Sales · 15 min

Find where deals get stuck, by region and deal type

Excel or Copilot Chat

Short answer: Export the deal report from Power BI or your CRM into Excel. Ask Copilot for count, value and average days in stage by region, then the deal types that stall most and the likely root cause for the top three blockers, with the rows behind each. Finish with three actions.

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 21, 2026

Deal desks and sales ops teams get asked the same question every quarter: where are deals getting stuck? Answering it with evidence instead of opinions makes you the person leadership calls when they plan next year.

A common situation (composite)

Leadership says deals are slowing down.
Sales blames legal. Legal blames sales.
I have the data but no time to dig.

What you get

Data: a deal export with region, deal type, stage, value and dates.
Does: finds trends by region and the most common blockers.
Output: two tables, root causes with evidence, and three actions.
How often: monthly or before quarterly planning.

Before you start

Needs: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat with an uploaded export works. A Microsoft 365 Copilot license lets Copilot reference the report file directly. Not sure what you have? Start here.
Microsoft's label for this scenario: Copilot Chat. The Operations prompt pack also lists it under Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Where: Excel, Copilot, or Copilot Chat.
Access: Copilot only uses content you already have permission to open. Use only information your company allows in Copilot.

The steps

Export the deal data to Excel with region, deal type, stage, value, created date and stage change dates.
Format it as a table, or upload the file to Copilot Chat.
Run the prompt and check the top numbers by hand.
Run the follow-up to test the root causes.
Bring the actions to the people who own those stages.

Copy this prompt

Using this deal data:
1. A table by region: number of deals, total value, average days in current stage
2. A table of blockers: deal type, where it stalls (stage), how many deals, likely root cause, and the evidence (which rows or fields)
3. Three actions that would unblock the most value

Use only this data. Write UNKNOWN where the data can't explain a delay. Show how you calculated each number.

(Prompt from stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/deal-trends-blockers/)

Make it better

Run this next, in the same chat.

For the top blocker, which deals are affected right now, ranked by value? List them with owner and days stuck, and suggest one question to ask each owner. Label any root cause that's a guess.

(Prompt from stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/deal-trends-blockers/)

Data tip: use this with your work Copilot, and leave out passwords, payment details and anything your company marks restricted.

What a good result looks like

Totals match the source when you spot-check, root causes point to rows in the data, and guesses are labeled.

If a feature is missing

If Copilot can't read the Power BI report directly, export the data to Excel first. That's the most reliable path.

Make it smarter

Keep a short "What it got wrong" note. Paste it above the prompt next time, like "Don't invent dates".

Not sure what to ask? Copy the quick note for your Copilot admin.

Questions people ask

Find where deals get stuck, by region and deal type?

Export the deal report from Power BI or your CRM into Excel. Ask Copilot for count, value and average days in stage by region, then the deal types that stall most and the likely root cause for the top three blockers, with the rows behind each. Finish with three actions.

What do I need for this?

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat with an uploaded export works. A Microsoft 365 Copilot license lets Copilot reference the report file directly. If Copilot can't read the Power BI report directly, export the data to Excel first. That's the most reliable path.

Can Copilot read my Power BI report directly?

Export the data to Excel to be safe. Reading a live report from chat depends on your setup.

Is this for sales or operations?

Both. Sales managers use it for pipeline health, and ops or deal desk teams use it to fix process bottlenecks.

How do I prove a root cause?

Treat Copilot's root causes as leads. Check a few deals and talk to the owners before you present them as fact.

Next step

Try it once, then make it yours.

Run the prompt on one real task this week. Then pick your next workflow.

See the workflow library ↗

Cite or share this guide

Find where deals get stuck, by region and deal type. Stuck with Copilot. https://stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/deal-trends-blockers/ Last checked Oct 21, 2026.

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Where this comes from

Inspired by Microsoft's Copilot scenarios. See the original at Microsoft Copilot adoption (Microsoft's Copilot Prompt Gallery). The prompts and steps here are rewritten and expanded by Stuck with Copilot. This site is not affiliated with Microsoft.

Official references

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 21, 2026.