The Questions You're Not Asking That Kill a Forecast in 5 Minutes
Surviving Sales Leadership · 2026-05-14 · 35 min
Episode notes
Most sales leaders have sat across from a rep who's fully convinced a deal is closing. Champion engaged. Proposal out. Close date locked. And they're wrong. Richard Smith sits down with Chris Lingenfelter (VP Sales & CS, Level Up) and Nigel Arthur (former MD and SVP Sales, enterprise SaaS - now coach at MySalesCoach) to show exactly what separates pipeline from forecast - and how fast the difference becomes obvious when you ask the right questions. They cover why emotion is the single biggest killer of forecast accuracy, what entry/exit criteria your CRM stages are probably missing, and why a rep who "feels really good" about a deal is a red flag, not a green light. The session ends with a live deal review. Richard plays the rep. Nigel and Chris ask five questions. The deal doesn't make the forecast. Find out which questions did it.