Every pipeline has them. Deals that moved fast at first, then stopped. They're still green. They're still in the forecast. Nobody has declared them dead.
But nothing is happening.
These are zombie deals. I call them Falldown. And they're the main reason a healthy looking pipeline produces an unhealthy quarter.
What a zombie deal looks like
You'll recognise the pattern:
- The first meetings went well. The demo landed. The buyer said all the right things.
- Then the replies slowed down. "Let me circle back with the team."
- The close date moved. Then moved again.
- The rep still rates it "likely," because the buyer never said no.
That last point is the trap. Buyers rarely say no. They just stop saying yes. Silence doesn't feel like losing, so the deal stays open, inflating your number week after week.
Why zombies survive your pipeline review
Most pipeline reviews ask the rep for an update. The rep gives one. "Still positive. They're just busy this month."
It sounds reasonable. Nobody wants to push back in front of the team. And so the zombie survives another week.
The problem isn't the rep's honesty. It's the question. "What's the latest?" invites a story. Stories are where zombies hide.
The five minute zombie test
Open your forecast and look at every deal you expect to close this quarter. Mark a deal as a likely zombie if any of these is true:
- No next meeting is booked. A real date and time, in both calendars. This single check catches most zombies on its own.
- No live conversation in two weeks. Emails don't count. Conversations do.
- The close date has moved more than once.
- Only one person on the buyer's side is involved, and it isn't the person who signs.
Now add up the value of the deals you marked. That's roughly how much fiction is sitting in your number.
What to do with the zombies you find
Don't delete them in a panic. Give each one a clear test instead.
Ask the rep to book a specific next step with the buyer within five working days. A real meeting, with a purpose both sides agree on.
If the meeting gets booked, the deal comes back to life, and now you know it's real. If it doesn't, move it out of this quarter's forecast. You haven't lost anything. You've just stopped pretending.
The quiet payoff
When zombies leave the forecast early, three good things happen. Your number gets smaller and truer. Your reps spend their time on deals that can actually close. And the gap you used to discover in week eleven shows up in week three, when you still have time to fix it.
The short version
A deal without a booked next meeting is not a deal in progress. It's a hope. Find those deals every Monday, give each one a five day test, and your forecast stops carrying the dead.