When Sales Funnels Stall: Lessons from 15 Years in CGT Commercialization

After more than a decade helping cell and gene therapy (CGT) tool and service companies bring their innovations to market, I’ve noticed a clear pattern.

It’s not that CGT sales funnels lack interest. In fact, most are full of leads exploring tools, technologies, and services. The real problem? Velocity. It’s not just who’s in the funnel—it’s how—and if—they’re moving through it.

Have you ever looked at your CGT sales funnel and wondered why leads aren’t converting as expected?

Let’s break down four common reasons sales funnels stall—and what you can do to get them moving again.

1. Many Leads ≠ Many Sales: Why Qualification Matters

I’ve worked with many teams whose pipelines looked robust… but only a handful of those leads were qualified buyers capable of making a purchase in the next 12 months.

More leads can feel like progress—but quantity alone doesn’t drive deals.

What’s the fix? Focus on right-fit leads. Build qualification into your top-of-funnel process so your team spends time where it counts.

2. Counting Leads Isn’t Enough: Track Movement to Find Momentum

This one’s sneaky. I’ve seen teams celebrate adding 100 new leads in a month… while the same deals have been sitting mid-funnel for months.

Volume is easy to track. Movement is where the gold is.

Fix: Track how and where leads move through the funnel. How long does it take to go from introduction to a technical conversation? Where do deals consistently slow down? That’s where the work is.

3. If Buyers Aren’t Moving, Check Your Message

Sometimes the issue isn’t the product or market—it’s the message.

When teams try to say everything, buyers hear noise: technical features, specs, long lists of capabilities—all start to blur.

Fix: Speak only to what matters most to the buyer. This comes from asking the right questions. Lead with their top priorities and desired outcomes. Relatedness to their needs creates momentum.

“Velocity in your funnel starts with clarity in your message.”

4. Stalled Deals Aren’t About Interest—They’re About Resonance

A few years ago, I led commercialization for a CGT company. We had interest. The funnel looked healthy. But nothing was closing.

After a manual review of every active deal—CRM notes, follow-ups, call summaries—I found:

• No strategy to create urgency—buyers interested but not compelled

• No true alignment to each decision maker’s key wins

• No clear roadmap shared for the next sales steps

  
  

Once we aligned the message, created urgency around outcomes, and laid out the roadmap, the funnel started to move.

✅ Sales velocity picked up 

✅ The team gained confidence 

✅ Forecasts become more accurate

Lesson learned: “When deals stall, it’s rarely about interest—it’s a signal that something isn’t resonating with the client.”

Final Thought: Sales Velocity is a Learnable Skill

The more you observe who moves quickly through your CGT sales funnel, the more insight you gain. Message. Timing. Targeting. All of it sharpens over time.

Velocity isn’t static—it’s a skill. Like any skill, it improves with the right feedback loops.

If you’re stuck mid-funnel, pause and ask:

• Where are buyers hesitating?

• What’s not clicking?

• What’s the one thing they need to hear to take the next step?

• How do I test and validate this?

  
  

That’s how momentum is built—one aligned conversation at a time.

Ready to accelerate your CGT sales funnel? 

Contact us today for a complimentary gap analysis and start moving your deals faster.