.jpeg?width=48&height=48&name=1666292200070%20(2).jpeg){kind=small}
Sandbagging in the sales world is a popular yet controversial method for managing and exceeding sales expectations. And if the title of my post caught your eye — no, you shouldn’t do it.
Every salesperson wants to shatter their forecasts, and while you might be tempted to leverage this convenient play, it can actually adversely impact your sales teams' overall operations. I’ll discuss the whys and hows below.
Table of Contents
- Sandbagging Sales
- Why Sandbagging Happens in Business
- Is Sandbagging Illegal?
- Example of Sandbagging
- How to Detect Sandbagging
- Why Sandbagging Is a Bad Idea
- To Sandbag or Not to Sandbag
Sandbagging Sales
Sandbagging sales is a practice where a salesperson slightly holds back their deals to undermine their forecast and lower management's expectations. They ultimately close or report those deals later on — typically to give the impression of overperformance.
In other words, sandbagging is a matter of underselling a deal‘s potential. That might mean carefully lowballing aspects like a prospect’s probability of closing, underreporting the amount of revenue a deal might generate, or prolonging the period before a deal closes.
The key to successfully engaging in the practice is being conservative with what you choose to withhold. If your approach is too aggressive or outlandish, you might be found out and wind up in some hot water. (Very hot.)
For instance, let's say I have a deal that could generate somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 in revenue, and I decide to sandbag by lowballing the potential value of the deal.
If I wanted to do so carefully, I would forecast the deal‘s potential revenue at that $20,000 floor. I wouldn’t want to forecast the deal at $5,000, which would be deceitful and might prompt management to take a good, hard look at how I’m conducting my sales efforts.
Another example of sandbagging could be if I already hit quota for a quarter, and pushing out a deal‘s close date a few weeks gives me a jump start on the following quarter’s goals. But, if I were to hold off a deal for an entire quarter, I might run the risk of losing out on it entirely.
Free Sales Plan Template
Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.
- Target Market
- Prospecting Strategy
- Budget
- Goals
Download Free
All fields are required.
Why Sandbagging Happens in Business
- When You Want to Take Some Heat Off of Bigger Deals
- When You Want to Conceal Particularly Risky Deals That Could Inflate Expectations
- When You Want to End Your Current Quarter Strong
- When You Want to Carry Momentum Into the Next Quarter
1. When You Want to Take Some Heat Off of Bigger Deals
As you can imagine, bigger deals tend to command more attention than smaller ones. They turn more heads — specifically when it comes to upper management.
In some cases, those extra eyes can put more pressure on you than you might be comfortable with. If you’re like me and struggle under that kind of stress, it can help to keep those deals under wraps or hold them off for a while.
2. When You Want to Conceal Particularly Risky Deals That Could Inflate Expectations
Let‘s say I have a potential deal in the works that I don’t think will close, based on my experience and general intuition. If management finds out about this business opportunity, they might expect me to deliver on it, setting expectations that I don’t honestly think I can meet.
By not reporting those deals, I’m giving myself a cushion. Instead of being cornered into making promises that I don't think will come to fruition, I’m giving myself the space to lose out on unreliable business without attracting attention. And if I do manage to land those deals, I can pleasantly surprise management without the pressure of their expectations.
3. When You Want to End Your Current Quarter Strong
This might be the most conventional application of sandbagging. The core principle of the practice revolves around under-promising to complement overperformance. In this case, I could either accrue and not report some deals over a quarter, or drum up some surefire business without closing right away.
In keeping those deals under the radar, I might lower expectations and help create a more forgiving forecast. Then, once the quarter is coming to a close, I would close or report those deals to exceed projections and go out with a bang.
However, Andrew Lee Jenkins, an agency coach and owner, mentions that if you don’t report sandbagging properly, it can distort performance metrics, leading to unrealistic forecasts and poor resource allocation.
Sandbagging can also create a false sense of security, where management believes sales are on track when, in reality, numbers are being manipulated.
4. When You Want to Carry Momentum Into the Next Quarter
It's always nice to come out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Starting a quarter with some solid deals behind you can set a good tone for the next few months to come. Sandbagging deals can provide you with some sources of momentum, going forward.
This point is particularly applicable if I‘ve already hit my quota for the current quarter. In other words, if you’ve already made good on what's expected of you, it might make sense to hold off on closing or reporting deals that will mean more in the future than the present.
Free Sales Plan Template
Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.
- Target Market
- Prospecting Strategy
- Budget
- Goals
Download Free
All fields are required.
Is Sandbagging Illegal?
The truth is, it’s generally not illegal to sandbag, so you won’t find any book or rule that says you shouldn't. However, there are contracts with anti-sandbagging clauses that forbid purchasers from suing sellers for any breach of seller representation or assurance that the purchaser became aware of before closing.
But, if your organization is a publicly traded business that is governed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the practice of sandbagging can put you in legal hot water.
You won’t be charged for sandbagging but for fraud and deceit. In some states, you’ll come across state laws that forbid deceptive or misleading marketing, sales, or advertising tactics under unfair competition or consumer protection statutes.
