If you live on the Sales Street you’ve definitely found yourself in situations that seem to suck the life out of you. We’ve curated some frightening and unpleasant sales experiences. We’re creepin it real.
How many of these scares have you had?
You’ve Been Ghosted
Sometimes, despite doing everything you can, opportunities just tend to disappear into thin air.
“ I had been following up with this lead for months, sugaring them with discounts and demos; meeting with their team. I was raving about this lead for months and many didn’t believe me. It was a big deal, literally. In what I expected to be the final meeting, I asked my boss and another colleague to come along to “witness me in action”. We went to meet the lead in his office and his P.A asks us to wait. 15 mins pass. 30 mins pass. 45 mins pass. My boss was getting impatient and frankly so was I. An hour later, the P.A says his boss was busy and needs to cancel. I got ghosted, Imagine my boss’s expression.”
Ghost of Classmate’s Past
This is one where your actions towards a classmate come back and haunt you.
“When I was in college, there was this girl whom my friends and I considered ditzy and weird. We never ill treated her but never made any effort to know her either but did go to great lengths to ignore her. A decade later my boss asks me land a successful startup as a client and get a meeting, which I did. Turns out, it was owned by that girl. To my surprise, she confirmed the appointment. However, she didn’t show up to the meeting and I lost the lead.”
A Meeting With the Addams Family
One never knows what goes on inside the Addams Family. Some leads are just like that.
“It had only been two months since I joined as a sales rep. I got my first lead. It was one of those instances where I didn’t have much information about the company. I didn’t know what to sell them partly because I wasn’t briefed about all the products and services my company sells. The pressure was building from my manager so I got a meeting. Needless to say I blew it. Later I got to know that some other rep had already approached them and was close to landing them. I blew it for him too. I was just thankful my manager didn’t accompany me.”
Your Client, the Schrodinger’s Cat
This is what waiting for a lead at a meeting feels like. Like Schrodinger’s cat you never know whether they’re dead (not turning up) or alive (just late). As frustrating as it is, you just have to open the box, wait and see.
OTHER DISTURBING MENTIONS
Nearing the Dreadful End
For a person in sales, it’s not just the 31st of October but the 31st (or 30th) of every month that gets their heart racing and forehead sweating. Reason: sales targets. Even if you know you’ve reached your quota for the month but your manager and team members haven’t, it can impact your increment and bonus. We wish you all the best for this month end.
When Rewards Seems Like Punishment
You just nailed your quota for the month, you feel you’re on cloud nine. You’re dreaming of the bonus coming your way and the vacation you can take. But, for some of the salespeople, we spoke to, exceeding sales quota is hardly a good thing for the fear of quota being increased for their next month or quarter.
Rise of the Machines
One thing that can give any sales rep or even sales ops nightmares is implementing new tech that claims to aid your work. Sometimes it works so well that you feel like a moron. Sometimes it works so bad that you just want to fire whoever recommended it.
Got a crazy, funny or situationally sad sales story that you’d like to share, comment below or just give us a holler here we’re all ears.
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