Stop Buying Hardware Before You Have Designed the System
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@Dashrender said:
You bought up a going point - the difference between getting a call and calling a sales person.
Like you I don't accept sales calls either. If I wanted anything from your company I'd call you.
When people have these kinds of issues, it seems to be universally that they reach out to salespeople when they should be reaching out to engineers. If a salesperson calls me, they clearly can't engineer me a solution but can tell me about their latest products. This is where they are really useful. They can list features and I can ask for details on the ones in which I am interested. That's a useful way to use a salesperson relationship. I can ask them to alert me when that product is publicly available and ask for a demo.
No hint an engineering solutions, just getting information out there. Giving me the tools that I need to do the engineering.
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@Dashrender said:
Using these and other forums have definitely helped me find solutions that are more likely to fit what I want, but when I'm still clueless about a situation/solution, I need help.
Sure, that's when consultants or more forum time is needed. The one person who can never be part of the solution discovery is non-IT people like salespeople or janitors.
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@Dashrender said:
Now I'll take the information I get from the sales group boil down what I think is useful and make a post, but I don't think the average person does this. I guess that's the ultimate hangup.
What would drive the need to contact a salesperson to start with? At least in this case? As their job is to sell you what you don't need (you'll figure out what you do need on your own) isn't their input dangerous and misleading? Best to keep them out of this part of the cycle.
How do you even know which vendors, products or salespeople to contact until after you already know your needs?
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@scottalanmiller said:
What would drive the need to contact a salesperson to start with? At least in this case? As their job is to sell you what you don't need (you'll figure out what you do need on your own) isn't their input dangerous and misleading? Best to keep them out of this part of the cycle.
How do you even know which vendors, products or salespeople to contact until after you already know your needs?
Are you saying that I would skip ever talking to a sales person (until I'm actually read to buy) because the expectation is that I would get everything I would need from the forums consultants?
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@Dashrender said:
Are you saying that I would skip ever talking to a sales person (until I'm actually read to buy) because the expectation is that I would get everything I would need from the forums consultants?
I'm saying that salespeople are not part of this process until you are past your design stage. Period. They do not add value but add risk and confusion. No matter what process you use to get your information (research, forums, hiring a consultant...) doesn't matter. What does matter is that salespeople and others who don't have a reason to help you or don't have the resources to help you should not be engaged.
There isn't an expectation that you will ever get everything that you need. That is a red herring. What matters is salespeople are not where you find what you need and you should never expect them to lead you in that direction. You should get advice from people whose interest is to help you, not from people with the explicit task of misleading you!
