# Five Questions to Tell Real Pipeline From Fantasy.

We are halfway through the year. Your quota does not care. A 15-minute audit to clean your list and work only what is real.

## Most teams run the wrong audit

- The wrong audit: counting logos, averaging deal sizes, hoping the big one closes.
- The right audit: five questions per deal, evidence not optimism, a confirmed next step, dated.

## The five questions: run this on every open deal

- What has changed in the last 30 days that proves this deal is still real?
- Who is the actual economic buyer, and have you spoken to them directly?
- What is their compelling event? If you do not know, you do not have a deal.
- What is the next confirmed step, with a date on the calendar?
- If this deal slipped to Q1, would you be surprised, or relieved? That last one will tell you everything.

## Frequently asked questions

### How often should we run this audit?

At minimum, once a quarter, and always at a moment like mid-year when quota math forces an honest look. Weekly is even better for reps managing more than a handful of live deals.

### What if a deal fails multiple questions?

That is your answer. A deal failing two or more of these questions is not qualified yet. Move it back a stage or off the forecast entirely.

### What do we do with deals that fail the audit?

Downgrade the stage, remove it from forecast, and give the rep one clear next action to re-qualify it.

### Does this replace MEDDIC or our existing qualification framework?

No. It is a fast gut-check layered on top of whatever qualification framework you already run.