I once closed a $450,000 deal in seven business days. A company wanted to upgrade from an old version of our product to the new version. They had budget, and they wanted to move on it. I learned this in my first sales call with them.
I did not forecast it.
My manager and I weighed the pros and cons of raising visibility on the deal. We still needed to bring in resources for a series of demos, some upfront training, a proposal for the solution and implementation services, and the contract reviewed and signed. But we wanted to keep this in our hip-pocket and become the heroes of the quarter.
I wonder now if we did the right thing from our executive’s point of view. Was it better to potentially bring in some extra, outside-the-forecast revenue, or were we just protecting ourselves in case the deal couldn’t make it through our legal