One of the more frustrating aspects of my day job is listening to vendors bad mouth their competition. I’m ready to go off on the next one who tells me their product set will save the security woes of the universe because their competitors product is the illegitimate love child of a donkey and a parking enforcement officer. I could care less about their opinions of other vendors in their space. That will not help to influence my purchasing decisions in any way shape or form.
One vendor, who I will not name, learned this the hard way a while back. For over an hour I sat their and listened to their sales VP drone on about the evil other company and how they might just be indirectly responsible from everything from the war in Iraq to stealing lollipops from children. The “techie” who accompanied the VP then went on to tell me how their product could…well, let’s just say he must be very good at Halo and leave it at that.
I realize that it is getting harder for security vendors out there to make a sale. I used to be on that side of the phone and I know the pain. That being said, I also have a finely tuned BS detector, a finite budget and restrictive amount of patience. If the vendor that comes in to see me pulls a Coke vs Pepsi routine within the first five minutes I will switch channels and watch a hockey game rerun in my minds eye. I know I have groused about this in the past but, I feel I need to rehash this point time and again. If your product is a good one it will sell itself. Don’t bash “the other guys” but rather, tell me why yours is good.
Ah yes, and to the persistent war-dialing sales people. When you cold call a potential client everyday for 2 months and he/she doesn’t answer, maybe there is a reason for that? Ya think?
Time is precious. I won’t waste yours if you don’t waste mine.
[tags]Security Vendors, Vendor Bashing, Security Sales[/tags]