Hey ,

Two weeks ago, we audited a pipeline that looked healthy at first glance. Plenty of opportunities, big logos, and confident probabilities. But when we dug deeper, more than 40% of the opportunities hadn’t been touched in over a month. They were sitting in the CRM at a high probability, quietly collecting dust.

The team didn’t have a top-of-funnel problem. They had a velocity problem.

This is something I see a lot. The deals that stall aren’t always the obvious ones. They don’t vanish from your dashboard. They hang around, inflating your forecast and giving you false confidence. And the longer they sit, the harder they are to revive.

The good news? 

Stalled deals can be revived if you know how to approach them with the right timing, and system. That’s what we’re going to unpack.

Estimated reading time is 3.5 minutes. As always, hit reply and let us know your thoughts.

On Deck:

• Why Deals Stall in “Healthy” Pipelines

• Marketing Tip of the Week – Powered by Decoded Strategies

• Episode #108: Scaling Without Selling Your Soul: The No-BS Guide to Culture-Driven GTM With Earl Foote
  

Why Deals Stall in Healthy Pipelines (and why you miss it at first)

A stalled deal rarely looks like a lost deal. It stays active in the CRM, the notes say "waiting on a decision", and the probability sits higher than it should. On dashboards, it blends in with everything else that is genuinely moving, which is why leaders often spot the problem only when forecasts start slipping.

The giveaway is not the number of opportunities. It is the absence of motion. Time in stage grows, buyer actions disappear, and next steps start sounding vague. When you review with a movement lens, you will see the same patterns repeat.

No defined next step
The last conversation ended on good terms but without a clear commitment. There is no owner, no date, and no artifact to anchor the plan. People get busy, and the loudest internal project wins their attention. Treat next steps like deliverables. Put a calendar hold, capture the goal in writing, and send a short summary that both sides can reference. A next step without an action is not a next step.

False buying signals
The prospect was warm and respectful, which was mistaken for intent. That warmth was courtesy, not a buying signal, and the rep advanced the stage anyway. Real intent shows up as work on their side. Look for concrete actions such as inviting a stakeholder, sharing internal constraints, or reacting to a success plan. Advance only when you see those signals.

Friction inside the buyer’s org
Your contact may love the solution but cannot align finance or security without help. You are selling to a team of one while the real decision lives with a group. Map the buying committee early, then equip your champion with a brief business case, a risk summary, and a clear implementation path. If they cannot tell the story internally, your deal will stall even if they like you.

Internal noise on your side
Hand-offs, custom requests, or approval bottlenecks add drag that the buyer can feel. Single-threaded reps wait, while others might move the ball. Set internal service levels for legal, security, and pricing reviews, and give the rep one point of contact who can unblock cross-functional work. Speed signals seriousness and keeps your champion engaged.

The takeaway?... If you’re not measuring deal movement, you’re relying on gut feel. And gut feel misses more than it catches.

The Real Cost of Weak Follow-Up Habits

80% of sales require 5+ follow-ups, but 44.9% of salespeople give up after 1. That gap is where revenue disappears, forecasts drift, and buyer confidence fades. Follow-up is not glamorous, which is why it gets neglected, and the bill shows up later in the places leaders feel most.

• Forecasts slip because probabilities were based on hope rather than buyer actions
  

• Reps chase ghosts while newer, warmer opportunities age in the queue
  

• Buyers infer low urgency and transfer that lack of urgency to their own timeline
  

• Leadership confidence erodes, which leads to reactive deals and discount pressure

The Mechanics of a Follow-Up System That Works

A good system is simple enough to run on a busy Monday and clear enough to coach. Use these four building blocks and make them non-negotiable.

1) Diagnose the stall before you touch the deal
Name the real blocker. Budget timing, missing champion, security review, unclear value, or internal noise on your side. If you cannot name it, you are not ready to send anything.

2) Match the message, channel, and ask to the blocker
Security review pending means you offer documentation and a call with your technical lead. Champion momentum fading means you equip them with a one-page business case and a short internal deck. Price concern means you reframe value with outcomes and a proof point that looks like them.

3) Add progressive value with every touch
Each interaction should make the buyer’s job easier. Offer a relevant case result, a micro demo that shows the exact workflow they questioned, a short checklist for implementation readiness, or a success plan draft with dates and owners. Repeats feel like nagging. Progress feels like leadership.

4) Use clear timers, not pressure
Set timelines that serve their goals. For example, confirm that legal needs a week, then propose a working session on Tuesday with the draft agreement ready. Momentum is a service when it aligns with the buyer’s plan.

Coach this weekly. Bring two stalled deals to the review. Identify the blocker, choose the play, write the message together, and set a timer. Repetition turns this into muscle memory.

Follow-Up Template That Creates Momentum Without Burning Trust

Cadence is not about sending more touches. It is about sequencing the right touches at a pace that respects the buyer.

This is a template, not a script. Coach your team to adjust pace based on buyer behavior, not internal anxiety.

The Bottom Line (follow-up is a revenue lever, not a chore)

Most stalled deals don’t die because the buyer said no. They die because no one re-engaged them with purpose.

If your pipeline is heavy with “in progress” but light on “closed won,” the gap isn’t demand, it’s disciplined follow-up.

The teams that win consistently treat follow-up as a system they can measure, coach, and improve. That’s how you turn polite interest into signed agreements.

Thanks ZoomInfo for Keeping This Newsletter Free!

ZoomInfo is the Go-To-Market intelligence platform that empowers businesses to grow faster with AI-ready insights, trusted data, and advanced automation. Our solutions provide a complete view of your customers, making every seller your best seller.

Marketing Tip of the Week - Powered by Decoded Strategies

Follow-up shouldn’t rely on the rep alone. Marketing can give it more teeth by creating assets designed for stalled opportunities. This means fast-to-digest, problem-focused resources that remove objections and reinforce urgency.

Think ROI snapshots, quick-win templates, or short-form customer success videos. When sales and marketing align here, follow-up becomes more of a guided journey and less of a cold nudge.

Episode #108: Scaling Without Selling Your Soul: The No-BS Guide to Culture-Driven GTM With Earl Foote

What if building a high-growth business didn’t mean burning out your team or selling your soul?

In this episode of Bridge the Gap, we sit down with Earl Foote, Founder & CEO of Nexus IT, to talk about why values-driven leadership isn’t soft, it’s a go-to-market weapon. Earl built a 27-year IT powerhouse on culture, conviction, and calling BS when he sees it. We talk about burnout as a sign of misalignment, why work-life balance is a lie, how to build GTM teams that last, and why most leaders still don’t get it.

Follow Earl:  / earlfoote  

Agree? Disagree? Have Questions?

Want to see the exact follow-up framework we use to help clients recover stalled deal? Reply to this email, and let's talk it through together.

Talk soon,

Adam, Dale, & Jake
Helping companies bridge the GTM Gap™.