Who’s this for? Sales managers
Outcome: This recipe helps you quickly identify which deals need your immediate attention and ensure action plans and supporting resources are in place
Frequency: At least once per week, and before 1:1s and pipeline reviews
Step 1: Go to the Gong Deal Board and filter to see the deals for everyone in your team for the relevant time period (e.g. deals closing this quarter, or this month). You can declutter the view by showing only open deals. The deal count and total amount at the top of the page should stack up with your expectations.
Step 2: Get a quick pulse check:
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Do activity levels look right for the deal stage? Sort the list by activity and stage to home in on concerns. Look for bidirectional activity, not just rep outreach.
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Are next calls scheduled soon enough to maintain deal velocity?
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Are there any Gong warnings on deals that should be on track?
You’ll need to dive deeper to understand specific issues on individual deals, but in this step you should quickly identify where to probe.
Tip
Check your inbox for a weekly deal digest email from Gong to get a headstart on understanding the activity in your pipeline.
Step 3: If you’re preparing for a 1:1, filter to see the deals for the individual rep. You’ll likely pay attention to every deal for newer reps, and run a briefer spot check for your most tenured and trusted team members.
Step 4: Click into a deal that you want to check on and take a more detailed look at the communication back-and-forth on the Account page:
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Open the engagement map from the account timeline. Is there a healthy level of multi-threading?
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Do you have the right titles engaged, given the deal stage? Are they active in conversations, rather than passive?
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Review the latest emails and calls exchanged with key contacts. Is the back-and-forth consistent with a deal that’s on track or one that’s going to push?
The more critical the deal, the deeper you’ll likely go.
Step 5: Maximize alignment with the relevant rep before your next face-to-face meeting by tagging them in comments attached to the account or on specific calls. Ask them questions directly in the context of the customer interaction, so that you can focus your follow-up conversation on strategy, not fact-finding. Set the comment to be visible only to the rep if the topic is sensitive.
Tip
Encourage your reps to tag you on account or call comments so that they can draw attention to issues or get your input before your 1:1 meetings.
Step 6: Use face-to-face time in 1:1s or pipeline reviews to home straight in on blockers, deal strategy, and action plans. Call in support from other team members across your company and share the unfiltered customer context by tagging them on account comments.
If you find yourself spending time on fact checking and status recaps, review these steps again and make a mutual commitment with your reps to get aligned ahead of the meeting.
Tip
Make the most of your on-the-go time by reviewing your pipeline on the Gong mobile app.