The halloween CRM admin and sales fails contest

The halloween CRM admin and sales fails contest



This Halloween, we're trading scary sales stories. Keeping with the good ol' Halloween theme, let's discuss the biggest fails we've come across in sales. We're talking the lowest of the lows, the horror of horrors you've come across, or those that you somehow managed to brave and make it to the other side.

For trick or treat, we're ditching the candy this season and offering five gift cards instead. The top five most interesting answers will get the following gift cards. 

$100 BestBuy Gift Card
$50 BestBuy Gift Card
$50 Amazon Gift Card 
$25 BestBuy Gift Card 
$25 Amazon Gift Card 

(All gift cards will be sent before Black Friday. If BestBuy cards do not apply in your region, we will send you an Amazon gift voucher instead)

You can include in your answer (post as a comment below), a few of these points:


 1. Horror: A telling of one of your most bizarre experiences with a potential client. We have all had some pretty bad luck with some deals. Strange, hilarious, or outright nerve-racking, some are just too hard of a nut to crack. Or, just any CRM admin nightmare story of your choosing. 


2. Trick: What you do to work around those tough corners and which Zoho feature has helped get you through it. 

3. Treat: A tip to help peers grow their business, something that you carried from this experience, that has always helped you stay ahead of the game! 

As I clearly can't divulge stories of one of our sales, GDPR and all, for an example here's one I heard from a buddy of mine who'd gotten flooded with deal closures last season.  


"It happened in the initial years of my sales career. I was passionate and opportunistic. I was enjoying converting our vending machines into dollars, and meeting the sales targets. Once, my manager even gave me a congratulatory hug. Which was so rare that I savored the moment too long and he had to push me away after a while.

However, the last quarter that year started slow. I was under pressure to close my targets, not just for the OTE but for that warm, long, and awkward hug too. Anyway, December approached and I was at the 40% mark. This was bad because December sales are always low, thanks to all the merry-making. I was getting desperate and started calling all the warm leads in my bucket, who were gradually drifting to the colder zone. 
​
One gentleman showed interest in meeting me on the 24th of December but was obvious on the call that there would be no order before January. Nevertheless, I decided to meet him in his office and see if there’s a slight chance of making the deal before New Year. I went to his office, we got into a room to discuss his vending machine requirements, but it did not go as I expected. He was too rude, to say the least. He had a grudge against his old supplier and he took it all out on me. Apparently, his previous supplier didn’t provide a good after-sale service when the machine broke down. He was irate and called out the entire salesmanship as an act of fraud. I tried to explain that we have an excellent service and that our clients are very happy, but nothing worked for him. One thing was sure though, he was not happy with his current supplier and wanted to return all the machines. So, there was a definite requirement. I grabbed this opportunity to show him our service. I asked him to take me to one of the broken machines. I took a look, called my engineer over phone, cooked up some Tony Stark stuff, and finally was able to restore the machine to working condition. I could not tell whether the client was impressed, so I took another shot: I offered to take back all the old machines he had and gave a 50% discount on the new ones ordered from us, plus free one-year service. Still, he had a poker face. I can’t do more than this, I thought, and packed my bags. I left my brochure, list of customer references, my business card, and a glimmer of hope in his office. 

​Next morning, while I was lying on my couch watching a re-run of The Office at home, I got this message over an email: “Hello, we had a meeting last night over the vending machines and looks like we can manage the budget for the price offered by you. It is to re-iterate that although you’ve offered free service, we would not appreciate any lag in the response. Also, the delivery should be completed by 31st Decemeber without delay. Merry Christmas!”

A few terms and conditions: 

1. The contest has no geographic restrictions. 

2. Zoho partners are welcome to participate but won't be eligible to win prizes. 

3. Language should be civil and not offend any member of the community. 

    • Sticky Posts

    • The halloween CRM admin and sales fails contest

      This Halloween, we're trading scary sales stories. Keeping with the good ol' Halloween theme, let's discuss the biggest fails we've come across in sales. We're talking the lowest of the lows, the horror of horrors you've come across, or those that you somehow managed to brave and make it to the other side. For trick or treat, we're ditching the candy this season and offering five gift cards instead. The top five most interesting answers will get the following gift cards.  $100 BestBuy Gift Card $50

    • Recent Topics

    • Tracking Snippet not working in Zoho Marketing Automation!

      First off, the fact that you have to wait about 12-24 hours for every response is terrible. How are we supposed to conduct business? Second, we have been trying for several days to get the Tracking Code Snippet in marketing automation to work, to no avail.

    • Is there any way to send an Excel received by email to Dataprep?

