GM to the Top 1% 👋
Every quarter, I sit down and kill 5 deals.
Not lose them. Not let them stall out. Not quietly move them to "closed-lost" and pretend they never existed.
I actively, deliberately, intentionally remove them from my pipeline.
My manager hated it the first time I did this. "You're throwing away revenue," he said.
I wasn't. I was making room for it.
🎯 WHY YOUR PIPELINE IS LYING TO YOU
Here's what most sellers won't admit:
At least 30% of your pipeline will never close. You already know which deals those are. You've known for weeks.
The prospect who keeps rescheduling.
The champion who can't get you to the decision maker.
The deal where "timing isn't right" but they won't tell you when timing will be right.
The company that went through your entire demo, asked for a proposal, and then vanished.
You keep them in your pipeline because removing them feels like failure. Like you're giving up.
But keeping dead deals in your pipeline isn't optimism. It's avoidance.
And it's costing you more than you think.
📊 THE MATH THAT CHANGED MY MIND
In Q3 2021, I had 34 deals in my pipeline. I was spread across all of them. Checking in with everyone. Following up with no one strategically.
My win rate that quarter: 18%.
In Q4, I ran an experiment. I went through every deal and asked 5 questions. If a deal failed 3 or more, I killed it. No exceptions.
I cut 11 deals. Went from 34 to 23.
My win rate that quarter: 29%.
Same product. Same territory. Same me. Fewer deals. Better results.
The next quarter I refined the system. Cut 7 more underperformers. Win rate hit 31%.
Here's why: when you remove the deals that are wasting your time, you give your best deals the attention they deserve. You follow up faster. You prepare more thoroughly. You show up sharper.
You don't win more by working more deals. You win more by working the right deals.
🔑 THE 5-QUESTION KILL LIST
Every quarter, run each deal through these 5 questions:
1. Have I spoken to the economic buyer?
Not the champion. Not the technical evaluator. The person who signs. If the answer is no after 60+ days, this deal is a ghost.
2. Is there a defined event driving urgency?
A contract renewal. A board deadline. A compliance requirement. A new fiscal year budget. If there's no external force pushing them to decide, they won't.
3. Can the prospect articulate the cost of doing nothing?
If they can't tell you what this problem costs them in dollars, hours, or risk — they haven't sold it internally yet. And that means you haven't helped them build a business case.
4. Have they introduced me to anyone else in the organization?
Single-threaded deals die. If your champion hasn't looped in procurement, legal, finance, or their boss after 45 days, they either can't or won't.
5. Would I bet my own money on this deal closing this quarter?
Gut check. Not "is it possible." Is it probable? If you wouldn't put $1,000 of your own cash on it, it doesn't belong in your forecast.
Three or more "no" answers = kill it.
Not "nurture it." Not "revisit next quarter." Kill it. Remove it from your pipeline today.
You can always reopen it later if something changes. But right now, it's stealing time from deals that can actually close.
🤖 THE AI VERSION
Here's how I use AI to run this faster:
"Here are my current pipeline deals with notes on each: [paste deal summaries]. For each deal, evaluate against these 5 criteria: 1) Access to economic buyer, 2) Defined compelling event, 3) Quantified cost of inaction, 4) Multi-threaded contacts, 5) Realistic close probability this quarter. Score each deal 1-5 and flag any scoring 2 or below for removal. Be brutally honest."
It takes 3 minutes. And it removes the emotional bias that keeps you holding onto deals you should've let go of weeks ago.
✍️ YOUR HOMEWORK
Open your CRM right now.
Run every deal through the 5-question kill list.
Be honest with yourself. If a deal fails 3 or more questions, move it to closed-lost today.
Then count how many deals you have left. That's your real pipeline.
Now go give those deals the attention they've been waiting for.
💬 QUESTION OF THE DAY
How many deals are in your pipeline right now that you know won't close?
Hit reply with the number. No judgment. Just honesty.
📈 Share Morning Sales & Earn Rewards
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🎁 Your rewards:
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5 referrals = Private Community Access
10 referrals = 30-min strategy call with me
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See you tomorrow,
Edward
Founder, Morning Sales
P.S. Tomorrow's issue is personal. I'm telling the full story of how I went from an immigrant kid with no connections to closing $500M+ in enterprise deals. It started with 259 rejection emails. See you in the morning.