Vent: The week our entire sales demo got derailed by a rogue cat

So last Tuesday, we had this big virtual demo set up for a potential client in Chicago, a $50k annual contract on the line. I'm halfway through showing our project management dashboard when my cat, Mochi, decides the keyboard is the perfect place to nap. She hits a key combo that somehow switches the entire screen to a live feed of a bird feeder camera I had open earlier. For a solid minute, the client's team is just staring at blue jays while I'm frantically trying to mute and find the 'stop share' button. I mean, I finally got it back, but the vibe was totally gone. We tried to laugh it off, but you could tell they were just waiting for the next tech disaster. We lost the deal the next day, and the feedback email literally said 'concerns about platform stability.' I'm still not over it. Has anyone else had a pet completely wreck a professional meeting?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamie_webb6712d ago

Oh man, that's brutal! But honestly, the real tech issue might have been your meeting software. Some of them have a "pause share" or a quick panel you can pull up without stopping everything. I always do a test call with a coworker now to find that emergency button before any big client demo.

elliotm5712d ago

Honestly that sounds like a pretty flimsy excuse from the client.

reesej2712d ago

I've seen clients give that exact reason when they're just scared to make a big change. It often comes from a real place of worry, not from being flimsy. Calling it an excuse might miss what's actually holding them back.