Sales Pipeline Review Template

A sales pipeline review is a recurring working session where a sales manager and reps inspect open deals, test the forecast, and decide what moves each opportunity forward. Run well, it replaces wishful happy-ear forecasting with evidence and accountability.

When to use it

Run a pipeline review weekly during an active selling quarter. Hold it on the same day and time so reps arrive with their CRM already updated. Smaller teams may move to biweekly, but never let two weeks pass without inspecting slipping deals.

Who attends

The sales manager facilitates. Account executives or reps own their deals and speak to them directly. Keep it to the people who carry a number. Invite sales ops only when a data or process question needs resolving.

How to run it

Open with the headline coverage number so everyone shares reality. Move to each rep's forecast call, then inspect deals stage by stage. Pressure-test the next step and close date on every deal: if a rep cannot name the buyer's next action, the date is fiction. Spend the back half on stuck and slipping deals, because those are where the meeting earns its time. Close by confirming one owner and one action per deal at risk.

Facilitator tips

• Require updated CRM data before the call so the meeting is for decisions, not data entry.
• Ask for the buyer's next step, not the rep's next step. Buyer action is the real signal.
• Coach in private, inspect in public. Use the room for deal logic, not personal performance.
• End every deal with an owner and a date. No orphan action items.

Common mistakes

• Letting the meeting drift into a status read-out instead of a decision forum.
• Reviewing every deal at equal depth instead of focusing on at-risk and high-value ones.
• Accepting close dates with no supporting buyer activity.
• Skipping the kill decision, so dead deals inflate the forecast for months.

Want this to run itself every week with owners, dates, and rollover items tracked automatically? Run it in OrgTP.