sketchysales

Sales Manager

Are you a big up my opp kinda person who keep it low key?

Maybe a confusing title sorry.

But im curious to know, when you have a medium to decent sized opportunity (subjective obvs to company/industry etc.), do you;

1- big it up, talk about it lots and have a high level of vocal confidence or;

2- do you keep it low key, understate its potential and generally transmit a low level of confidence in it closing until you are 99.9999% sure it is done?

Im curious because I have ex-colleagues who would always really big up what they did and the daft thing was it was always well received by management and even when the deal closed and it was always less than the rep said it would be (due to VERY SPECIFIC reasons), management were still amped about it.

On the flip side I personally have found, the deals I talk about I lose and those that I keep close to my chest I win. Plus I like to keep peoples expectations as low as possible and then blow them away.

I dont think theres anything wrong either way as long as you are winning im just curious as to what others are like here.

How do you communicate your pipeline

Attached poll

amp it up keep it low key

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

25

32 comments

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funcoupons

WR Officer

13

👑

Biggie said it best...

Number two, never let 'em know your next move
Don't you know Bad Boys move in silence and violence?
Take it from your highness!

I gain nothing from talking a big game to my colleagues. I actually find it much more satisfying staying quiet, letting people assume that I have nothing to be excited about, then dropping a whale deal on their heads randomly on a Tuesday.

hocktony

Big Shot

1

smileNdial

THIS^^
& “Never let no one know how much dough you hold.”
You want your manager going up the chain with outlandish numbers forcing them to hold you to that?
I didn’t think so.

funcoupons

WR Officer

2

👑

You get it

jefe

Arsonist

1

🍁

I don't think anyone could have put it better.

braintank

Politicker

7

Enterprise Account Executive

I tend toward paranoia. I'm constantly asking myself "what can go wrong?" in my deals.

sketchysales

Politicker

2

Sales Manager

tbf its probably not a bad stance to take, probably better than being ridiculously over confident to the point you miss half the details.

braintank

Politicker

4

Enterprise Account Executive

Overconfidence is the mark of a shitty salesperson. You need to be confident in your own ability, but if tout commission before the deal is closed you're inevitably going to look like an asshole when the deal doesn't come in.

Guy I used to work with was quintessential overconfident salesperson. Thought he was the shit and that anybody he met with would buy. The tradition at the company was to ring a big gong whenever a deal closed, so the company would gather and you could tell the story and give appreciations.

This guy flew in the prospects to meet the team and had them ring the gong before the deal was done. He had a smug grin on his face the whole time (it was a very prestigious logo).

Fast forward a few weeks when the deal got killed by CFO and everyone was asking the AE -- "hey, whatever happened with prospect X? They seemed so cool and we're excited to start working with them!". He had to explain to everyone how he'd lost a deal he described as a slam dunk.

Guy never lived it down.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Always look for what can go wrong...best way to get in front of possible roadblocks.

Jewcan_Sam81

Politicker

5

Account Executive

Talking a big talk, for me, leads to jinxing a deal and I always try to do the whole “don’t count your eggs before they’re hatched” kinda mentality and it’s done me pretty well so far

sketchysales

Politicker

1

Sales Manager

this is exactly the same here. The times I have overshared or talked up a deal I invariably jinx it. Im not just talking sales here either lol.

SaaSMaster

Politicker

5

Strategic Partnerships Manager

Underpromise and overdeliver on pipeline so I don’t have too many eyes on a deal that I fear I’ll jinx by talking about it too much

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

5

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

Sales Karma is Real, whether you believe in it or not. Push it over the finishline and stay low key. Once the money hits your bank and you're clear of clawbacks, talk as much as you need.

CoorsKing

WR Officer

4

Retired King of the Coors Knights

Under promise, over deliver, and don’t commit it until the deal closes. I don’t want management up my ass if a deal slips

Justatitle

Big Shot

4

Account Executive

It's so nice to close a big deal, it's absolutely horrendous to float a big deal and not close it. I want no one to know about it until it is signed and the ink is dry. less exposure to risk and optics is half the job.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

All my deals get eyes on (small company/enterprise customers). I don't brag them up, but damn straight I leverage all the internal help I can get to remove hurdles to getting the deals done.

That said, no amping. Approach to close internally: Quiet, methodical, with slight sandbagging of the $$ to manage pipeline expectations, and never take it as a sure thing until the paper is in hand.

Filth

Politicker

2

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I've amped up deals just to keep management happy but knowing full well that it could go either way and didn't take the ink for granted.

So glad I'm not playing in that political environment anymore.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

2

🦊

Low key. I don't want other people in my shizz. Also I don't wanna jinx it. 🤷‍♀️

peachykeen

Politicker

2

sae e-commerce

Definitely keep things on the DL, you never know what shit can happen. Cover your bases and then 🍾 when it goes through.

saaster

Fire Starter

1

Account Executive

I usually keep my mouth shut and am extremely conservative with my forecasts - got really burned by a shitty company for not delivering a commit (closed 2 weeks into the following qtr).
It’s a delicate move though - you have to talk enough to get the right resources but not enough to get leadership interested.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Not to mention needing to help the company manage revenue expectations.

KendallRoy

Politicker

1

AM

Isn’t done until it’s signed. Very dangerous bragging about something that might not materialise for a myriad of reasons outside your control.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

1

Blow it up

I big it up to the team so they are all in and I get the support I need, but I try my best to not count it closed in my mind until PO is in hand.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

Anything can happen before you get that PO.

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

1

MDR

I tend toward paranoia. I'm constantly asking myself "what can go wrong?" in my deals.

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

1

ISR

I tend toward paranoia.

IYNFYL

Politicker

0

Enterprise SaaS AE

I’ve been in orgs that forecast accuracy was more important than closing deals, so I try to stay as accurate as possible and usually the management doesn’t ride your ass when you are more accurate

AssistantToTheRegional

Politicker

0

Enterprise Account Executive

I try to keep things on the down low but our new management is making best case and commit the same category for forecast purposes so now it’s impossible.

washedD1soccer

Politicker

0

Regional Sales Manager

As the great Joe Burrow said this week - work in silence

Pachacuti

Politicker

0

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I generally keep it low key to keep expectations low so if the deal doesn't close, no one hunts me down. That said, I will bring in the big guns for strategic/big deals and to cover myself if it doesn't close (I can blame the execs for their strategy, not mine)

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

I use to be a "amp it up" kind of guy. I thought it made me look good. And the attention I would get from leadership was cool.

But if anything I amped up didnt close.....then it all backfired!

So i switched my approach and tend to be more pessimistic until the end.

I now would MUCH rather be known as the guy who "seems to close everything" rather than the guys who always has stuff going on but never gets it across the finish line?

E_Money

Big Shot

0

💰

Sing it loud and proud!

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

0

ISR

I tend toward paranoia. I'm constantly asking myself "what can go wrong?" in my deals.

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