As we approach the end of the year, many sales leaders are now amping up the pressure on their teams like never before to create miracles by December 31st. Whether it is the end of the quarter or the end of the Financial Year, the forensic focus on cadence, pipeline and qualified opportunities goes into overdrive.

I remember the cadence meetings back when I was leading sales teams – what would start out as monthly cadence reviews, would quickly turn into daily cadence reviews the closer we got to the end of the quarter. And I could never understand why senior directors would ask exactly the same question day after day, expecting a different answer. It was nuts.

Here’s the reality – if you haven’t been working on a qualified opportunity over the last 90 days, there is virtually zero probability of a qualified opportunity landing in your lap in the last 20 days of the year. So why do we focus on trying to create miracles? Call the number that has been qualified and stand firm with it – and focus on what you can control.