Your four areas
Each statement scores Never 0, Sometimes 1, Often 2, Always 3. Three statements per area, so each area runs 0–9.
Your 12 answers
Answers marked in red are the ones driving your result.
| Area | Statement | Your answer |
|---|---|---|
| Boss | I soften bad news before it goes up. | Always |
| Boss | I wait until I have a fix before I say there's a problem. | Often |
| Boss | I feel safer saying nothing in the forecast call. | Often |
| Deals | I'm forecasting a deal I don't fully believe in. | Often |
| Deals | I've stopped asking the question that might kill a deal. | Sometimes |
| Deals | I'm counting on one person's word to get a deal through. | Often |
| Home | The people at home get what's left of me. | Often |
| Home | I bring the number to dinner. | Sometimes |
| Home | I use a drink, a scroll or a screen to come down after work. | Often |
| Me | When I miss, I feel like I am the miss. | Sometimes |
| Me | I replay calls long after they're over. | Often |
| Me | I'm performing more than I'm living. | Sometimes |
Four things your answers say
Three of your four areas are one problem
You're forecasting deals you don't fully believe in, you're not saying so upward, and the gap comes home with you at night. Most sellers treat these as three separate stresses. In your answers they line up as one chain: doubt about a deal, kept quiet at work, carried home.
Break the chain at the boss link and the other two get lighter on their own.
Waiting for the fix is how good sellers go quiet
This habit looks responsible: you don't want to bring a problem without a plan. But it means your manager hears about a slipping deal only after you've run out of ideas, which is the worst time for both of you. The fix is to say it earlier, with less polish, and let your manager help while there's still time.
Your forecast rests on your champions
When one person is your only source on a deal, you can't check what they tell you, and neither can your manager. That's why the deals feel shaky and why saying so feels risky. One more contact on your two biggest deals would change how confident you feel in the forecast call.
Your footing: you haven't made the number your name
Your lowest area is Me. You replay calls, but you mostly don't treat a miss as a verdict on who you are. That's real footing, and it's what makes the changes below doable. Protect it.
Bad news doesn't get better with age. Say it early, while there's still time to do something about it.Ron Hollis
Your next seven days
Five small moves, about an hour in total. Do them in order; each one makes the next easier.
- MonBoss
Send the three-sentence email
Pick the deal you trust least and tell your manager before you have the fix. Use the example below.
10 minutes - TueDeals
Ask the buying question
On that same deal, ask your champion: "What will it take to get this bought, and who else has to say yes?" Write down the answer in their words.
One call - WedDeals
Add one name
On your two biggest deals, get one more person from the customer's side into the next meeting, ideally someone from finance or the person who signs.
Two emails - ThuHome
Take one evening back
Phone in another room from dinner until 9. At dinner, say one true thing about your week, not the forecast-call version. Notice what you reach for when you'd usually come down with a screen or a drink.
One evening - FriAll
Do a 3-minute check-in
Answer one question: "What aren't you saying today?" Then look back at Monday's email. What happened when you said it early?
3 minutes
Retake the Carry Test in 30 days. Your Boss score is the one to watch.
Monday's email, ready to use
Three sentences: what changed, what it means for the number, and what you're doing next. Swap in your own details.
What changed: Acme's CFO pushed the budget review to January, and my champion can't sign without it.
What it means: I'd move the $80K out of this quarter's commit to best case until I hear from finance directly.
What I'm doing: I've asked my champion for 20 minutes with the CFO next week. Can we talk Thursday about whether to bring anyone from our side?
Example details are made up. Keep it to three sentences and send it before you have the answer.
Where Off the Record comes in
You can do everything above on your own. If you'd like company while you do it, here's what members get, starting with your Boss area.
The 3-minute check-in
Pick the Boss lane, say what you're holding, and get a draft of the honest update.
The Room
Thirty minutes, live, with other sellers. One truth, one deal, one commitment.
The Bench
Office Hours with a seasoned pro who's handled the same conversation with their own boss.
$25 a month after the trial, or $250 a year. Founding members pay $20.