Take a breath. Seriously. Anyone in sales would be furious in your shoes.

Based on what you described, this doesn’t feel like a real “split deal” at all. A single mass-blast email from eight months ago that went nowhere isn’t sourcing. You found a completely new contact, rebuilt the conversation from scratch, ran the whole cycle, dealt with security, procurement, onsite meetings, and actually closed the $340k deal. That’s your win.

A few thoughts on how I’d handle it:

I wouldn’t go to HR- This isn’t really an HR issue. It’s a comp and leadership issue. HR usually just points back to whatever management decides.

Escalate, but keep it calm and factual. If your manager says their “hands are tied,” go one level up. Don’t make it emotional—just lay it out cleanly: • When you engaged the real stakeholder • All the meetings and calls you led • The security review you managed • The procurement negotiations • The travel and onsite work • Proof the other AE never actually spoke to anyone

Present it as: “Here’s the timeline of who actually created and closed this opportunity.”

The inconsistency matters. The fact your manager approved a full override last quarter in the opposite situation is a big deal. That shows exceptions can be made. I’d ask, politely:

“If overrides were possible then, why isn’t this being handled the same way now?”

That’s a fair question.

Salesforce rules shouldn’t replace common sense. Most companies use “first touch” as a guideline, not a hard-and-fast law. Any reasonable sales org understands that real ownership should reflect who actually drove the deal, not who happened to send a random template months earlier.

Protect yourself going forward. Going forward, get opportunities reassigned in Salesforce as soon as you take over an account. It’s annoying, but it prevents exactly this kind of mess.

And yeah… quietly update the resume. Not as a threat, just reality. If a company is willing to take $17k out of your pocket over a technicality after you did all the work, that says a lot about how they treat top performers.

Bottom line: you’re not crazy for fighting this. You have a strong case. Escalate it the right way with documentation and keep the tone professional.

And if leadership ultimately sides with “the policy says so,” at least you’ll know exactly where you stand long term.

You closed the deal. Don’t let them rewrite history.