I kept silent hoping someone else would chime in on the canonization of sales people. There is a stereotype associated with salespeople of being overly aggressive and sometimes using unethical or unprofessional practices. That stereotype in reinforced by salespeople, many who are subscribed to this list, that bombard either the list or to people directly off list with unsolicited sales pitches and dubious business practices.
And before you justify what you do by saying "It drives me nutty when I hear people complaining about sales people when we have all done it at one time or another in our career...", no not everyone has done this. I am not a salesperson. I am a programmer by trade and I have to listen to salespeople who have no clue what they are trying to sell other than it will make them a commission. Do you think you endear yourself to me by doing an end around to my boss? Not hardly. Sometimes stereotypes are earned. The salespeople who get my business do not have to call me, I call them because they have earned my respect and my business by delivering quality goods at a price I am happy with and dealing with me in good faith. Good salespeople don't have to look for business, business finds them. My word of mouth has caused one of the salespeople I deal with to become a top grosser for his company. He gets calls from people he has never heard of that were directed his way by satisfied customers.
Salespeople are not Mother Theresa. They are not Satan incarnate either. So let's do face reality, if you deal poorly with me I will deal poorly with you. Before you begin your sales pitch ask to see if I am busy. Like most places I am doing the work of people who were recently laid off. Then take no for an answer, I would not tell you no if I wanted your product. Your powers of persuasion, while I am sure are quite considerable, are not going to determine whether or not I buy from you.
I believe in live and let live. Treat me with respect and you find me treating you the same way.
/stepping down from soapbox/
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
While we all dislike annoying, shark like, sales people -- let's face
reality. We would be on the street selling apples if not for these people.
Somewhere, on some street corner, is a salesperson from every company listed
on this List, calling some other company to sell their services. It drives
me nutty when I hear people complaining about sales people when we have all
done it at one time or another in our career -- job hunting is one example.
Personally, I especially love the pharma companies that hang up on me as if
they're afraid of some contagious disease -- but of course pharma companies
wouldn't know about sales, they only created the concept of the overbearing
salesperson when they inundate doctor's offices with their freebies and
Post-It pads.Next time one of those annoying sales people calls, don't hang up. Talk to
them. You never know. You might be working for them one day.J. Marcus
Palarco
732-417-2886
--
Glenn Thompson
Programmer/Analyst
American Trouser, Inc.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
