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After months working on this big enterprise deal, they finally signed the contract. My manager announced the deal to the entire team during our all-hands meeting and everyone applauded me. I was on cloud nine and immediately booked a non-refundable vacation to celebrate as the deal put me over my quota four months early.
Three days later, my point of contact casually emailed: "Just an FYI, our new CFO started yesterday and has put all new vendor relationships on a 90-day freeze for review. No big deal, just protocol." My stomach dropped. I emailed back but there was nothing I could do except wait with my fingers crossed. I ended up going on vacation the next week but I couldn't enjoy myself. I was stressed the entire time not knowing if the deal was guaranteed (and thinking about how expensive the vacation was). It ended up closing, but the waiting period literally ruined the vacation for me. I learned my lesson: don't celebrate until the money is in the bank.
Anonymous Location withheld
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I pride myself on building relationships with clients, so I always keep detailed notes in our CRM. During a quarterly review call with a long-term customer, I shared my screen but shared the wrong tab and accidentally showed my personal notes on the client profile tab of our CRM.
He could clearly see the notes I'd made: "Personal: Doesn't respond well to technical jargon - use simple explanations. Recently divorced. Son plays college baseball at Northwestern - check scores before calls. Follow up on weekday mornings."
There was an awkward pause as I quickly clicked to close the window. His demeanor changed instantly and he got super quiet for the rest of the call. I knew it was a bad situation, so after we got off the phone, I sent a pretty personal email apologizing but he didn't answer. He ended up emailing my boss and requested I be taken off his account or he wouldn't renew — which my boss had no other choice but to do.
Anonymous Location withheld
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I sell high-end kitchen appliances at a showroom where we do live cooking demonstrations. One day, I had an affluent couple interested in our top-of-the-line induction range. I was showing them how quickly it could boil water compared to gas when the husband asked about safety features. I launched into my rehearsed spiel: "That's the beauty of induction! The surface itself doesn't get hot, only the pan does. Look, I can even put my hand directly on it while it's on!" I confidently placed my palm on what I thought was the induction burner. Unfortunately, I had turned on the wrong burner — the regular electric one that was already glowing red hot. I screamed, yanked my hand back, and knocked over a display of copper pots that crashed to the floor. The couple was horrified and left without buying anything.
Anonymous Location withheld
