Forecasting accuracy fails when based on a seller's checklist of actions like "proposal sent." Instead, define sales stages by concrete buyer actions, like the number of stakeholders involved or if they've reviewed a proposal. This provides a more realistic view of a deal's health.

A deal in the CRM is merely "pipeline qualified." To be "forecast qualified," it must meet stricter criteria, like multi-stakeholder buy-in from the economic buyer. Leaders must enforce this distinction to stop reps from confusing pipeline activity with committed deals, leading to disastrous forecast misses.

Instead of a single forecast category, assess each deal's risk (Green, Yellow, Orange, Red) across each of the five agreement stages (Problem, Priority, etc.). This creates a highly accurate, data-driven forecast by pinpointing the exact source of risk within a deal's progression.

Mark Casaglo advises against process stages like "discovery call" or "demo call," which are seller-centric. Instead, structure the process around securing five key buyer agreements: problem agreement, solution agreement, power agreement, commercial agreement, and vendor approval. This reframes selling around buyer commitment rather than seller activity.

Shift from a process defined by meetings (Discovery, Demo) to one defined by milestones (Problem Agreement, Priority Agreement). This prevents artificially slowing down high-velocity deals or rushing complex ones, as the number of meetings required to reach each agreement can vary.

Frame your sales stages around the decisions you need from a prospect (a 'get'), not the tasks you must complete (a 'do'). For example, the goal isn't 'do a demo,' it's 'get agreement that you're the vendor of choice.' This encourages creativity and efficiency, preventing unnecessary activities.

When legacy first/last-touch metrics reappear, don't debate them. Instead, present a broader analysis of the entire journey. This reveals how a "successful" last touch (e.g., a product trial) might belong to a cohort with a tiny win rate, high acquisition cost, and small deal size, proving its inefficiency.

Don't measure deal progress by the number of meetings held. Instead, define specific exit criteria for each sales stage. A deal only moves forward when the prospect meets these criteria, which can happen with or without a live meeting. This reframes velocity around outcomes, not activities.

A traditional contact-based funnel (Lead > MQL > SQL) is inadequate for B2B. Shift to an account-based funnel that maps target accounts to stages like "Awareness" or "Engaged." The primary GTM goal then becomes progressing entire accounts from one stage to the next for a more accurate view of pipeline health.