I agree, except that's not sales, that's advertising. Sometimes advertising happens one-to-one, by someone whose job title might be "salesman", but it's still advertising.


As soon as a vendor starts telling me what to buy, I stop paying attention. There have been times when a vendor has asked if I'm aware of a product that might meet my needs; I don't have a problem with that until they start pushing.

As an example, about two years ago, I was searching for a vendor to provide phone and internet access. I sent out a bunch of requests asking for a quote on a voice T1 and an internet T1, or equivalent. Most vendors sent me back exactly what I asked for. One vendor decided to send me back a quote for a T1 split for voice and data, not in addition to my requested quote. I responded and told him that that wasn't what I asked for. He wanted to have a conference call with a tech. It seemed odd, but I agreed. When the conference call happened, he started on selling me on why I wanted a split T1. I interrupted and asked him if he had the quote I asked for. When he said no, I told him that I didn't have time for his crap and hung up.

I know what I want. It's possible that someone might have some information on a different product, and I'm more than willing to learn. But I don't have the time to waste while a salesperson tries to sell me on something I don't want.

There's nothing I hate more than a "value-added reseller", and I despise it when a manufacturer sells only through them. There's a local one in particular that has consistently wasted so much of my time that I refuse to do business with them any more, despite the fact that I have to go out of my way to use someone else.

There are a number of people whose job title is "salesperson" that I have had a decent relationship with. They're the ones who take my requests and turn it into a quote and otherwise don't bother me. But that's not sales, IMO, any more than the guy behind the register at McDonald's is in sales. (Not that I'm reducing these people to register monkeys; they often have knowledge of their products that outstrips mine and allows them to take my request and turn it into appropriate configurations and part numbers, but that's also not "sales".)


Whoa! You went too far there!

Not in civility. I mean you should have stopped at "globalized hatred of people". It's not restricted to those in commerce.;)