Congratulations! Well, Kind Of. — by Dan Lynn

By Dan Lynn

When I started in sales at AT&T in 1988, I did ride-alongs with some of our best salespeople. You learn more watching a great rep for a day than you do in a week of training.

On one of those calls, we met with the owner of a trucking company — a big AT&T customer. The rep made his pitch: "We have a new solution called a Software Defined Network. Your current setup is hard-wired. This one is completely software-driven. Is that something you'd like to learn more about?"

The customer said yes. Good meeting. We shook hands and left.

On the drive back, the rep pulled over at a payphone — this was around 1988, nobody had a cell phone. I could hear his side of the call.

"Please tell him we just closed a Software Defined Network deal."

I sat there thinking: did we? The man said he'd like to learn more. That's a good meeting. It is not a closed deal.

The next morning I got into the office and had a voicemail waiting.

"Dan — this is another Dan. Dan Hesse. I want to congratulate you on selling the first Software Defined Network deal in the country. Congratulations, and keep up the great work."

Dan Hesse ran our sales organization — he'd go on to become the CEO of Sprint. And here he was, congratulating the brand-new guy on a landmark deal that had not actually happened.

Panic set in.

A few weeks later, we did formally close it. And here's the thing I've never forgotten: it was completely anticlimactic. The moment was gone. It felt like yesterday's news — because it was yesterday's news. Everyone had already celebrated something that hadn't happened yet, so when it finally did, there was nothing left to say.

I've watched both kinds of salespeople ever since.

Some don't say a word until the ink is dry. Then they unveil it. No risk, and the moment is theirs.

Others announce it the second they have a good meeting. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes the deal dies, and now everyone knows about the deal that died.

I recommend the first kind — and not only because of the risk. Even when the early announcement turns out to be right, you've spent the moment before you earned it. Do the work quietly. Then tell them. But, I guess I was part of the team that sold the first Software Defined Network in the country. Well, kind of.