Field note
When a mid-market 'commit' is still a hope
A deal marked Commit because a champion forwarded a proposal is not a commit if the buyer still needs a controller's signature and a vendor packet from procurement. In many Georgia mid-market firms those two steps sit outside the champion's authority and outside the seller's weekly cadence.
Useful commit language names the remaining signature and a date the seller has confirmed with a person who can actually sign. 'Verbal yes from operations' is a note. It is not a close date.
During forecast reviews we ask three questions of every commit line above a threshold the manager chooses: who signs, what packet is still outstanding, and what happens to the amount if the signature slips fourteen days. If the seller cannot answer the third question, the line belongs in upside, not commit.
This is slower than rolling a CRM probability. It is also how a regional number survives a finance review in Cumming or at a plant office in Gainesville.