Show notes
Have you ever been working on a deal where you had this feeling, this intuition, this Spidey sense—something in the back of your mind telling you that this wasn't going to close? That you were going to waste your time?
Maybe you had one of the stakeholders who was against you—an enemy. There was a naysayer who kept calling you out. Perhaps the stakeholders weren't engaged, or the incumbent vendor was so integrated into the organization that it would be very difficult to displace them.
Whatever the case, you knew in the back of your mind that you weren't going to close the deal. But you kept working on it anyway. You rode that puppy to the ocean floor like the Titanic that it was.
If you’ve done this, and I know you have, take heart because we've all been there. We've all had these situations, and we've later regretted them.
Top Sales Pros are Quick to Walk Away From Bad Deals
One of the traits of Ultra-High Performers that has always been true is that they're very quick to walk away from a deal they can't close—a deal where they've concluded that the probability of winning is so low it doesn't meet their threshold.
The reason Ultra-High Performers walk away from deals like this is simple: They know that the greatest waste of their time is investing it with the wrong prospect. The time they invest in a prospect that's not going to close is money down the drain, because it's time they can't focus on a deal that will close.
But average salespeople? They hang on—hoping against hope that somehow, miraculously, things will turn around.
In sales, awareness matters. You must always know where the exit is.
There are two primary reasons why salespeople work on deals that are never going to close. Understanding these reasons is the first step to avoiding the trap.
Reason #1: The Failure to Qualify Properly
Too often, qualifying is treated like a one-and-done activity. We qualify the opportunity against our ICP. We qualify the numbers, budget, timing, urgency, and whether we're talking to a decision-maker with buying authority.
These are all quantifiable metrics that we can measure and check off our list.
But Ultra-High Performers take qualifying to the next level. Rather than making it a quick process, they understand that qualifying is never done. It's an ongoing process of awareness that keeps you tethered to reality in every deal.
And their top qualifier, once they've checked off the must-haves, is engagement.
Are the stakeholders engaged? Are they leaning in? Are they matching your effort, answering questions, and working collaboratively with you?
It's okay that there are some stakeholders who may be naysayers. That's normal in complex deals. But if you've got stakeholders who are enemies—people who are actively working against you—then your deal might be a bridge too far.
Engagement is my No. 1 qualifier. I'm constantly asking questions and giving stakeholders things to do to see whether or not they're engaged. If they're not engaged, I walk away because lack of engagement is a clear signal that you are not going to close the deal.
Reason #2: An Empty Pipeline
This brings us to the second reason salespeople stay in bad deals—desperation born from an empty pipeline.
On Friday, Dennis J. Walker, who is a benefits consultant with USI, posted something on LinkedIn that perfectly captures this dynamic. Here's exactly what he wrote:
Jeb Blount regularly states that you can't be delusional about your pipe, your prospects, your efforts, etc and be successful as a salesperson.
This week one of the larger deals in my pipe definitely didn't progress the way I wanted- and it turns out one of the executives is what I call a "deal enemy" - he was actively working against me and my team.
The last two meetings I've had with him tipped me off this could be the case; this week we had an incident that indicated he was actively working against us.
Because my pipe is full?
I can walk away from this (probably very bad) deal at a dysfunctional company and not worry about hitting my sales goal.
With their current leadership, they'll be a terrible client.
Helping them will be painful.
And I know I can help them with creativity, doing things differently, and giving them a lot of what they want and have at better pricing and higher quality.
But I'm not freaking out.
Because I have 15 other prospects, three that are advancing well, and about a dozen additional companies with buying windows later this year or early next.
The Psychology of Pipeline Abundance
When your pipeline is thin, every prospect feels like life or death, leading to poor decisions and desperate behavior. You cling to bad deals because they're all you have.
When you're desperate, you get delusional. And when you get delusional, you lose perspective. You become unable to see the truth, so you keep working on a deal that's never going to close—even though your intuition and everyone around one are telling you to walk away.
The Power to Walk Away from Bad Deals
What strikes me most about Dennis' story is the psychological shift that happens when you're selling from a position of abundance versus scarcity.
A robust sales pipeline is about more than numbers—it's about the freedom to make better decisions.
When you invest in building a pipeline, if you're prospecting every single day, if you're out there talking with people—knocking on doors, picking up the phone, working LinkedIn, doing the hard work of filling your funnel—then when you get that Spidey sense that you should be walking away from a deal, it's a lot easier to find the exit.
It's a lot easier to pull out of that deal because you know you have lots of other options. You gain clarity. You can see the situation for what it really is instead of what you desperately need it to be.
How many of us have stayed in toxic sales situations simply because we didn't have better options lined up? Whether you're in sales, consulting, or running your own business, this principle applies universally.
A strong pipeline helps you maintain your standards and allows you to focus on clients who truly value what you bring to the table.
How to Recognize Bad Deal Warning Signs
So what are the warning signs that you should be looking for? When should your internal alarm bells start going off?
Lack of Engagement: Stakeholders aren't returning calls promptly, they're not asking questions, they're not doing the homework you give them. They're treating you like a vendor, not a partner.
Internal Politics: You discover there are significant internal battles you weren't aware of, or you realize you're being used as leverage against an incumbent or preferred vendor.
Moving Goalposts: Requirements keep changing, timelines keep shifting, and new stakeholders keep appearing who weren't a part of the original process.
Budget Issues: The budget that was "approved" suddenly needs "additional review," or you're being asked to match prices that seem unrealistically low.
Decision-Making Dysfunction: The decision-making process is unclear, constantly changing, or involves people who refuse to meet with you.
Your Gut: Sometimes you just know. That intuition, that Spidey sense—don't ignore it. Your subconscious is picking up on signals your conscious mind hasn't fully processed yet.
Situational Awareness Matters in Sales
Take a look at the deals you're working on right now. If you're working on an opportunity that everything inside you says is not going to close, if the people around you are telling you it's not going to close, maybe it's time to pick up your sticks and walk away.
And if you don't feel like you have the ability to walk away, perhaps it's time to take a deeper, harder look at your pipeline and decide whether prospecting is your issue—not the fact that you've got bad deals in your pipe.
Remember, in complex deals, situation awareness matters. You must always know where the exit is. And the best exit strategy is having so many options that walking away from bad deals becomes easy.
Top sales pros don't just know where the exit is, and they're not afraid to use it.
Hear more about how Ultra-High Performers sniff out bad deals on the Sales Gravy Podcast.