Why your deal keeps slipping, and what to ask before you move the date
A close date slips when it was never the buyer's date, or when something between their yes and their signature was never mapped. Moving it again changes the forecast and nothing else about the deal. Find which of the six below happened, ask the questions under it, and only then pick a new date.
Why does my deal keep slipping?
Because the date rests on something the buyer never committed to: a date you proposed, a review nobody timed, a signer who hasn't seen the deal. Each of the six below names what happened, the step the deal never reached, and the questions that reach it.
The close date was one you picked.
A date you proposed is a preference. Nothing happens to the buyer on it, so nothing stops it moving.
The deal never reached dated on Compelling Event
“Is there a date on that — and whose date is it?”
A date the customer holds survives; a date you proposed moves.
“If your current contract renews automatically, how many days’ notice does it need?”
Finds the real deadline — the notice date, often months before the renewal itself.
The date arrived and nothing happened to them.
The event had a date but no cost. Without a consequence the buyer can let it pass, and did.
The deal never reached consequenced on Compelling Event
“What happens on your side if that date passes?”
Tests whether the event has a consequence, which is what separates a deadline from a wish.
“Who else is affected if it slips?”
Finds the people whose deadline this also is — often the fastest route to an economic buyer.
They said yes, then legal, security or procurement took weeks nobody planned for.
The reviews were known but never timed. A review with no duration has no start date, so it started late.
The deal never reached dated on Paper Process
“Once the decision is made — how long did the paperwork take the last time you bought something this size?”
Gets a real duration from a real precedent, rather than an optimistic guess about this one.
“Does legal start from our contract or yours, and how long did the last redline take?”
Whose paper it is decides most of legal’s duration, and a precedent gets you a number rather than a hope.
A step appeared that nobody had mentioned: a committee, a budget cycle, a second sign-off.
The path to a decision was never walked end to end, so the plan left out a step the buyer always takes.
The deal never reached listed on Decision Process
“Walk me through what happens after you decide you want this — who sees it, and in what order?”
Gets the sequence in their words, including the steps that never appear in an RFP.
“Has anything about that path changed this year?”
Catches a reorg or a moved budget line before it invalidates your close date.
The person who signs saw the deal for the first time at the end.
The economic buyer was a name on the deal, not someone who had spent time on it. A first look at the end is a new evaluation.
The deal never reached engaged on Economic Buyer
“Would it help if I put the numbers in front of them directly, or would you rather take it?”
Tests access without asking for it — and a refusal is itself information about your champion.
“Before this reaches [name] for signature, would they want fifteen minutes to check it against their priorities for the year?”
Gives your champion a reason to bring you in that serves the buyer, not you.
Your contact went quiet once the deal needed someone to carry it inside.
They were friendly, not tested. Until someone has carried something for you, you don't know whether they will.
The deal never reached tested on Champion
“Who else needs to be comfortable with this, and would you be willing to bring them in?”
A small, safe test of whether they will actually spend standing on this deal.
“Could you send our summary to [name] this week, with your own note on top?”
A small ask with a date on it — what arrives, and when, is the test.
What do I do the day the date moves?
Don't type a new date yet. Ask the questions under the slip that happened, then build the new date backwards from the buyer's own deadline, with every step and signoff counted back and a name against each. If the answers don't produce a date, you don't have a close date yet.
SalesWolf's Close Plan does the counting back. It starts from the date that forces a decision and places every step and signoff by how many weeks before it each has to start. A step with no duration on record keeps its place and gets a question instead. If the buyer's date isn't on record, it lists the steps in order and asks for the date.
How do I stop the next date slipping?
Before you commit to the next date, get three things: a date the buyer holds with a cost to missing it, every review with a name and a duration, and a signer who has spent time on the deal. Each is a rung on a dimension, and each dimension's page has the questions that reach it.
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