A friend of mine passed along an email he received from an information security vendor today. The vendor had inquired as to whether or not my friend was still interested in his company’s product. When my friend thanked him for his time and explained that they had chosen to go in a different direction the vendor responded: (again paraphrased to protect the guilty)
I thought we didn’t have a chance since I wasn’t able to speak to anyone other than you. Based upon common experience, I think you will find the direction you’ve chosen to be extremely expensive with relatively little return.
But best of luck…
Translation:
Yeah, I knew you weren’t all that intelligent when you didn’t agree that my product was the best thing since sliced bread. If you’d have let me speak to someone with half a brain I’d have probably gotten the sale. You just don’t realize that you don’t really need what you decided to buy but like I said, you’re a moron so go figure.
Now I’m no rocket scientist but giving a potential client backhanded “advice” isn’t going to endear yourself to that client. Even if the potential client is lacking in reasoning ability, you never tell them that. The sale that fell through today may very well be the sale that comes through tomorrow.
This is the problem with product vendors. Many of them are lifelong salesmen and do not really have a clue as to what goes on in an information security department. These are the guys from the snake-oil school of sales: they tailor your problem to fit their solution as opposed to trying to really understand the problem. They don’t want to solve your problem, they want to sell their product.
Now I know that this is a general statement and that there are some good sales guys out there. I’ve actually had the pleasure of meeting a few. There is one guy that I wouldn’t hesitate to call even though his territory is on the West Coast. (I’m on the East Coast.) The problem is that the good ones are few and far between.
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