Every year, the powerful Atlantic swells off the Portuguese coast attract the world’s best surfers. Watching them in action, you see something that’s directly relevant to sales management: absolute discipline in wave selection.

Great surfers don’t paddle for every wave—they conserve energy, position themselves carefully, and commit only when the right one comes. It’s a lesson many sales teams would do well to apply to their pipelines.

In today’s sales climate, it’s easy to feel pressure to “top up the funnel” with every possible opportunity. But when you fill your pipeline with poor-fit prospects or stalled deals, it creates a false sense of momentum. You end up wasting time, energy, and morale chasing business that was never real in the first place.

Instead, take a page from the surfer’s playbook: assess each opportunity against clear criteria before you commit your energy. Here are six practical filters to help you clean up your pipeline and focus only on deals with real potential:

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1. Timing

Where is the buyer in their decision process? Are they still exploring options—or are they simply gathering quotes to validate a decision that’s already made?

Strong opportunities typically move at a healthy pace. So check your pipeline for deals stuck in the same stage longer than your average sales cycle. If it’s been lingering, there’s usually a reason—and it’s rarely a good one.

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2. Strategic Fit

Is the opportunity aligned with your strengths—solution, sector, client type? Do you have solid proof points (case studies, testimonials) to back your value?

If not, be honest. Pursuing deals outside your sweet spot often ends in wasted effort and missed targets. Don’t let red herrings muddy your forecast.

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3. Slippage

Repeated changes to close dates or deal value are a major red flag. If an opportunity has shifted its expected close date or quoted price more than three times, it’s almost certainly at-risk.

Flag it, review it—and don’t let it skew your forecast.

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4. Deal Size Reality Check

Larger-than-average deals are tempting. But if it’s more than three times your usual deal size, treat it with caution. Big deals take longer to close and convert at lower rates—if they close at all.

Pipeline discipline means balancing ambition with realism.

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5. Access to Decision Makers

No access, no deal. If you’re not in conversation with the person who can actually sign off, you’re skating on thin ice—especially if the deal is marked late-stage.

Mark these opportunities as at-risk until that critical link is made.

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6. Stage Accuracy

Be ruthless about what qualifies for your forecast. If a deal is still in the early stages—no meeting, no clear need, no confirmed budget—it doesn’t belong in your forecast.

Forecasts should be based on evidence, not hope.

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Final Thought

Take time this week to clean up your pipeline. Be honest about what’s real, and what’s noise. Sharpen your qualification on new opportunities. The result? A tighter forecast, more confident selling, and more energy for the deals that actually matter.

Want to discuss how to apply these filters with your team?
Book a short call and I’ll walk you through a simple process to tighten your pipeline and unlock more wins.