Hanging Steel
For Fractional CROs and VPs of Sales
You arrive at the first leadership meeting with findings rather than questions.
Hanging Steel turns a single CRM export into a probability-based read on:
- where your client’s pipeline is leaking
- which sales reps are strong
- which deals are likely to close
- what the forecast can support
You present the findings. You keep the relationship.
Pipeline Leakage Report
Prepared for [Client Name] by [Your Name], [Your Title] · Q4 2026
Leakage by category, 68% ranges. Bars share one scale from $0 to $14M; the tick marks the median.
Illustrative sample · Analysis by Hanging Steel
What the report contains.
- Skills: quantitative estimates of the skills of each sales rep, in qualifying, winning, and growing.
- Value leakage: how much value leaked out of the pipeline, in each of four categories.
- Forecast range: the quarter’s likely outcome with a stated confidence level.
- Open deals: the open opportunities, with estimates of win probability and size
- Recommendations: best opportunities for near-term interventions.
The sample report uses synthetic data.
The first sixty days decide your engagement.
You inherited data: The CRM you inherit was built by someone else, and each stage means something different to each rep.
Skeptical leadership: The CEO wants to know whether the forecast is real before you have had time to rebuild the process behind it.
Limited hours: A fractional schedule leaves little room for weeks of spreadsheet forensics.
How the process works.
1
You introduce the engagement.
You describe your client and the question you need answered.
2
The client authorizes one export.
A secure export tool pulls the opportunity history in a single run, and access ends when the export completes. A manual CSV export also works if your client prefers.
3
Hanging Steel runs the analysis.
A Bayesian model estimates the win probability of each open deal, estimates the skill of each sales rep, and locates the leakage in the funnel.
4
You present the findings.
You receive a 10-12 page report and a walkthrough call. The report can carry your name or be co-branded.
Our commitment
Your client stays your client.
Hanging Steel works through you. The partnership exists to make your engagement stronger, not to open a side door to your client.
- Hanging Steel does not contact your clients except at your request.
- Hanging Steel will not solicit your clients.
- Findings come to you. You decide what the client sees and how it is framed.
- The report is delivered under your brand.
Partner terms.
Core report: $10,000 for the custom Pipeline Leakage Report. You set the price to your client.
Founding partners: The first five partners receive a 50% reduced partner rate on their first engagement. In return, Hanging Steel asks for permission to publish an anonymized case study from that engagement, with you credited as the sales leader.
Referral option: 25% if you refer your client and Hanging Steel contracts with them directly.
“
It’s Moneyball for sales pipelines
Kevin Williams, Digital Marketing & Strategy, global business services provider
“
Most pipelines don’t fail at the finish line. They leak all the way down. The Pipeline Leakage Report finds the holes.
Brian Seagrave, Founder and Principal Consultant, Seagrave & Associates
Questions fractional sales leaders ask.
Which CRMs are supported?
Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive are supported through the secure export application.
How much history is needed?
Twelve months of opportunities are required, both closed and open deals. At least 50 deals in total.
What if the client’s IT team will not approve the export tool?
A manual CSV export works equally well. Hanging Steel provides a field list so the client’s CRM administrator can produce it in one pass.
Is client data kept confidential?
Yes. An NDA is signed before any data changes hands. Contact names and email addresses are not required, and the model does not use them.
What access does the export tool have?
The client authorizes each export once. Access ends when the export completes, and the tool reads only the opportunity data the analysis needs.
How is client data stored, and when is it deleted?
All client data encrypted using AES-256-XTS or AES-256. Opportunity data is deleted within 90 days of report delivery. Summary results are retained until your engagement closes, to support follow-up analyses.
How long does it take?
5-10 business days from receipt of the export, followed by a walkthrough call.
Who bills the client?
Under the partner rate, you bill your client and Hanging Steel bills you. Under the referral option, Hanging Steel contracts with the client directly and pays you the referral fee.
Do I need technical skills?
No. The report is written for a sales leadership audience, and the walkthrough call prepares you to present it.
What does my client see?
Only what you choose to share. The report can carry your branding.
About Hanging Steel.
Hanging Steel Productions is run by Dave Bridgeland. Dave has spent 20 years building models supporting sales.
He now builds probabilistic pipeline models that give sales leaders a defensible probability for every deal in place of gut-feel stage percentages.
Computer Science MA, University of Texas · Computer Science BA, University of Michigan · LinkedIn
Why probabilities rather than stage percentages.
Stage-weighted forecast: Every deal in a Proposal stage counts at the same percentage, whether it has an engaged champion or has been silent for ninety days.
Deal-level probability: Each deal receives its own probability, estimated from how similar deals in the client’s history actually closed. The forecast becomes a range with a stated confidence level, not a single number.
What it means for you: You can show a client which commit deals the history does not support, before the quarter makes the point for you.
Bring one engagement. See what the data says.
A 20-minute call covers how the process works and whether one of your current clients is a good first candidate.
Prefer email? Write to dave@hangingsteel.com.
