Sales is a lot like convincing a 4-year-old to eat their veggies.

You start with a believable story. “Eat your greens, or you won’t grow big and strong like your favorite superhero.” If that doesn’t work, you up the stakes. “If you don’t finish them, the watchman will come and take you away!”

The kid hesitates. Looks at the plate. Belief is still intact.

But then, you push too far. “If you don’t eat it right now, a giant flying Zubba will swoop in, carry you to his secret cave, and make you eat 100 plates of bhindi!”

Boom. Bluff overplayed.

They pause. And then complete your sentence—“And then what, will he make me do homework too?” They laugh. At you.

That’s when you know—it’s not working anymore.

Sales teams do this all the time. The urge to “one-up” on bluffing is too tempting.

• “Bhai, maine aisi goli di, samajh hi nahi aya!”
• “Lapet diya, khud haan bol diya!”
• “Aisi story suna di, ab to sign karna padega!”

And when it works, it’s addictive. Every salesperson has a story about the time their bluff closed a deal.

But here’s the thing—if you keep stretching the truth beyond what’s believable, you won’t just lose the deal. You’ll lose credibility.

Customers want to believe in something to make a decision. Your job isn’t to con them into belief. It’s to guide them to a belief that holds up.

Because the worst kind of bluffing? Bluffing yourself into thinking you can fool them forever.

What’s the worst bluff you’ve seen in action?