The Speed Advantage: 3 Strategies for Closing More Deals in 2025

Hard truth: A full pipeline means nothing if deals aren’t closing.

I get it. Pipeline is the number investors ask about, the number that dominates board slides, and the number that defines go-to-market momentum.

But in 2025, the biggest challenge facing CEOs isn’t lead generation — it’s deal execution.

A recent Gartner report revealed that while 63% of CEOs are confident in pipeline quality, only 9% believe their teams can reliably convert. And just 7% have high confidence that win rates are improving.

Deals are stalling, sales cycles are dragging, and the gap between pipeline and performance is widening.

If you want to hit aggressive growth targets this year — and build a legendary career in revenue — it’s time to focus on closing.

Here are three strategies to accelerate deal velocity and turn pipeline into predictable revenue.

1. Design a sales flywheel that keeps deals moving

The #1 reason deals stall? No momentum. 

Without a system that continuously pushes deals forward, reps spend more time reacting than executing, and predictable revenue slips away.

High-velocity sales teams don’t just chase deals — they create a Sales Flywheel that turns repeatable actions into compounding momentum. This reduces slippage, improves forecast accuracy, and accelerates revenue growth.

Here’s how to build yours:

• Establish a winning rhythm: Lock in daily huddles, weekly pipeline reviews, and monthly forecast check-ins to drive consistent execution.
• Reinforce momentum-building behaviors: Celebrate progress at every stage, not just closed deals, to create a culture of sustained velocity.
• Hold teams accountable for execution discipline: Make sure your reps follow through on next steps, engage the right stakeholders, and keep deals moving with urgency.

Once your flywheel is in motion, the next step is to optimize execution.

2. Use AI to spot, prioritize, and close deals faster

The fastest way to lose deals? Waste time on the wrong ones.

Reps waste valuable hours chasing low-probability opportunities while high-value deals stall out. Without clear prioritization, your sales cycles drag, and your win rates suffer.

High-velocity revenue teams use AI and data-driven insights to focus on the deals that are most likely to close fast. AI is a force multiplier, helping sellers make smarter decisions, reduce guesswork, and execute with precision.

Here’s how to deploy AI for deal acceleration:

• Focus on high-probability deals: Use AI-driven scoring to identify which opportunities are most likely to close, ensuring your reps prioritize deals with the highest impact.
• Spot and mitigate deal risks early: AI surfaces warning signs — stalled deal movement, missing decision-makers, and declining buyer engagement — so your team can take action before it’s too late.
• Automate low-value tasks: Free your reps from administrative busywork so they can spend more time selling and less time logging activities.

With AI handling prioritization and execution support, the final step is making it easier for your buyers to move fast, too.

3. Reduce friction and cut through indecision

If buyers can’t make decisions quickly, you’re making the buying process too hard.

Complex choices, internal approvals, and lack of urgency kill momentum. The longer a deal drags on, the more opportunities buyers have to second-guess, deprioritize, or go in another direction.

High-velocity revenue teams remove obstacles before they become roadblocks. They streamline decision-making, anticipate objections, and create urgency without unnecessary pressure. 

Here’s how to remove friction from your buying process:

• Clarify next steps at every stage: Use mutual action plans to align with buyers, eliminate guesswork, and keep deals progressing on schedule.
• Guide decision-makers with precision: Identify and engage champions early, providing them with the right information to drive internal buy-in.
• Create strategic urgency: Use data-backed insights, peer benchmarks, and real-time value assessments to reinforce why acting now is the best choice.

With friction out of the way, your pipeline moves faster, win rates improve, and revenue becomes more predictable.

Ready to close faster and smarter?

The revenue leaders who win in 2025 will be the ones who master execution. That means building momentum, optimizing deal strategy with AI, and making it easier for buyers to say yes.

The blueprint for accelerating deal velocity:

• Design a sales flywheel that keeps deals moving. Create a system that builds momentum through structured rituals, reinforcement, and continuous enablement.
• Use AI to spot, prioritize, and close deals faster. Focus your team’s energy on the highest-probability opportunities and remove guesswork from execution.
• Help buyers move faster by reducing friction. Guide decision-makers, clarify next steps, and create urgency with data-backed insights.

The faster your deals move, the stronger your revenue engine becomes. Nail this, and you’ll turn pipeline into profit — and build a legendary career in revenue.

More playbooks for running revenue

[NEW] State of Enterprise Revenue Report: Clari Labs analyzed over 10 million opportunities from 121 global enterprises to get insights on how to scale success, address deal risks, and build data-driven strategies to win more. Get the report here.  

[NEW] Blog: Discover how enterprises use AI to scale performance of top sellers to automate workflow and prioritize better opportunities in the revenue process.