Even though sandbagging is a tactic for handling unpredictability, it frequently verges on dishonesty, thus endangering the salesperson's reputation and morals. Even if sandbagging isn’t called out specifically for being illegal, it’s still against some other laws and ethical values.
Example of Sandbagging
Let’s a look at what sandbagging can look like in a fictional case study:
Connor is the senior sales executive at Magnolia Ventures Ltd., which deals with selling ethical paper packaging to retailers around the area. As a salesperson, he has to meet a monthly quota of 10,000 lbs of packaging material, and he gets an additional bonus of $20 per lbs that he’s able to sell in December.
With such a lucrative incentive, Connor decides to sandbag a few of his deals. How? Well, he moves around a few of his deals from November to close in December. This way it looks like he’s secured more deals in the specific month of choice. However, because of this, Connor wasn’t able to meet his quota in November. What he got in the end was a hefty bonus — but he presented a skewed view of sales to his management.
How to Detect Sandbagging
By this point, I hope you’re convinced that sandbagging — while a tempting method — is something that should be avoided. I’d refrain from encouraging any activity that promotes sandbagging in your office culture.
But what should you look for if you think sandbagging might be taking place on your team or in your organization?
Here are some telltale signs of sandbagging.
Sign #1: Irregularities in the Sales Pipeline
Sales reps build a buffer for times of poor performance when they are faced with the difficult challenge of constantly meeting or exceeding their targets. This is especially common in businesses with regular changes in sales, as failing to meet expectations can have a big impact on pay and job security. In fact, Salesforce reported that not only did 84% of sales representatives fail their quota last year, but 67% of them don't think they will this year.
If you're recording your sales conversations, I recommend including a note for every deal and how each deal moves through the stages. This will give you complete insight into these client calls, making it more difficult for a representative to fabricate the facts of what a customer said.
Sign #2: Persistent Inconsistencies in Deal Projections
Is your source trying to get the most out of things for their benefit? Are they drawing incorrect inferences from a mishmash of contradictory sources of information? Is your CRM missing any important details? Is there a downward bias in the figures to control expectations?
Consider the possible reasons why someone might be telling you a story before taking it at face value. Make sure that your data is accurate and that all of the salespeople who are reporting to you understand why certain sales figures are anticipated.
Sign #3: Reps Continuously Overachieving Goals
You’ll find that sales representatives feel driven to falsify their sales figures, especially if they don‘t think they can rely on their management or the organization’s structure to get them through hard times.
Moreover, they might be tempted to inflate their numbers to get any specific incentive or show their high level of performance. So, sandbagging as a self-preservation tactic for sales representatives protects them from the possible consequences of actual reporting.
Free Sales Plan Template
Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.
- Target Market
- Prospecting Strategy
- Budget
- Goals
Download Free
All fields are required.
Why Sandbagging Is a Bad Idea
In a perfect world, every salesperson would work to the best of their ability without question or compromise. But “perfect” isn‘t real, and salespeople are only human, so there’s bound to be some degree of lag in some of their efforts every now and then.
Sandbagging is an example of that lag in motion. It can certainly be convenient for individual salespeople, but when an entire sales team is doing it, it undermines that team's overall performance.
Lauren Parr, cofounder and product director at RepuGen discusses how sandbagging can harm a team beyond performance by eroding trust and team cohesion. When some members intentionally underperform, others may feel frustrated and lose faith in the fairness of the workload, which damages collaboration. This can create a toxic work environment where resentment builds, making open communication difficult.
Over time, sandbagging reduces the team’s morale, reducing engagement and causing high-performing members to burn out or leave. Ultimately, sandbagging compromises the team’s culture, leading to long-term dysfunction and difficulty in achieving shared goals.
Despite sandbagging‘s popularity across virtually all levels of a sales organization, sales managers need to stay on top of it. Sandbagging can undermine your team’s numbers and potential productivity, so it's best practice for management not to let it run rampant.
There's a variety of software available to help track and prevent potential sandbagging. Applications like QuarterOne and MoData provide automated forecasts and clearer visibility into your team's sales efforts.
And platforms like Bigtincan and SalesScreen have features like scorecards for salespeople and leaderboards to hold reps accountable and keep them motivated.
To Sandbag or Not to Sandbag
Ultimately, sandbagging is a fairly useful technique for individual sales professionals — but one that has negative implications for a sales team when everyone is doing it.
Whether you engage in the strategy is up to you, but you need to understand that doing so hurts both your team‘s performance and your potential as a sales professional. And if you’re in management, it's in your best interest to carefully monitor and crack down on the practice.
Free Sales Plan Template
Outline your company's sales strategy in one simple, coherent sales plan.
- Target Market
- Prospecting Strategy
- Budget
- Goals
Download Free
All fields are required.
![How to Choose the Right Forecasting Technique [+ Expert Insight and Data]](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/hubfs/forecasting-methods-1-20241205-4072635.webp)
![I Took a Deep Dive Into Trend Forecasting: Here’s What I Learned [+ Expert Tips]](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/hubfs/trend-forecasting-1-20241114-1048511.webp)
