Here is a terrific article from Selling Power titled Pare Down Your Pipeline. Let me give you the opening paragraphs:
One key differentiator between your top 20 percent of performers and everyone else on your team is the way the superstars find and qualify leads. Let’s be honest: most of your reps – especially these days when business is agonizingly slow – are working feverishly to fill their pipelines. Their goal is to cram in as many leads as possible, knowing that a certain percentage of them are bound to come out the bottom as closed deals.
Top producers, on the other hand, “are more interested in disqualifying prospects than in generating leads,” says Mike Brooks in his new book, The Real Secrets of the Top 20% (Sales Gravy Press, 2008). “They don’t waste time and energy on questionable prospects, and they aren’t afraid to ask tough qualifying questions before engaging in the sales process. If a prospect is not qualified or does not have the ability to buy, they quickly move on.”
That is absolutely correct. Please read the entire article.