Deal Risk Red-Flag Checklist

12 warning signs that predict a deal will slip or die

Check any that apply to a deal you're working right now. Two or more checked = high risk of slip. Catch it in week two, not week twelve.

1. ☐ Single-threaded contact. You have a real relationship with exactly one person at the account, and no other contact would take your call if that person left tomorrow.
2. ☐ Champion has gone quiet for 5+ business days after previously being responsive, with no calendar item scheduled.
3. ☐ No economic buyer meeting has happened. You've never been in a room (or on a call) with the person who actually signs, only heard about them secondhand.
4. ☐ The timeline is yours, not theirs. The close date on the deal was proposed by you, not stated independently by the buyer.
5. ☐ No compelling event. Nothing costs the buyer money, time, or risk if they simply do nothing this quarter.
6. ☐ "Just waiting to hear back" for more than one week with no specific date given for when you'll hear back.
7. ☐ Legal/security/procurement has not engaged, despite a close date inside the current stated close window.
8. ☐ The champion can't name who else has to approve it, or gives a vague answer like "it should just need a signature."
9. ☐ Budget was described as "not an issue" but no one can point to a line item, PO, or approved spend category.
10. ☐ Meetings are getting rescheduled or shortened, especially by the buyer side, especially more than once.
11. ☐ The buyer's internal champion is junior relative to the deal size and has never successfully sold anything similar upward before.
12. ☐ No mutual action plan exists: there is no document, however informal, that both sides agreed to with dates and owners.

Scoring

• 0–1 checked: Healthy. Proceed on current timeline.
• 2–3 checked: At risk. Address the specific flags this week, don't wait for next review.
• 4+ checked: Likely to slip or die this period. Requalify from the top: is there really a deal here, or is this an opportunity that should be re-worked as prospecting?

What to do the moment you check a box (don't wait for the weekly review)

• Single-threaded / no economic buyer access → ask your champion directly: "Who else should be in the next call, and can you set it up?" If they can't or won't, that itself is diagnostic.
• Gone quiet → use the companion Stalled Deal Revival Playbook rather than sending another "just checking in."
• No compelling event → go back to discovery. A deal without urgency isn't a Q-this-quarter deal, recategorize it honestly.
• No mutual action plan → propose one in writing today, even a simple three-line email: "Here's what I understand still needs to happen and by when, did I get that right?"