      Every day I receive an email alert with an Excel file that I want to process through a Dataprep pipeline. To do this, I need to: -Save the file to disk -Open the pipeline -Run the pipeline -Update the source -Several clicks to select and open the saved

    • Read webpage - MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP

      I have the following VBA script, put together from various sources (mainly zoho forum/help/support, so it once worked, I guess): private Sub GetListOfSheets() Dim url As String Dim xmlhttp As Object Dim parameters As String Dim html As String range("B1").value

    • Zoho Creator Form Search

      I'm new to Zoho Creator and so far i do like it but im shocked there seems to be no easy way to add a search function and/or navigation to there forms as this readily available in every platform i have used in the past. Anyway i have a form which i have

    • How to setup DKIM / SPF in Zoho Mail

      Hello there! I'm having a hard time understanding how to setup the TXT records for SPF and DKIM with Zoho Mail. I'm following the instructions here: https://www.zoho.com/campaigns/help/setup-spf-dkim.html Specifically, when it comes to the value for the

    • Mass update cant trigger a workflow?

      Hello there, Is this a normal Creator behaviour? In a report, if I manually edit each data row, it will pass those changes to all other reports. However, if I perform a Mass Update on a few data rows at once, the new data is not pushed to other reports.

    • search and Smart Bar both missing in Mail

      One of the users on my account does not have the search bar at the top right or the Smart Bar at the bottom left of the desktop Mail app. Any ideas how to get those back?

    • Let us add Lookup fields in the Blueprint Transitions

      We are unable to add Lookup Fields in the blueprint transitions in Zoho Desk, we wanted to make it a requirement for our workflow but since it's not available in the transition we cannot. The lookup field exists in the Layout: But it cannot be added/selected

    • Zoho Projects API Scope for Issue Attachments

      I try to download issue attachments via the API, unfortunately I always get the following error code when trying to download the file from the supplied URL: {"ERROR_MESSAGE":"INVALID_OAUTHSCOPE","ERROR_CODE":401} indicating an auth scope error. I've tried

    • How to fetch custom fields for time entries in Zoho Project API v3

      In the previous Zoho Projects REST API, we were able to retrieve custom field details for time entries, including picklist options, using the endpoint: GET /restapi/portal/[PORTAL_ID]/timesheetcustomfields In the new Zoho Projects API v3, we tried using

    • Zoho Survey Enhancements

      We love Survey. We use it a ton. It needs some enhancements. Maybe some of these are already on the roadmap? API - this is crucial. We have some complex surveys that take place and need to update records, trigger other functions/automations, etc. I would

    • Images Don't Display on Blog

      Hi, I've just posted a new blog entry, but regardless of format (png or jpeg) Images that display in Preview mode do not display on any browser in the published post.  I've not done anything different with this post than others regarding images, please advice. Thanks! Edit:  I've discovered that moving the image files from a my sub directory folder "Pics for Blog" to the top level of the "Files" folder on my site allows the images to display live.  This, even though my other blog posts are correctly

    • Checkbox Field Mapping Zoho Forms to Zoho Sign

      I have an application that will be filled out via Forms that I am mapping into a PDF Filler on Zoho Sign. I need to have a series of checkboxes mapped to the corresponding fields in Sign and I only see single checkboxes available via the mapping, though

    • Books P&L by Customer

      Lately, we have found that the Customer field filter for the Profit & Loss report in Zoho Books is no longer available. We have several projects with the same customer and look at the P&Ls by project AND by Customer (overall). Can you please add back in this field selection alongside the Project field to the P&L report filter? Thanks! -Gina

    • Sent mail sort by date disappeared

      Hello, We used to be able to sort the emails by date in the sent folder, but this feature has recently disappeared. Can we bring it back?

    • I cannot check out to Zoho People.

      When I tried to check out today, there's prompt that inhibits me to check out: To add entry in Attendance, log time for any of your jobs

    • Pricing Strategies: #2 Plan your Service Offerings using Plans

      Meet Harvey & Mia, hailing from the same Tech school, carrying the dream of setting up their own IT maintenance firm in their location. They drew up a clear business plan and put their business in motion on New Year's Eve. They had great reception right

    • Open a record to edit based on another form being edited

      Hi all, I am trying to edit a record based on another record being edited. It works out like this: When I create a Monthly_Update and then submit I open the Monthly_Levels form and pass the ID from the Monthly_Update to a field called mu. I want it to

    • Problem with signature on zoho survey

      Hello, I'm trying to export individual responses with signatures on zoho survey. But the signatures on some of my surveys are not exported as the original image, but as a generic image, same for all (screen joins). Is there a solution to have the signatures

    • Change in Zoho CRM API?

