Spade
What is the absolute worst accident/mistake you made, that ruined a deal? ☠️
10
Finally booked a call with a prospect I'd been hitting up for months. The call didn't go too well as they were kind of awkward but still set up another follow-up meeting.
After the initial call, I went to email my notes to my AE including notes of the prospect being a tad bit strange. Guess who I accidentally emailed the notes to instead :---)
Granted, a deal wasn't even on the horizon yet, but definitely one of the stupider, more embarrassing mistakes I've made.
After the initial call, I went to email my notes to my AE including notes of the prospect being a tad bit strange. Guess who I accidentally emailed the notes to instead :---)
Granted, a deal wasn't even on the horizon yet, but definitely one of the stupider, more embarrassing mistakes I've made.
Ouch, I feel like that's a mistake that you have to make at least once, and then from there you'll probably be checking your attachments and email addresses 3x over!
Oh trust me, I became paranoid after that one! I quadruple-check everything now. Still terrified of accidentally replying all lol.
I have such a personal aversion to emails being reply all'ed to that I'm worried about that one.
On the other hand, I certainly have not double check the full line of addresses on the email and dropped my customer facing façade when it came to language and opinions...
On the other hand, I certainly have not double check the full line of addresses on the email and dropped my customer facing façade when it came to language and opinions...
Oh dude I feel that pain through this screen. Cheers 🥃
Sounds like you need Quip :)
Been there done that!
My prospect was trying to wait a month before buying our software. I texted him that "people get hit by buses every day, it makes sense to buy now to avoid potential blockers in the future?
What happened after? I'm guessing it wasn't great if you're posting it on a mistakes thread?
They ended up kicking the can down the road for two quarters until they eventually signed :)
Haha there you go! Maybe you got them thinking about the big picture, and in the big picture is it really that big of a deal to sign this contract or not?
Working with Fortune 2 company. They have strict security review policies, etc. In a cycle for a business unit, they asked if we had done the security review yet because if not there was not enough time and they would go with a competitor.
We had actually completed the review a few months prior, but I completely blanked and said no. They went with a competitor, and I found the completed doc a few days later.
We had actually completed the review a few months prior, but I completely blanked and said no. They went with a competitor, and I found the completed doc a few days later.
What a heartbreak.
#battlescars
#battlescars
Later stage in a deal and I’m dealing with their infosec team. They sent over a questionnaire and asked I confirm it’s receipt. At the time, when I’d reply to an email with someone in the thread they’d automatically get added to our CRM. So I replied that I got it and we’d get it answered. As a result of being added to our CRM this person then got a marketing email they hadn’t signed up. The person was their chief data privacy officer for a European company and a real GDPR nut. He freaked the fuck out and basically cancelled the deal. It’s not a great practice what we were doing but it’s also not exactly the worst thing since we were doing business with them so getting marketing info isn’t necessarily a faux pas. It was supposed to be a done deal so it was a real kick in the nuts. Everyone actually blamed our marketing team so at least that.
Daaaaammn. Ouch!!
Well...it wasn't entirely my fault. (Said everyone, lol)
But I was working for a SaaS provider that had both on-prem and cloud delivery features. A prospect I was working with had a use case that perfectly aligned with the on-prem delivery version (they had some different features in each). We tried to be up front when presenting the specific solution we were recommending and as far as we knew it was totally understood by the prospect.
Several calls and pricing discussions later we were kicking off a POC with them and began talking about the ports they needed to open and spinning up a sever, etc. And the call went silent...on-prem? What do you mean? Call over. Dead.
Long story short, they couldn't accomplish what they wanted with the cloud version.
So...while it was out of my control because of product constraints. It taught me to be VERY clear and gain agreement from the customer, the implications for the proposed solution before moving forward in the sales cycle. I wasted a lot of time with those guys...
But I was working for a SaaS provider that had both on-prem and cloud delivery features. A prospect I was working with had a use case that perfectly aligned with the on-prem delivery version (they had some different features in each). We tried to be up front when presenting the specific solution we were recommending and as far as we knew it was totally understood by the prospect.
Several calls and pricing discussions later we were kicking off a POC with them and began talking about the ports they needed to open and spinning up a sever, etc. And the call went silent...on-prem? What do you mean? Call over. Dead.
