When a pipeline stage is overloaded, it’s tempting to treat it as a seller discipline issue.
But many overloaded stages are caused by something else entirely: a shared constraint.
Solutions Engineers are overbooked. Legal is overwhelmed. Procurement comes in late and slows everything down. Pricing approvals bottleneck on one person. Security reviews arrive too late and create rework.
In these situations, coaching alone won’t fix velocity — because the system is blocked.
This article shows you how to identify the real constraint, reduce waiting time, and increase throughput without adding chaos.
A constraint is the limiting factor that sets the pace for your pipeline flow.
In practical terms: - It’s where deals pile up - It’s where waiting time grows - It’s where hand-offs create rework
A useful rule: - If WIP is rising in a stage, throughput is constrained somewhere — either by capacity, quality, or governance.
This article focuses on the most common governance and shared-resource constraints.
Before you change policies or hire more people, confirm the bottleneck is real.
Look for: - Long gaps between steps (e.g., “sent to legal” then silence for 2–3 weeks) - Repeated rework loops (e.g., pricing changes, security clarifications, redlines back and forth) - Deals progressing well until they hit the same function, then stalling - Strong seller activity but weak stage exits
If the stall pattern clusters around one team or approval, you’re looking at a constraint.
Most shared constraints fall into one of three types.
Not enough time/people to handle demand. - Example: two SEs supporting eight reps running demos every day
Rules are unclear or approvals are centralised. - Example: pricing exceptions require approval from a single leader
The right people are involved too late. - Example: procurement introduced after proposal is sent; security review begins after contract is drafted
You need the right fix for the right constraint.
Most teams measure seller activity. Fewer measure waiting time.
Pick 10 deals that recently moved through the constrained stage and map: - Date the hand-off happened (e.g., sent to legal) - Date the first response happened - Date it returned to sales - Number of loops (how many times it went back and forth)
You’re looking for: - Where the delay starts - Where rework is introduced - Which deals move faster (and why)
This is often enough to spot the real lever.
SE constraints often create an overloaded evaluation stage.
Symptoms: - Demo requests pile up - Technical validation delays - Reps book calls but can’t progress the evaluation plan
Fixes that work:
Legal becomes a bottleneck when it’s pulled in late and asked to rescue deals at the end.
Symptoms: - Contracting starts too late - Redlines appear unexpectedly - “Standard terms” aren’t actually standard
Fixes that work:
Create an early-stage checklist for common deal risks: - Non-standard terms required - Data processing and security concerns - Jurisdiction and liability constraints
Handle red flags early, not when the buyer wants to sign.
Speed increases when sales knows: - What’s negotiable - What’s non-negotiable - What the fallback positions are
This reduces approval traffic and legal ping-pong.
Offer a small number of default contracting routes: - Standard MSA - MSA + DPA (if applicable) - Order form only (for smaller deals)
A stable set of pathways reduces bespoke work.
Procurement is often treated as a late-stage obstacle. In reality, it’s a predictable process that can be planned.
Symptoms: - “We’ve gone to procurement” becomes a black hole - Price and terms are reopened late - Deals slip due to internal approval steps you didn’t map
Fixes that work:
Before a proposal is finalised, confirm: - The procurement steps and stakeholders - Required documents and timelines - Evaluation criteria and vendor onboarding requirements
Procurement doesn’t slow deals — unplanned procurement does.
Put procurement steps explicitly into the mutual plan: - Security review date - Vendor onboarding steps - Commercial review meeting
Reduce back-and-forth by preparing: - Standard security answers - Insurance documentation - Compliance certifications - Reference information
Pricing constraints often overload the proposal/commercials stage.
Symptoms: - Deals stall waiting for exception approvals - Discounting happens late and reactively - Reps delay proposals because the approval path is unclear
Fixes that work:
Define: - Standard price bands - Standard terms by segment - Pre-approved discount thresholds
Guardrails reduce approvals by making “standard” truly standard.
Not every exception needs a committee.
Example: - Under a defined threshold, manager approves - Above it, commercial leader reviews
Speed improves when the path is predictable.
Approvals should be fast and rules-based. Coaching can be deeper — but don’t make every pricing ask a coaching session.
Governance constraints are often invisible because they’re normalised.
Symptoms: - Deals wait on internal reviews (security, finance, leadership) - Meetings are scheduled weeks out - CRM data is incomplete, so leaders demand more meetings
Fixes that work:
For each approval, define: - What evidence must be present - Where it must be recorded - What the approver is deciding
Approvals speed up when they’re not discovery.
Set fixed approval windows (e.g., twice per week) with: - A standard pack - A standard decision format
Where possible: - Pre-approved terms - Standard templates - Required fields that unlock stages
A common mistake is to respond to a constraint by pushing more deals into the stage “so something will move”.
That increases WIP and makes the constraint worse.
Instead: - Apply a WIP limit at the constrained point - Prioritise the most credible deals - Use stop-start rules so the stage doesn’t flood again
The goal is higher throughput, not higher congestion.
Constraints persist when they’re hidden.
Add a weekly 10-minute constraint review: - Where are deals waiting? - What is the average wait time? - What is the top cause of rework? - What one change reduces waiting this week?
This turns “it’s stuck with legal” into an operational improvement loop.
Situation: - Proposal stage WIP grows - Deals sit waiting for pricing exceptions - Close dates slip; discounting increases
Fix: - Introduce pricing guardrails - Fast-path small exceptions - Require buyer-validated success criteria before proposals
Result: - Fewer proposals created - Faster proposal turnaround - Stronger commercial conversations
Removing constraints is one part of stabilising an overloaded stage. You’ll get the best results when you combine it with diagnosis, evidence-based qualification, WIP control, and a coaching cadence.
For the complete guide to what steps to take when a pipeline stage is overloaded, see the pillar blog: www.mentorgroup.com/sales-training-insights/pipeline-stage-overloaded-playbook
What is a constraint in a sales pipeline? A constraint is the limiting factor that slows deal progression — often a shared resource (SE, legal) or governance step (pricing approval, security review) that creates waiting time and rework.
How do I know whether the bottleneck is legal, procurement, or selling quality? Look for clustering. If many deals progress well until they hit the same function or approval, and then stall with long waiting gaps, it’s likely a shared constraint.
Should we just hire more SEs or legal support? Sometimes, but not first. Start by reducing rework and context switching through standardisation, early gating, batching, and pre-approved guardrails.
What’s the fastest way to reduce legal bottlenecks? Pull legal earlier with a red-flag check, standardise contracting pathways, and create negotiation playbooks with fallback positions so sales can handle standard cases without repeated escalation.
How do pricing guardrails help throughput? They reduce the number of exceptions that require approval, making approvals faster and keeping the proposal stage from stalling.
Why does batching help constrained teams? Batching reduces context switching and creates predictable throughput (e.g., fixed demo blocks, fixed approval windows), which shortens wait time.
How do we prevent the constrained stage from being flooded again? Apply a WIP limit at the constrained point and use stop-start rules so new deals enter only when others exit.
Where can I find the full playbook for overloaded pipeline stages? Here’s the pillar guide: www.mentorgroup.com/sales-training-insights/pipeline-stage-overloaded-playbook