Deal review template
Deal reviews go wrong when they become status updates. The goal is to find the one gap that could lose the deal.
Ask questions that expose risk, not ones that let the rep sound optimistic.
Short answer
A deal review inspects a single opportunity to find risk and decide the next move. A good one asks about qualification gaps, the decision process, and the close plan, not just "how does it feel?" Below is the template with the questions to ask and how to run a review that advances the deal.
Key takeaways
- Inspect qualification gaps and the close plan, not the rep's optimism.
- Always identify the single biggest risk to the deal.
- End every review with a specific, owned, dated next action.
- Spend time on at-risk deals, not the ones already on track.
The questions that expose risk
Inspect, do not narrate.
- What is the compelling reason to buy, and what does inaction cost them?
- Have you met the economic buyer? What do they care about?
- Who is your champion, and can they sell this internally?
- What is the exact decision and paper process, with dates?
- What is the single biggest risk to this deal right now?
Running a productive review
Leave with actions.
- Focus on the weakest qualification element; that is the next action.
- End with a specific, owned next step and a date, not a vibe.
- Skip deals that are healthy and on track; spend time on the ones at risk.
Generate and send this with Ardovo
You do not have to start from a blank page. Tell Rook, Ardovo's AI operator, what you need (for example, "deal review template") and it drafts a version grounded in your real pipeline data, personalizes it for the specific contact or deal, and can send it or attach it to the record in one step. Every template lives in one shared library, so your whole team stays on message and nothing gets rewritten from scratch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a deal review?
A focused inspection of a single opportunity to surface risk and decide the next move. Unlike a pipeline review, which scans many deals, a deal review goes deep on one to test qualification and the path to close.
What questions should I ask in a deal review?
Ones that expose risk: the compelling reason to buy, whether you have met the economic buyer, the strength of the champion, the exact decision and paper process, and the single biggest risk. Avoid questions that let the rep just sound confident.
How is a deal review different from a pipeline review?
A deal review inspects one opportunity in depth; a pipeline review scans the whole pipeline for movement, coverage, and stalled deals. Use pipeline reviews to spot problems and deal reviews to solve them.