Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

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I was at the finish line with a pretty large SaaS deal, waiting for infosec to clear before signature, when my main contact and champion left the organization. Before her exit, she put me in touch with her successor, and we had a great introductory meeting where he was excited to move forward with our product. 

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One Friday afternoon I gave him a call to get a status update on infosec. He answered and I could hear some music in the background. 

I said, "Hi-- it's me from my company."

He said, "Are you going to meet me in the hotel room in a few?"

"Ummm... I think you are confusing me with someone else. This is me from my company."

"Yeah. Aren't you going to meet me in my room for (insert lewd activities)"

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Again, I clarified who I was, and again, he insisted that we were going to meet in the hotel room. I ended the conversation abruptly by saying, "I am very uncomfortable right now and I'm hanging up."

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I called my boss immediately to tell him what happened, who then reached out to the head of HR of my prospect. I received an apology email on Monday morning, but I passed this one on for my boss to wrap up without me and never spoke to the prospect again. 

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Anonymous       Location withheld 

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I always tell this story to new reps when they join my team. It was early in my sales career and I had just started a new job. I booked a meeting with a prospect, my first one at this new company. I got on the call. I was a bit nervous but tried to hide it. I had our intro call playbook up on my computer and started asking the prospect questions. He was asking questions back and I was frantically scrolling through the playbook looking for answers. The guy could tell I was fumbling through it. I was so nervous that I said, "Sorry, just give me a second, I'm new here and you're actually my first sales meeting." The sales rep who was sitting next to me overheard me say it and burst out laughing. The prospect got quiet for a few seconds then dropped off the call without saying anything. I got off the call and stood up and just started pacing while the rep next to me couldn’t stop laughing.

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Anonymous       Location withheld 

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This happened at an industry conference. I was working at our company booth and chatting it up with some potential customers. I was talking to this one guy whose company was a great fit. He wasn't the decision maker, but he seemed excited. I had business cards on me but I've always preferred to just get contact info right on the spot instead of giving someone a card that will get lost in the bottom of their bag. The guy handed me his phone so I could put my number in. I was adding myself to his contacts when a text popped up on the screen. I could only see the beginning of the text but it was from some girl named Allison (or something like that) Hinge who said, "Hey, I had a good time with you, but sorry, I didn't really feel any connection..." I quickly swiped the message and pretended I didn't see it but the guy was right next to me and definitely noticed that I noticed. He kind of awkwardly said goodbye and walked away. I called him when I got back home from the conference but he sent me straight to voicemail. I tried two more times over the next week but he kept immediately sending me to voicemail. Next time, I'm just going to hand out business cards.

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Anonymous Location withheld