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

    • 554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      Hi guys, I just singed up for mateusz.nowicki@zoho.com mail and I can't send any mails.. Why? Everytime I try to send something I got error like the one in the screenshot. Please, help me.

    • Zoho IP blocked by SpamHaus

      ERROR CODE :550 - 5.7.0 Your server IP address is in the SpamHaus SBL-XBL database, bye

    • File Upload in Creator's Subfrom

      Hello Sir/Madam, Here is a Problem......... Scenario: In CRM One Custom Module (Payments) have one File Upload Field now we have to Upload that File into Creator's Custom Form (Documents) have one Subform (Documents) in Document Upload Field using Deluge

    • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

      Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.

    • Trigger workflow base on email clic

      Searching the help and forum, I see that there were workflow trigger rules based on email. But now, I can't find this type of trigger when I create a custom workflow. What I'm looking for would be to automate the sending of an email for a new prospect,

    • Bigin Form Acknowledgement

      How to troubleshoot and find out why form acknowledgement is not sending emails after form submission?

    • Option to Customize Career Site URL Without “/jobs/Careers”

      Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Career Site URL structure in Zoho Recruit. In the old version of the career site, our URL was simply: 👉 https://jobs.domain.com However, after moving to

    • Zoho Mail POP & IMAP Server Details

      Hello all! We have been receiving a number of requests regarding the errors while configuring or using Zoho Mail account in POP/ IMAP clients. The server details vary based on your account type and the Datacenter in which your account is setup. Ensure

    • Ever since the new Android App udpates notifications are not working

      notifications are not working for the app is its closed I followed the tutuorial to the notificaction fixed and everythig seems to be right but notifications are not workig

    • Zoho Analytics & Zoho Desk - but not all desks

      I have several desks in our company and one of those is used by our HR department. I want to bring through the data to the shared Zoho Analytics workspace - except for the HR desk. Can this be excluded at data import stage ?

    • Incoming Emails Not Showing Up in Zoho Inbox

      Hi - I have my Zoho email account set up to forward a copy of all incoming emails to a secondary Gmail address, whilst retaining the original email in the Zoho inbox. However, all my incoming emails are currently not showing up in my Zoho inbox, so I'm

    • Unable to Create Zoho Booking via the Book Appointment API

      Its giving the below error {     "response": {         "errormessage": "Error setting value for the variable:customer_details\n null",         "status": "Error"     } } Request: POST Url: https://www.zohoapis.in/bookings/v1/json/appointment attached Zoho-oauthtoken

    • SHEET - Send email when a cell changes

      I would like to create a custom function for Zoho Sheet that triggers when a paticular cell changes to a specific value. This would result in sending an email to a recipient (this would be an address that remains the same and included in the script). Example: = IF(N4= "Drafted", <>EmailFunction) 1)     Cell N4 changes to "Drafted" 2)    Email is sent to recipient            or alternatively 3)    Post to chat channel I have found the Custom function editor in Sheet. I am not bad at scripting, but

    • Apply transaction rules to multiple banks

      Is there any way to make transaction rules for one bank apply to other banks? It seems cumbersome to have to re-enter the same date for every account.

    • 【開催報告】 福岡 ユーザー交流会 2025/8/8（金）

      皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの中野です。 8/8（金）に、福岡 ユーザー交流会を開催しました。 本投稿では、その様子をお届けします。当日の登壇資料などもこちらに共有しますので、参加できなかった皆さまもご参照ください。 今年初の開催となる福岡 ユーザー交流会では、CreativeStudio樂合同会社 前田さんによるZoho CRM / Sign / Survey の事例セッションのほか、 Zoho社員セッションでは、Zoho Forms の活用法を解説。 さらに、「見込み客・顧客データの管理/活用方法」をテーマに参加者同士でZoho

    • no me llegan los correos a Zoho mail

      No puedo recibir correos pero sí enviarlos, ya hice la modificación de MX y la verificación de teléfonos, qué es lo que ocurre? gracias

    • Error: Invalid login: 535 Authentication Failed

      I have used zoho with nodemailer. const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({ host: 'smtp.zoho.com', port: 465, secure: true, auth: { user: 'example@example.com', pass: 'password' } }); While sending the mail, it shows the following error: Error:

    • Zoho Renewal

      Hello, If I am not going for zoho email renewal. will i get back my free zoho account? and if yes then is it possible to get back my all free user. how many user get back 10 or 25?