      Hello, I am using the Zoho API trough the PHP SDK v2.1 Since few days, I noticed that I have to change the way I pass the data to the API when I create, update, or upsert a record. Dates Before I was passing a PHP date object to "$record->addKeyValue(...)",

    • MTA - BAD IP reputation by outlook/hotmail

      Messages to Microsoft email servers are bouncing back due to poor reputation. Message: 4.7.650 The mail server [136.143.188.206] has been temporarily rate limited due to IP reputation. For e-mail delivery information see https://postmaster.live.com (S775)

    • QuickBooks Extension for Zoho CRM - Advanced Features -2025

      Hello Everyone, We’re happy to announce the latest version of our QuickBooks Extension for Zoho CRM, now officially live on the Zoho Marketplace! This release introduces one-click data sync, a user-friendly UI, enhanced performance, and a powerful set

    • Changing Department often causes the Firefox tab to freeze

      Title, it doesn't seem to happen with neither Opera nor Chrome. And even in Firefox, sometimes it just lets me change the department I'm in no problem, even to All Departments which is probably the most, like, resource heavy? But most of the time, the

    • Need to integrate Zoho Mail Mobile app with Zoho Meeting Mobile App for Android and Apple

      Hello Zoho Team, Please bring integration of Zoho Mail Mobile app with Zoho Meeting for Android and Apple Thanks

    • ¡Muchas gracias por participar a los Meetups de Usuarios de Zoho! Y Novedades del ecosistema Zoho

      ¡Hola Comunidad de Zoho en Español! 👋 Después de un breve lapso de tiempo, volvemos con una nueva edición de nuestro Community Digest, donde te contamos las novedades de los productos de Zoho en los últimos meses. Estas mejoras se centran en nuestros

    • Anyway to move mail from one account to another yet?

      Hello, Is there any way to move email from one mailbox account to another mailbox account in zoho yet? Thanks, Ryan.

    • Using a CRM Client Script Button to create a Books Invoice

      Hello, I need help handling error messages returned to my client script from a function. The scenario I have setup a client script button which is available from each Deal. This CS executes a crm function, which in turn creates an invoice based on the

    • Building Toppings #2 - Learn how to use Bigin's Developer Console to build toppings

      Hey Biginners, In our last post, we discussed what toppings are, why they're essential to extending Bigin's capabilities, and how the Bigin Developer Center serves as the starting point for building them. As a cloud platform, the Developer Center empowers

    • Links are incorrect when sent out

      I'm adding in hyperlinks into my eDM. When I send a test email, it's all correct. However, when I send out the eDM, all the hyperlinks jump up one space so none of the links are opening to the correct page. Why is this happening and how can I fix it?

    • Tip of the week #16 - Search and filter threads based on criteria

      Zoho TeamInbox lets you search and filter threads with any information that you have about the thread. You just have to input the criteria and Zoho TeamInbox will list all the threads that match the condition.   Firstly, there is a global search you can

    • Introducing recipient authentication via Stripe Identity in Zoho Sign

      Hi everyone! It's important to authenticate your recipient's identity before they access and sign important documents to ensure the highest level of compliance. Zoho Sign already helps businesses do this with various authentication methods: SMS OTP Email

    • Keep Converted Leads

      How do I keep the converted leads in the Leads Module after conversion (converting it to account, contact, deal). I want to add it in a converted stage in the leads module in order to get a report or dashboard and see all converted leads from my pip

    • Customizing Global Search Settings for All Users

      Hi Our team use the brilliant global search functionality within CRM many many times daily. But, we struggle with the out-of-the box columns that CRM gives you. We are always telling users to customize this look to more suit our business, to show the

    • Introducing Formula Fields for performing dynamic calculations

      Greetings, With the Formula Field, you can generate numerical calculations using provided functions and available fields, enabling you to derive dynamic data. You can utilize mathematical formulas to populate results based on the provided inputs. This

    • Tip of the Week #77– Stay informed of the activities happening in your organization

      Whenever a message is handled in Zoho TeamInbox, every action is recorded in the Activity Log. This ensures you always know what’s happening across your teams and inboxes. To access it, simply click the Audits icon on the left pane’s top bar after logging

    • Zoho Logs - Not seeing logs since 30 Nov

      Hi, we have a few functions running, I am testing some new ones and noticed that although I can see executions, I cannot see any logs, even when the first line on the functions is a log. I reviewed some existing functions, one of which is invoked on a

    • Workdrive MS Office integration

      Have installed subscribed version of Zoho WorkDrive VSTO runtime not found is the error when I try to install Zoho_WorkDrive_For_Office Unable to open work files in Excel and Word Urgent, since I have migrated all my OneDrive files to work drive already

    • How to change Zoho Vault password

      I am searching where I can change the Vault Password after having changed the Zoho account password. I don't see this option anywhere in my account. It should be simple and accessible! Please help. Thanks!

    • Zoho Workdrive - Communication / Chat Bar

      Hi Team, Please consider adding an option to allow admins to turn on or off the Zoho Communication Bar. Example of what I mean by Communication Bar: It's such a pain sometimes when I'm in WorkDrive and I want to share a link to a file with a colleague

    • When Marking a Multiple Choice Answer Exclusive - Not Following My Survey Disqualification Logic

      Using a multiple choice (many answers) question and I created survey disqualification logic that was working as intended. My question: Disqualification page logic is: If (QUESTION) is "any one of the following" then (OPTIONS) - a custom message populates

    • Next Page