One of the biggest challenges in B2B sales is managing stalled deals—opportunities that linger in certain stages far beyond their expected timeframe. While every sales process has some natural variation, a high number of stuck deals is a sign of inefficiencies, poor pipeline management, or deeper issues with sales execution.
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a 5-Part Series about B2B Sales Velocity
Why Deals Get Stuck
Deals can stall for many reasons, but some of the most common include:
- Lack of clear next steps – If a prospect isn’t guided to a logical next action, momentum is lost.
- Poor qualification – Deals that were never a strong fit tend to stall mid-funnel.
- Internal delays – Procurement, legal, or budget approvals can extend deal timelines.
- Sales rep disengagement – Reps focus on newer opportunities rather than reviving older ones.
- Buyer indecision – Decision-makers often hesitate without compelling reasons to act.
How Stuck Deals Impact Revenue
- Stalled deals inflate the pipeline, creating false confidence in forecasts and misleading revenue projections.
- Different deal types—new business vs. expansion, regional differences, and high-value enterprise vs. transactional SMB deals—require tailored stuck criteria.
- Unaddressed pipeline stagnation creates forecasting inaccuracies, leading to missed revenue targets.
Why Many Companies Misidentify Stuck Deals
Most sales teams simply look at the current days in stage and guess at what qualifies as a “stuck” deal. For example:
- “If a deal has been in the Proposal stage for more than 90 days, it’s probably stuck.”
- “Anything sitting in a stage past the average age is at risk.”
While these assumptions offer some guidance, they are arbitrary and inconsistent. Companies using this approach often struggle with:
- Defining “too long” – Without a clear benchmark, stuck deals are identified inconsistently.
- Overlooking true sales velocity – Some deals take longer naturally, while others are genuinely stalled.
- Forecasting inaccuracies – Including stuck deals in a forecast without adjustment skews projections.
A Data-Driven Approach to Identifying Stuck Deals
Instead of guessing, leading RevOps teams use a multiples-based approach to define stuck deals:
- Set ideal stage length based on won deals – Use historical data to determine how long successful deals take at each stage.
- Define stuck as 2x the expected time – If a stage typically takes 30 days for won deals, anything beyond 60 days is flagged as at risk.
- Differentiate by revenue stream or deal type – Enterprise vs. SMB, new logo vs. upsell/cross-sell—each has different benchmarks.
By focusing on what works rather than arbitrary limits, teams can proactively manage stuck deals rather than react to them too late.
How Stuck Deals Impact Forecasting
Many sales forecasts assume that all active deals will eventually move forward, but this leads to inflated projections. Instead, teams should:
- Exclude or discount stuck deals from forecasting – If a deal is stalled past 2x its expected stage time, its likelihood of closing is low.
- Analyze trends in stalled deals – If a high percentage of deals are getting stuck in the same stage, it indicates a deeper issue with process or messaging.
- Create action plans for stalled deals – Instead of hoping they close, teams should have structured playbooks to re-engage or disqualify them.
A Smarter Way to Manage Stuck Deals
Rather than letting stuck deals clog the pipeline, high-performing teams use data-driven insights to:
- Flag at-risk deals before they become unworkable.
- Adjust forecasts dynamically by removing stale opportunities.
- Improve win rates by proactively addressing stage bottlenecks.
This level of intelligence transforms pipeline reviews from reactive discussions into strategic planning sessions.
Read on to learn how a RevOps driven approach can revive stuck deals and improving sales outcomes. Check out Part 4 in our Series: Turning Stuck Deals into Wins – The RevOps Approach.
