Never Lie, Never Answer Reflexively [70]
Solution engineers often answer questions reflexively without understanding their context, which can damage deals even when the answer is technically honest. The key principle is distinguishing between genuine honesty and unfiltered explaining, and training SEs to ask clarifying questions before responding.
Summary
The episode opens with a real case study: a week-10 deal where a customer posed a new API question, the SE answered immediately and completely accurately, yet this cost the deal two weeks. The hosts argue that most SEs won't deliberately lie, but they've never been taught the second half of the integrity rule: don't answer questions you haven't fully understood. Late-stage requirement lists are frequently not genuine customer needs but are instead planted by competitors or internal stakeholders pushing for different vendors. The hosts distinguish between two types of problematic late-stage questions: those arriving through legitimate procurement processes (which are genuinely dull but required) and those surfacing from previously quiet stakeholders (which signal potential deal threats). A related problem is the 'parachute problem'—when a solution consultant joins a deal cold and explains too much without proper context, creating new objections that didn't previously exist. The hosts emphasize that unfiltered explaining differs fundamentally from honesty. They recommend equipping parachuted engineers with a scripted one-sentence response acknowledging limited context and promising proper follow-up via email. A critical escalation point is when an AE knowingly misrepresents features to close a quarter, which should be flagged immediately. The episode recommends teaching SEs two core lines: 'We don't lie, and we don't answer a question we haven't understood,' then training them to reflexively ask 'Why does this matter now, and what do you do with that data?' The hosts also advocate for monthly deal reviews focused exclusively on what was promised, not pipeline metrics—one leader discovered three phantom commitments in the first session, all born from people trying to be helpful.
About this episode
Ava noticed her SEs improvising under closing pressure — over-explaining, over-promising, or freezing. She and Nate work out the norm that fixes it: never lie, but never answer an unqualified question reflexively either.
Key Insights
- The hosts argue that most SEs will not deliberately lie, but the real problem is that they answer questions reflexively without understanding the underlying business context, which can be more damaging to deals than dishonesty itself.
- The hosts claim that late-stage requirement lists appearing in week 10 of a deal are statistically driven by competitor interference or internal stakeholders rather than genuine customer needs, and answering them faithfully causes SEs to lose deals they'd already won.
- The hosts argue that honesty is not the same as unfiltered explaining—a parachuted SE who provides too much architectural detail without context creates new objections and 'elephants' that walk through the middle of deals, even though nothing false was stated.
Topics
Transcript
Hey there and welcome to Leading Pre-Sales, the show for solution engineering leaders who want to build teams that drive revenue and not just demos. My name is Tim and I'm the co-founder of SE Rockstars and together with Jan, we've coached over 350 solution engineers and their leaders across several dozens of companies. Every conversation you hear on this show is based on real coaching situations, real challenges, real problems that as e-leaders like you are dealing with right now. None of this is made up. We use AI to bring these stories to life through our two hosts, Nate and Ava, but the insights come straight from the trenches. Each episode gives you one actionable takeaway you can…
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