    • Not reciving emails

      Apparently i cannot recive emails on my adress contact@sportperformance.ro I can send, but do not recive. The mail i'm trying to send from mybother adress gets sent and doesn't bounce back... but still doesn't get in my inbox. Please advise

    • Not receiving MailChimp verification e-mail

      It seems that their verification e-mails are blocked. I can receive their other e-mails, but not their verification of domain ownership e-mail. I've checked and double checked how I typed the e-mail, using different e-mails (my personal e-mail can receive it), white listing the domain and all that is left is for the IP's to be white listed, but I don't have that power.  If a staff member could take a look at this -> http://mailchimp.com/about/ips/ And perhaps white list them for me, that would be

    • Creating my 2nd email account

      After creating my first email address, I decided to get another email address. I would like to use this new address as the primary address too. I don't know how to set it up there doesn't seem to be an option for that

    • Cannot - create more email account - Unusual activity detected from this IP. Please try again after some time

      Hello, I come across the error message in Control Panel. Unusual activity detected from this IP. Please try again after some time and i cannot create any more users We are an IT company and we provide service for another company Please unlock us.

    • "Unable to send message;Reason:553 Relaying disallowed. Invalid Domain"

      Good day. When I try to send mail through ZOHO mail I get the following error : "Unable to send message;Reason:553 Relaying disallowed. Invalid Domain" I need help with this. My zohomail is : @eclipseweb.site Thank you,

    • Transfert de domaine pour création des comptes emails

      Bonjour , je ne parviens point à créer des mails avec le domaine 'raeses.org' suite à la souscription du domaine auprès d'un autre hébergeur, dont j'ai fait la demande du code de transfert qui est le suivant : J2[U8-l0]p8[ En somme, attente de l'activation

    • Help! Unable to send message;Reason:554 5.1.8 Email Outgoing Blocked.

      Kindly help me resolved this issue that i am facing here.

    • How are people handling estimates with Zoho inventory?

      We are often using Zoho Books for estimates that then get converted to invoices within Books. We would like the sales team to migrate entirely to Zoho Inventory and no longer need to use Zoho Books so that they are only on one system. How are people managing

    • Relative Date Searches

      Currently in the search options, it has "date", "from date" and "to date". I think it would be great if there were options like "date greater than x days ago" and "date less than x days ago". I realise that as a once off you can just use the existing

    • Performance is degrading

      We have used Mail and Cliq for about three years now. I used to use both on the browser. Both have, over the past 6 months, had a severe degradation in performance. I switched to desktop email, which appeared to improve things somewhat, although initial

    • Ask the Experts 23: Customize, utilize, and personalize with Zoho Desk

      Hello everyone! It's time for the next round of Ask the Experts (ATE). This month is all about giving Zoho Desk a complete makeover and making it truly yours. Rebrand Zoho Desk with your organization’s details, customize ticket settings based on your

    • Dear Zoho CEO: Business Growth is about how you prioritise!

      All of us in business know that when you get your priorities right, your business grows. Zoho CRM and Zoho Books are excellent products, but sadly, Zoho Inventory continues to lag behind. Just this morning, I received yet another one-sided email about

    • Payroll In Canada

      Hi, When can we expect to have payroll in Canada with books 

    • Please review and re-enable outgoing emails for my domain

      Hello Zoho Support, I have recently purchased a new domain and set up email hosting with Zoho. However, my account shows "Outgoing Email Blocked". I am a genuine user and not sending bulk/spam emails. Please review and re-enable outgoing emails for my

    • Payroll without tax integrations (i.e. payroll for international)

      It seems as though Zoho waits to develop integrations with local tax authorities before offering Zoho Payroll to Zoho customers in a country. Please reconsider this approach. We are happy Zoho Books customers, but unhappy that we have to run payroll in

    • goingout e mail block

      info@ozanrade.com.tr

    • Incoming mails blocked

      Zoho User ID : 60005368884 My mail Id is marketing#axisformingtechnology.com .I am getting following message "Your Incoming has been blocked and the emails will not be fetched in your Zoho account and POP Accounts. Click here to get unblocked." Please

    • Assistance Needed: Ticket Status Not Updating and Sorting by Last Customer Reply in Zoho Desk

      Hello, I’m facing two issues in Zoho Desk that I’d like your guidance on: Ticket Status Not Updating: When a customer replies to a ticket, the status does not change to Reopened. Instead, it remains in Waiting on Customer, even after the customer’s response

    • Configuring Email Notifications with Tautulli for Plex

      Hi I'm new to Zoho. I am from Canada and I have a I use a web based application called Tautulli for Plex that monitors my Plex media server. It also sends a newsletter to my followers. To set this up they require a "From" email address., a smtp server

    • Is there a way to automatically add Secondary Contacts (CCs) when creating a new ticket for specific customers?

      Some of our customers want multiple contacts to receive all notifications from our support team. Is there a way to automatically add secondary contacts to a ticket when our support team opens a new ticket and associates it with an account? This would

    • How to Set Up Zoho Mail Without Cloudflare on My Website

      I'm having some trouble with Cloudflare here in Pakistan. I want to configure Zoho Mail for my domain, but I'm not sure how to set it up without going through Cloudflare. My website, https://getcrunchyrollapk.com/ , is currently using CF, but I'd like

    • Spam is Being Forwarded

      I am filtering a certain sender directly to the Trash folder. Those messages are still being forwarded. Is this supposed to happen?

    • Next Page