During the sales process with a large, government-owned central bank, the client asked if we could support an expensive database they already had in house. We told them that our product couldn’t currently support their database, but it would be able to “in the next release,” which was expected to be available within the next few months.

Based on the promise that we would be able to meet their specs soon, they bought our product, and just worked around the limitations until the “next release” came through.

Five years and a constant flow of compatibility problems later, the COO of our company was visiting the client on-site one day when he was asked when the support for their database would be ready.

He assured them that it would be part of the next release. The client’s answer was to pull out a sheaf of five letters, signed by our company’s top executives over each of the past five years, all claiming that the modification was coming “in the next release.”

Since we had been releasing new versions of the software each year, it was clear that we had simply chosen to ignore their request and then lied to them about it. Not just the sales people, either, but the technology, marketing, sales and product management executives as well – all in writing.

Needless to say, we were kicked out and replaced by a company willing to be honest about their capabilities from the start. In all my years in sales, I’ve never seen a more just or well-deserved dismissal.