How to Stop Chasing Deals That Were Never Qualified

Research & Sources / Sales & Revenue Growth

You run after a bus, waving. The driver sees you, but the sign on the front says “Not in service”. It is not going to stop, no matter how fast you run. Many salespeople spend months running after deals like that bus. They wave, they send proposals, they call again. The deal was never going to stop for them.

What an unqualified deal looks like

It usually starts well. A friendly first meeting, interest in the product, maybe a request for a proposal. Then things slow down. Emails take longer to answer. The contact is “still discussing internally”. The decision date moves, and moves again.

Looking back, the warning signs were there from the start: no clear problem, no deadline, no budget, or a contact who could not decide anything.

Why we keep chasing

Hope. A big name or a big number is exciting. It is hard to let go of a deal that would make the quarter.

Effort already spent. After three meetings and a long proposal, giving up feels like wasting all that work. But the work is spent either way. The question is only whether to spend more.

Optimism. People naturally believe things will happen sooner than they do. Psychologists call it the planning fallacy.¹ In sales, it shows up as “they will sign next month”, every month.

Check the four basics early

The simplest protection is to check four things early in every serious conversation: a real need, a timeline, someone with authority, and a way to pay. This is the classic BANT checklist.² If two of the four are missing after the second meeting, the deal is probably a bus that is not stopping.

Neil Rackham’s research on large sales also showed that in big deals, a real need often has to be developed through good questions.³ So “no clear need yet” does not always mean “no deal”. But it does mean the next step is to explore the problem, not to send a proposal.

Rules that protect your time

• No proposal without a confirmed problem and a named decision maker.
• Every deal has a next step with a date. If the buyer will not agree to one, the deal is not active.
• Thirty days without movement triggers a direct conversation: “Is this still a priority for you?”
• Close the loop politely. “It sounds like the timing isn’t right. Shall we talk again in six months?”

Letting go creates room

Every hour spent chasing a bus that will not stop is an hour not spent with a buyer who wants to get on. Letting go of dead deals is not giving up. It is putting your energy where it can make a difference.

It also makes your pipeline honest. A smaller list of real opportunities is far more useful than a long list of hopes.

What this means for you this week

• List every deal that has not moved in 30 days.
• Check each one against need, timeline, authority and budget.
• Call or write to the three biggest and ask directly whether it is still a priority.
• Close or park every deal without a real next step.

Stop running after buses that aren’t stopping. The right one will open its doors.

Sources

1. Buehler, R., Griffin, D. & Ross, M. (1994). Exploring the “planning fallacy”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(3), 366-381. doi.orgPeople consistently underestimate how long tasks will take, even when past experience says otherwise.
2. HubSpot Sales Blog. BANT: how to qualify prospects. blog.hubspot.comPractical explanation of budget, authority, need and timeline as qualification criteria. The common attribution of BANT to IBM could not be confirmed from a primary IBM source.
3. Rackham, N. (1988). SPIN Selling. Routledge (originally Gower). routledge.comThe Situation, Problem, Implication and Need-payoff question model for large sales.