Why verbal agreements aren’t worth the paper they are written on

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a verbal agreement only to get the rug pulled out from under me at the last minute.  I had a VP of Sales one time shake my hand, look me dead in the eye and tell me that if I had the proposal on his desk that evening I would have the signed contract on my desk in the morning.  This was for a $250k contract.  I went back to the office, told my manager, gave high-fives to the entire team, called my wife to tell her the commission check would be on the way (huge mistake..) and was confident I was going to blow my quota out of the water.  I found out the next morning that VP’s power got completely taken away from him when the CEO hired 4 more VPs of Sales.  Yeah, that felt awesome.

 

For the most part I don’t think people who give us verbal agreements are lying to us.  I believe they believe what they are telling us.  Unfortunately there are usually way too many variables involved in a deal that they don’t control which is why you can never be too confident in a verbal agreement.  The next time you get one do what I do, have the contract with you to sign on the spot.  If that isn’t possible then don’t get too excited and definitely don’t tell your boss (or wife).  Only celebrate when the contract is signed and the check is in the bank.