Your pipeline is a fantasy. Here is how to fix it.
If you are not qualifying your leads properly, it is costing you more than you realise:
Hours invested in meetings that were never going to convert
A misleadingly “healthy” pipeline that consistently under-delivers
Inaccurate forecasting that damages confidence and decision-making and cash-flow
Reduced marketing effort because you believe you already have enough in play
I speak with many sales leaders and business owners responsible for revenue, and there is one consistent issue.
The pipeline is a fantasy.
It looks substantial and it feels reassuring. Yet when the month or quarter closes, the numbers fall short.
Most sales leads are working hard. The problem isn’t effort, it is poor qualification.
Unless you have been formally trained in sales, it is unlikely you are following a disciplined process to both qualify and disqualify opportunities. Many professionals are far more comfortable advancing conversations than challenging them.
Too few distinguish properly between a suspect and a prospect.
The cost of that confusion is significant: wasted time, unreliable forecasting and declining motivation.
A suspect will meet with you, request a proposal and then ghost you. The conversation may feel positive and they may express enthusiasm. Yet there is often no real intent behind the engagement.
A prospect behaves very differently. They participate in moving the opportunity forward, and they do so with pace and purpose.
The distinction becomes obvious when you apply five disciplined criteria. I have a 90% conversion ration as a result of me following the process.
Am I better at selling - maybe not. Am I better at disqualifying tire kickers, absolutely.
Here are the five criteria that must all be aligned to differentiate between a suspect and a prospect.
1. Do they understand value, or are they fixated on cost?
Serious prospects connect your fee to measurable outcomes. They understand the commercial or operational impact of solving their problem and weigh investment against return.
Suspects focus on price before impact. They question cost without quantifying the problem. They rarely disclose a budget and often seek comparison purely on financial terms.
If value is not established, conversion is unlikely.
2. Are they willing to share meaningful information?
Prospects are transparent. They will discuss budget parameters, expected return, internal processes and decision dynamics because they recognise that effective solutions require open dialogue.
Suspects remain vague. They provide partial answers, avoid specifics and resist commercial conversations.
Without meaningful information, you are building a proposal on assumptions rather than fact.
3. Is there a defined timescale?
A genuine opportunity has urgency. There is a reason this conversation is happening now. A prospect can articulate their decision horizon and what is driving it.
A suspect drifts. There is no clear deadline, no commercial trigger and no real consequence to delay.
Momentum reveals intent.
4. Are you speaking to the decision-maker?
It is extraordinarily difficult to convert an opportunity if you are not engaging with someone who has authority.
Prospects facilitate access to decision-makers. They understand that progress requires the right stakeholders to be involved.
Suspects keep you at arm’s length. They act as intermediaries but resist introductions. Opportunities stall in organisational limbo.
5. Can they clearly articulate their critical need?
A true prospect can define the problem they need resolved. They understand the cost of inaction, whether financial, operational or strategic.
Suspects struggle to articulate a pressing issue. Without a clearly defined problem, urgency is weak and commitment is limited.
A true prospect has all five of these aligned. Without them, they remain a suspect.
This is where many pipelines become inflated. Opportunities are advanced based on blind optimism rather than evidence. Marketing activity is relaxed because the forward view appears strong. Yet conversion fails to materialise.
When you begin filtering through this lens, your pipeline may initially become smaller. That is not a problem, it’s clarity on where you actually are.
A smaller pipeline built on genuine prospects is commercially stronger than a larger one filled with hopeful conversations.
When qualification improves:
Conversion rates increase because intent is real
Forecasting becomes more reliable
Time and resource are allocated where they generate return
Revenue performance becomes more predictable and less stressful
A robust sales strategy requires the discipline to disqualify as confidently as you qualify. Activity alone does not create results, precision does.
If your pipeline currently feels reassuring but your results suggest otherwise, it may be time to examine whether you are managing prospects - or nurturing suspects.