To find whether internal approvals are delaying sales, inspect the work needed for each stalled deal’s next customer step. Record the approval type, complete-input date, owner and requested decision date. Separate those waits from missing seller follow-up and customer-side decisions before changing the sales process.
Start with a small set of stalled deals#
Choose deals that have missed a specific customer milestone or remain in the same stage beyond the team’s expected range. Confirm that the next customer step is still valid. A stage label alone may be stale or too broad to explain the delay.
Ask the seller what concrete event would allow the deal to move. It may be a pricing exception, legal answer, technical validation or customer procurement decision.
Group internal waits by decision type#
- Pricing: who can approve the exception, and is the commercial context complete?
- Legal: which term needs a decision, and are required documents available?
- Technical: what validation is requested, and can the reviewer start?
- Delivery: which readiness or capacity commitment must be confirmed?
Several deals can share one approval queue. Grouping those requests can reveal a company-level decision that a seller cannot resolve alone.
Worked example: three stalled proposals, two different causes#
In a hypothetical review, one proposal is waiting because the seller has not supplied the requested scope. Two other proposals have complete inputs and wait for the same legal reviewer.
Assign the missing scope back to the seller. Agree a priority order for the two ready legal requests with the approval owner. These actions are more specific than asking the whole sales team to increase activity.
Measure the approval process fairly#
Measure elapsed time from complete request to decision and retain the earlier incomplete-request period separately. Track rework and decision quality. Otherwise the process can appear faster simply because requests are rejected sooner.
Check whether the customer milestone advances after approval. An internal task finishing does not guarantee that the buyer is ready to proceed or that the forecasted revenue will close.
Connect deals and tasks in Commandix#
Use deal records and linked tasks to inspect the internal work beside the pipeline. Constraints can support a wider review when the same step affects multiple commitments. Validate the explanation with the approval team and keep external customer waits distinct.
Related guide: Track the sales-to-delivery handoff.
Frequently asked questions#
How do we know the issue is internal rather than seller performance?#
Inspect the next required action, whether inputs are complete and who controls that action. Use the work record and conversation with the owner rather than inferring the cause from a sales total.
Should the largest deal always go first?#
Deal value is one consideration. Include the customer commitment, readiness, probability assumptions and the consequence of delaying other requests.