Long story short, they couldn't accomplish what they wanted with the cloud version.
So...while it was out of my control because of product constraints. It taught me to be VERY clear and gain agreement from the customer, the implications for the proposed solution before moving forward in the sales cycle. I wasted a lot of time with those guys...
What a painful process man, battle scars 🗡
Attached a file for a different organization i did volunteer work for that did not go over well. Was harmless enough but killed the deal. I didnt accidentally send him a terrible pic like my family's first nanny did. Yes, she sent a nude accidentally to my wife, i asked to see it and she said she deleted it lol.
This deal had been ghosting me a bit and I had his cell. I'm decently big on not texting but this fucker had eaten up enough of our time where he owed a response and hadn't opened emails. I sent a text and instead of saying my upper management was looking to hear back on how pricing went over I texted pupper management hahaha. It fucking autocorrected after I finished the sentence for some reason and it just sent I was laughing bc I knew that shit was dead.
😂
Just yesterday I called a hospital prospect (on speakerphone with my boss in my office) who constantly flakes on me. We're only in the beginning stages but it should shape up to be a really nice sized deal once/if we ever get good traction. Anyway, I call the guy on the date/time I told him I would. He answers.
"this is [bob]"
"Hey Bob! It's [me] from [my company], still up for a quick conversation today?"
"Sorry, it's not a good time. I'm in the hospital right now and don't have the time"
"Well, Bob- I know you're busy because we've been in this position a few times now, but I also know this initiative is important to you. So, let's make a commitment to carve out the time for each other. When do you want to get together, and do you prefer we loosely set a date/time, or can I send you a calendar invite w/a link to a virtual meeting that you'll actually attend?"
"I guess just call me Friday and we can set something up, I should be out by then... gotta go, bye"
My boss says [Mrs. Tech Sales] I don't think he was WORKING in the hospital. I think he's IN the hospital, and you were just really mean to him.
#whoops
"this is [bob]"
"Hey Bob! It's [me] from [my company], still up for a quick conversation today?"
"Sorry, it's not a good time. I'm in the hospital right now and don't have the time"
"Well, Bob- I know you're busy because we've been in this position a few times now, but I also know this initiative is important to you. So, let's make a commitment to carve out the time for each other. When do you want to get together, and do you prefer we loosely set a date/time, or can I send you a calendar invite w/a link to a virtual meeting that you'll actually attend?"
"I guess just call me Friday and we can set something up, I should be out by then... gotta go, bye"
My boss says [Mrs. Tech Sales] I don't think he was WORKING in the hospital. I think he's IN the hospital, and you were just really mean to him.
#whoops
🤣🤦🏻♂️
Hahahahaha that is painful
Biz owner said he has to discuss with his wife. I replied “does she get you dressed in the morning too?”
In my first few months on the sales floor years ago I came back slightly boozed up from a client lunch and left a voicemail for a top prospect.
This guy owed me an answer and hadn't responded the week we were supposed to close. Aggressively said "Been trying to reach you and you're very clearly ducking my calls. (Sarcastically) Would appreciate a call back when you're not too busy to answer me".
Guy hit me back the next day reminding me he told me he was going to be out of the country on vacation that week and to never contact him again. Would have been a massive sale for me at the time, brutally stupid.
This guy owed me an answer and hadn't responded the week we were supposed to close. Aggressively said "Been trying to reach you and you're very clearly ducking my calls. (Sarcastically) Would appreciate a call back when you're not too busy to answer me".
Guy hit me back the next day reminding me he told me he was going to be out of the country on vacation that week and to never contact him again. Would have been a massive sale for me at the time, brutally stupid.
Ouch that one hurt me just reading it
Booze and sales calls have not been my friend either 😂
My prospect was trying to wait a month before buying our software. I texted him that "people get hit by buses every day, it makes sense to buy now to avoid potential blockers in the future?
It can be a relief for a prospect to get an email from us that isn't clearly trying to move the sales process along (new developments, updates, blog post, whatever) and I think getting a conversation going with them at all does the same job.
It can be a relief for a prospect to get an email from us that isn't clearly trying to move the sales process along (new developments, updates, blog post, whatever) and I think getting a conversation going with them at all does the same job.
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