Close reason
A close reason is a recorded classification used to investigate why one opportunity ended as it did; it is evidence to review, not a proven cause.
A controlled vocabulary supports comparison, while linked narrative and evidence preserve context. Keep other and unknown available, review their frequency, and revise categories when the current set no longer describes the work.
Losing to a competitor and ending in no decision are different resolution classes, but neither identifies one automatic fix. Inspect buyer evidence, timing, price, fit, process, seller action, and outside conditions before selecting a response.
Where it breaks
Close reason is optional, so it is populated on a third of losses and the resulting distribution describes only the deals sellers felt like explaining.
Related terms
- Win rate
- Win rate is the proportion of a defined cohort of opportunities that reached closed-won, measured from a fixed entry stage.
- Stage integrity
- Stage integrity is the property of a pipeline in which every stage change corresponds to a verifiable change in buyer commitment, evidenced on the record.
- Qualification logic
- Qualification logic is the explicit, shared rule set that determines when a record is worth advancing, and it must resolve to the same answer in marketing, sales and the CRM.
- Sales forecast
- A sales forecast is a derivation from pipeline state under a stated method, not a negotiated commitment collected up the management chain.
Field notes on this
- When pipeline stages describe sellers, not buyers
Seller-activity stages can weaken conversion and forecast analysis. Define buyer evidence, then calibrate it against realized outcomes.