Sales Pipeline Management 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary risk of having too many pipeline stages?
- Reps close deals too quickly
- CRM licensing costs increase substantially
- Reps spend more time updating records than selling (Correct answer)
- Managers lose visibility into deal progression
Correct answer: Reps spend more time updating records than selling
Overly complex pipelines create administrative burden that reduces selling time and leads to inconsistent CRM updates.
Question 2: A deal originally valued at $100K is now being negotiated down to $60K. How should a rep evaluate whether to continue pursuing it?
- Always accept any discount to maintain the relationship
- Compare the revised ROI, resource cost, and strategic value against the reduced deal size (Correct answer)
- Immediately escalate to the VP of Sales for approval
- Close at $60K and renegotiate in the renewal cycle
Correct answer: Compare the revised ROI, resource cost, and strategic value against the reduced deal size
A 40% price reduction changes the deal's economics; reps must weigh whether it still justifies the time and resources invested.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of a LAGGING pipeline indicator?
- Number of new opportunities created this week
- Number of demos scheduled for next month
- Revenue closed in the previous quarter (Correct answer)
- Number of discovery calls booked
Correct answer: Revenue closed in the previous quarter
Lagging indicators reflect past results; revenue already closed cannot be influenced, only analyzed for patterns.
Question 4: A deal is stuck because the champion lacks internal authority to approve the purchase. What is the BEST next step?
- Offer a discount to make approval easier
- Help the champion build an internal business case to present to the economic buyer (Correct answer)
- Withdraw the proposal until authority is secured
- Contact the economic buyer directly without the champion's knowledge
Correct answer: Help the champion build an internal business case to present to the economic buyer
Empowering your champion with tools, data, and talking points gives them the best chance of securing internal approval.
Question 5: When should a sales rep use 'deal scoring' in pipeline management?
- Only during the annual performance review
- Continuously, to prioritize effort toward deals with the highest likelihood of closing (Correct answer)
- Only when a deal exceeds $500K in value
- At the beginning of each quarter to set targets
Correct answer: Continuously, to prioritize effort toward deals with the highest likelihood of closing
Continuous deal scoring helps reps allocate limited time to the highest-probability opportunities throughout the sales cycle.
Question 6: A rep discovers their main contact has left the company mid-deal. What is the BEST immediate response?
- Mark the deal as lost and move on
- Pause all outreach until a new contact responds
- Map the account to identify alternative stakeholders and re-engage immediately (Correct answer)
- Offer a larger discount to retain whoever remains
Correct answer: Map the account to identify alternative stakeholders and re-engage immediately
Personnel changes are common; quickly mapping remaining stakeholders and re-establishing relationships prevents deal death.
Question 7: What does it mean when a pipeline has high 'deal slippage' from quarter to quarter?
- Reps are consistently exceeding quota
- Deals are frequently pushed to future periods, indicating forecasting inaccuracy or weak buyer commitment (Correct answer)
- The company's product-market fit is poor
- Sales cycles are becoming shorter over time
Correct answer: Deals are frequently pushed to future periods, indicating forecasting inaccuracy or weak buyer commitment
Repeated slippage signals that close dates are set optimistically rather than based on real buyer urgency or commitment.
Sales Pipeline Management 4
What is the primary risk of having too many pipeline stages?