of the time on a few deals that need a decision.
- End with named commitments and dates, reviewed next week.
What should the agenda cover
The agenda should cover five items in a fixed order: coverage, new pipeline, stage movement, deal deep dives and commitments. The table below gives the question each answers and a rough time for each.
Keeping the order fixed matters. Sellers know what to prepare, and the VP can compare one week with the last at a glance.
Which numbers should a VP of sales look at
A VP of sales should look at a handful of numbers that predict the next quarter as well as this one: pipeline coverage against target, new qualified pipeline created this week by source, deals that moved forward or back, and deals with no next step.
For outbound in particular, track the early stages: accounts contacted, first meetings held and meetings that became qualified opportunities. A weak week there shows up as a weak quarter two or three months later.
Which deals deserve a deep dive
Deep dives belong to the few deals where a decision from the room can change the outcome: large deals at risk, deals stuck in one stage, and deals where the close date has slipped more than once.
Ask the same questions each time. Who is the decision-maker, and have we spoken to them? What does the buyer need to see next? What would make this deal slip again?
How should sellers prepare
Sellers should update every deal before the meeting: stage, amount, close date, next step and date. The VP or sales operations then pulls the view everyone will look at, so nobody reads updates aloud.
Ask each seller to flag one deal where they need help. It makes the deep dives useful and teaches the team to ask early.
What are the common mistakes in pipeline reviews
The most common mistakes are turning the review into a status round, inspecting only deals closing this quarter, and leaving without commitments. Each wastes the time of the whole team.
Others are subtler: questioning sellers so hard that they hide bad news, or changing the agenda every week so trends disappear. A good review makes it safe to say a deal is in trouble.
An outbound pipeline review agenda
A weekly meeting of about 45 minutes; adjust the timings to your team size.
| Question it answers | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Do we have enough pipeline for this quarter and next? | 5 minutes |
| New pipeline | How much qualified pipeline did each source create this week? | 10 minutes |
| Stage movement | Which deals moved forward, back or nowhere? | 10 minutes |
| Deal deep dives | What decision will help two or three key deals? | 15 minutes |
| Commitments | Who will do what by when? | 5 minutes |
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsTrack deals and tasks on boards in the CRM (in Beta), with saved views and filters, so the review starts from one shared view. Forecasting is not included.
- CapabilityResearch & analysisBefore a deep dive, ask an assistant for a fresh read of the account's website and public sources, so the discussion starts from cited facts rather than memory.
Common questions
How long should a pipeline review take?
Under an hour for most teams. If it runs longer, deals were not updated in advance or too many are being discussed one by one.
Is a pipeline review the same as a forecast call?
No. A forecast call decides what will close this period. A pipeline review looks at the health of all open deals, including those for future quarters.
Should SDRs attend the outbound pipeline review?
Often, yes, for the new pipeline part. They see which meetings turned into opportunities and what account executives need from them.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
