Signs during a deal that suggest the buyer may not be serious or the deal is at risk.
Negative indicators are red flags. They tell you the deal might be stuck, the buyer might be stalling, or you might be chasing something that will never close. Common ones: the buyer stops responding, stakeholders drop off meetings, they keep delaying the budget conversation, or someone tells you "we're going with your competitor" and you keep pitching anyway.
They let you decide whether to keep working a deal or cut it and focus elsewhere. Time is the scarcest resource in sales. If you're spending three hours a week on a deal that shows five negative indicators, you're not managing your pipeline, you're hoping.
Buyer said they'd send a purchase order by a date and didn't, with no explanation. They scheduled a meeting and didn't show and didn't reschedule. You've asked for budget three times and haven't gotten an answer. They told you they're still talking to two other vendors and you have no plan to differentiate. The champion got a new job and their replacement hasn't returned your email in two weeks.
One negative indicator is a conversation. Three is a signal to change strategy or move on.
Ignoring them because you're emotionally attached to the deal or because you need the revenue. Negative indicators exist to tell you something. Listen to them.
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