Joely Righteous

In my job I deal with a lot of sales people, some I adore, they are helpful, lovely and generally understand client objectives and the fact that their site is not a good fit for every campaign or every client. Others… well lets just say adore isn’t the right word.

So in the interest of a laugh I thought I’d break out some of the key sales types I’ve worked with/met.

The Sales-model

These people are a common thread across sales in many industries, more good looks and brawn than brains.
They tend to be good at schmoozing and are generally lovely people, but can have trouble pulling together more complex offerings. At a strategic level they are not the best, but all in all they are good at keeping clients happy and at closing deals, and at the end of the day that’s what a good sales person is.

The Shyster/Used Car Salesman

Using “Salesman” is a sexist term as there are many female sales people who also fit the bill.
Their site is always a contextual fit; looking to sell a beard trimmer? Of course our children’s cartoon site is a fit! and they don’t tend to take no for an answer.
Their calls are unrelenting and if you’ve given them even the loosest of brief you can be assured of ongoing calls every hour asking if you’d like them to “send over an IO for that…”

The smart-guy(/girl)

This person probably comes from a tech/dev background and they are typically not very “salesy” in their approach. They know their site/product inside and out and have clearly lived and breathed their job for a long while. These people are often the best people to have involved at a strategic planning level or when looking at integration or onsite modification for clients, however can be a bit cold and difficult to negotiate with.

The Bimbo/Himbo

Care of FlatRock.org.nz
Similar to the sales-model in that they tend to be good looking and spend a lot of time talking about non-work related matters during meetings. The primary difference being that while a sales-model is still sufficient at their job and is good at the “talk” side of sale the bimbo/himbo tends to just giggle/laugh their way through things and nod in agreement without absorbing the conversation, often leading to many items not being actioned and continuous mistakes along the way.

This is by no means a complete list, and if I had more time I would certainly write more, however I’ll open it up to the crowd, got a few more sales-types that you encounter frequently?