Starting the Month Right Is About More Than Motivation
If you've read our blog, "4 Key Ways to Start Your Sales Month Off the Right Way," you know the basics: review last month, know your numbers, reevaluate your strategy, and put your plan into action.
But there’s a crucial, often-overlooked piece of the puzzle:
Cleaning your pipeline.
It sounds simple, but most sales reps and even experienced managers skip it. And the cost? Wasted energy, poor forecasting, and a cluttered mindset.
This follow-up post shares a personal example from my own pipeline and why this habit is now Rule #1 for starting any new sales month.
Sales Isn’t Linear—So Stop Treating Your Pipeline Like It Is
Recently, I paused an opportunity I had been pursuing for over 12 months
There was interest. The fit was right. But the timing wasn’t.
Rather than keep chasing, I pushed the next steps out by 6 months. I also:
- Updated the status to "Revisit: Bad Timing"
- Triggered a nurture campaign in my CRM
- Sent the client a respectful note saying I’d check in later in the year
- Set a future task reminder to follow up.
It’s not that I gave up, but I freed up headspace to focus on active, qualified deals.
This is what sales maturity looks like, and it starts by accepting that not all deals deserve equal attention every month.
Why Most Pipelines Are Lying to You
If you're rolling over the same deals month after month, you're not alone. But you're also not being honest with yourself.
Poor pipeline hygiene:
- Skews your forecast
- Sucks time into dead-end deals
- Prevents you from seeing true revenue opportunities
This issue isn’t just theory. We saw it clearly in the case study with Marcus, a sales rep in the automotive industry who was having performance challenges. He thought he was busy, but he was really overwhelmed.
Once we cleaned up his pipeline:
- He saw things moving a bit faster.
- He started closing more easily because his focus was on the right opportunities.
- And finally, he had the confidence to work proactively instead of reactively with leads.
I conduct these exercises with sales reps, managers, and teams, as they are often overlooked and greatly undervalued. They foster clarity for everyone involved.
Example 1: Rolling Close Dates in Sales Management
I frequently observed a common trend in my early days as a sales manager using Excel. Representatives often kept "pushing" the closing date for deals every few days or weeks. This phenomenon is known as "deal drift." A client might say, "Let’s talk in February," but then the date shifts to March, then April, and eventually June.
What was really happening? My reps weren’t asking the right questions:
- "What could affect this opportunity closing on time?"
- "Who else needs to be involved in the decision?"
- "Can you walk me through your buying process?"
Sometimes, the contact they were engaging with was only a scout. The deal still needed to go through procurement, finance, or even a final executive sign-off.
Eventually, I had to coach my team to either push the date out realistically (say 60-90 days) or not forecast it at all until they were sure. That shift in discipline improved our visibility and saved hours of wasted review time every week.
Example 2: CRM Overload in a Software Sales Team
In another scenario, I was reviewing a team’s forecast. They sold software, Microsoft, AZURE, and other services. On the surface, it looked like they had a full, active pipeline, but something felt off.
As I dug in, I realised:
- Several deals were created from "interest" alone, not actual qualification
- Many of the deals had outdated timelines (Past close dates)
- Closed-won and closed-lost statuses were missing entirely
Worse, when I asked about specific deals, the reps themselves weren’t even sure what was happening with some of them.
We had to pause everything, do a full pipeline scrub, and redefine what qualified deals looked like. While this exercise took some time, it forced clarity and prevented the team (and me, as their sales coach) from wasting valuable time on false data.
The Pipeline Reset Checklist
Before you dive into prospecting or campaign follow-ups, start here:
- Audit your deals monthly
- Update your lead statuses (e.g., "Bad Tining", "Not-Interested", "Disqualified", etc.)
- Archive or pause what's inactive
- Trigger nurturing strategies instead of chasing (Automation works well here)
- Use your CRM to structure your focus
Whether you're using HubSpot or another platform, these are habits that shift you from busy to effective.
Mindset First, CRM Second
Your CRM is only as powerful as the honesty you bring to it.
If you're afraid to archive or pause leads, then you are choosing friction over focus. A clean pipeline doesn't just help with visibility; it helps with mental clarity.
Sales is a game of strategy, focus, and energy. Don't waste your time and energy on the wrong things.
Conclusion: Build Your Monthly Sales Reset Ritual
This article builds on the foundation in an earlier article, "4 Key Ways to Start Your Sales Month Off Right," highlighting how real-life strategy and CRM discipline intersect.
Use this as your monthly ritual:
- Clear what doesn’t belong
- Recommit to what matters
- Let your CRM help you work smarter, not just harder
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Related Reading:
- 4 Key Ways to Start Your Sales Month Off Right
- 5 Key Lessons from Helping Marcus Clean Up His Pipeline
