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When to Walk Away
The timing most reps get wrong
One of the hardest things in sales isn’t closing. It’s leaving. Reps are wired to grind, chase, and push deals over the line but that instinct can quietly torch their pipeline. The truth is, knowing when to walk away is one of the highest-leverage skills you can teach a team.
Why? Because every minute sunk into a dead deal is a minute stolen from the deal that could’ve closed. Managers love “hustle,” but hustle without discernment just inflates activity reports and crushes win rates. Walking away is not weakness it’s discipline.
Here’s the kicker: most reps leave too late, not too early. They cling to “maybe” deals for weeks, hoping for life signs. That’s a pipeline killer. Elite performers recognize the signals, step back, and reallocate their energy where it counts. Walking away at the right moment sharpens focus, drives urgency, and ultimately creates bigger, cleaner closes.
Action Steps to Master the Walk-Away:
Define your red flags. No decision-maker access? Endless “checking with the team”? Radio silence? Codify these as clear triggers.
Set a time cap. Decide upfront how long a deal stays in “maybe” before it’s moved out. No exceptions.
Coach the reframe. Teach reps that walking away isn’t losing it’s creating capacity to win elsewhere.
Track your pipeline velocity. Measure deals moving out as closely as deals moving in. It’s a sign of pipeline health, not weakness.
Celebrate clean exits. Reward reps who drop dead weight as much as those who close.
The strongest pipelines aren’t stuffed they’re sharp. Walking away at the right time doesn’t shrink opportunity. It multiplies it.
