themadpeacock

Jim Keenan wrote an interesting post proposing that we should be more open to sales people.

He proposes that products, especially B2B products are so complex that although we like to think that in this information/social-recommendation age we know about all the products that can help our business perhaps we are missing out.

Perhaps those sales people we work so hard to block from our day could have advice that is valuable.

Selling to us is hard because we dig in. We operate from the idea that we already know it all. We are resistant to sales calls. We avoid sales people when they walk up to us. We tell them we are all set, before we let them talk. We build a giant wall, difficult for sales people to climb. We feel good about it. We feel like we are winning. But are we?

via No One Likes To Admit They Don’t Know – Why You Should Love Sales People

Having spent the best part of 10 years in B2B sales, reseller channel management and consulting I have to disagree. But perhaps it all depends on your definition of sales person.

Titles like consultant, account manager, client advocate, BizDev Manager and countless other creative titles are used, generally to avoid the word sales and its negative connotations.

Here’s how it breaks down in my mind

• Sales person – employed by the manufacturer to sell their products, gets paid commission on each deal. Generally only knows basic and/or negative things about solutions from other manufacturers. It’s their job to make sure the client purchases the best solution their employer makes.
• Reseller – Independent; affiliated with a range of competing manufacturers and will give advice on what product works best for you, their client. Their advice is more “best solution” focused.
• Consultant – specializes in a “problem space” and is not affiliated with or paid by any manufacturer. They will get to know your specific needs, do product research for you and help you purchase and role out the best solution for you. You pay for this independent consulting service on top of the cost of the product.

So with these definitions in place my advice would be to keep on avoiding sales people until you know what you want to purchase. Seek out good resellers with a strong reputation and good products if you want good free advice. Pay for independent consultation if you need totally independent advice encompassing all possible solutions.

NOTE: It is possible for a manufacturer to employ people to be consultants, IBM does it.