The Sales Mastery Podcast
With James Denny
The Sales Mastery Podcast: Deals, Discipline & Direction with Denny Hosted by James Denny, Global Chief Operating Officer at Sales Geek, this podcast is for sales leaders, business owners and commercial operators responsible for revenue. With more than 35 years in sales and senior leadership, James explores the structural and behavioural forces that shape performance: qualification, forecasting, decision-making, pressure and leadership standards. Each episode centres on a single commercial tension and examines it through the lens of real-world experience.
Only 7% of sales teams forecast within 90% accuracy. So what's wrong with the other 93%?
In Episode 15, James pulls apart the forecasting lie, why your CRM, your board deck and your finance model can all show different numbers, and why the uncomfortable truth is usually that all of them are wrong.
You'll hear why most forecasts are built to be presented rather than to be accurate, why human judgement (not maths) is the biggest source of error, and how to spot the three lies hiding in every pipeline: optimism, inertia and politics. Then James shares the commitment ladder: commit, best case and pipeline, plus two exceptions, omit and bluebird. A simple way to make every deal earn its place on evidence, not feeling. Plus the £100 test that gets reps honest fast, and a close-date tip that quietly protects your accuracy.
Seven things to take away, and one idea to hold onto: a forecast isn't a number, it's a promise. Make one you can keep.
Downloadable Episode Playbooks
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