How to Score Your Deals and Drop the Weak Ones.
Here is a hard truth I had to learn the slow way. A pipeline full of weak deals feels good and lies to you. Every deal sits there looking like hope. But hope is not a forecast. Some of those deals will never close, and deep down you know which ones. The skill here is simple but honest: score each deal, see the gaps, and let the weak ones go. That is how you win more, not less.
The mistake most people make
Most people treat every deal the same. They give the same time and effort to a deal that is going nowhere as to one that could close next week. Worse, they ignore the obvious gaps. No budget holder. No real pain. No reason to act now. They keep the deal on the board because dropping it feels like quitting. So the pipeline gets crowded, the forecast gets soft, and the best deals get less attention than they deserve.
What good looks like
Good salespeople run an honest scorecard. They check each deal against the eight parts of MEDDPICC, one by one. Then they flag what is missing in plain sight. A deal with five strong parts and three big holes gets a clear label: at risk. They do not lie to themselves to feel busy. They put their hours into the deals that can win, and they pause or walk away from the rest. A smaller, honest pipeline beats a big, hopeful one.
How to do it
Score each deal against the eight parts
Go down the MEDDPICC list for every open deal. Mark each part strong, weak, or missing. Be honest, not hopeful.
"Metrics: strong. Economic buyer: missing. Pain: weak. That is three holes in one deal."
Flag what is missing out loud
A gap you can name is a gap you can fix or face. Write the holes down where your manager and your future self can see them.
"This deal has no budget holder and no deadline. I am marking it at risk until I close one of those gaps."
Pause or walk away from the weak ones
If a deal is missing the parts that matter most, stop feeding it. Free that time for deals that can really move.
"No pain, no budget, no champion after three calls. I am parking this one and putting the hour into a deal that can win."
See the difference
"It is still in play, I think they like us." You cannot name a single missing part. The deal stays on the board out of habit. Your forecast looks full, but it is built on feelings, not facts.
"I scored it against MEDDPICC. We have strong metrics and a champion, but no economic buyer and no real deadline. Two big holes. So it is at risk, and I am going to chase the budget holder this week or let it go." Now the deal has a clear status and a clear next move.
Same deal. One version hides from the gaps. The other names them and acts.
How you'll know it's working
You've got this when you score your deals against MEDDPICC and act on what you find, including dropping or backing off the weak ones. Look at your pipeline. Can you name the missing parts on each deal? Have you paused or let go of one that had no real path? If yes, you are there. A pipeline you have been honest about is a pipeline you can trust. That honesty is the whole skill.
Questions people ask
How do I score a sales deal against MEDDPICC?
Go through the eight parts one at a time: Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Paper process, Identified pain, Competition, and Champion. For each part, mark it strong, weak, or missing for that deal. Then count the gaps. A deal with strong metrics and a champion but no economic buyer has a serious hole. meritt treats this honest scoring as a coachability skill, because it means facing the truth about your own pipeline.
When should I drop a sales deal?
Drop or pause a deal when it is missing the parts that matter most and you cannot close those gaps. The clearest signs are no real pain, no person who controls the budget, and no reason to act now. If you have chased those for weeks with no movement, the deal is likely not real. Dropping it is not quitting. It frees your time for deals that can actually win.
Why is a full pipeline not always a good thing?
Because a pipeline full of weak deals hides your real numbers and pulls your time away from deals that can close. Each weak deal looks like hope, but hope is not a forecast. When you score deals honestly and remove the dead ones, your pipeline gets smaller but far more accurate. A smaller, honest pipeline gives you a forecast you and your manager can trust.
Isn't dropping a deal just giving up?
No. Giving up is walking away from a deal you could win. Dropping a deal is a clear choice to stop spending time on one that cannot win, based on real gaps you scored. It takes more discipline to let a weak deal go than to keep it on the board out of habit. The hours you save go straight into the deals that have a real path to a yes.
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