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About sales and company management

December 21, 2025

From bad...

If, 10 years ago, you would have asked me how I felt about sales people, I would have answered: 'Yeah, sales people, they're a bit like marketing people, not always very competent, but I can live with them.' With that answer I would have been a positive outlier. Normally, engineers loathe marketing people. If you want to get a flavor of that deep-rooted despise, read some Dilbert cartoons where the incompetence of the marketing department is a common theme. I know, Dilbert is not reality, but it is a good reflection of it.

... to worse

If you'd have asked me the same question this morning, I would have said: "I detest sales people. They're the cockroaches of the free market economy." Why such a strong language? Before I dive in this cesspool: note that I do not comment on marketeers, only on sales persons.

Why?

I've come to this conclusion after a night of being awake in my bed, thinking through my recent experiences with sales people. I can only come this single conclusion: they screw you, time and again.

If you did not do so yet, read my rant on Ethics and greed. That HVAC sales person just threw a few numbers on the sheet, to make you sign a sales agreement and execute an advance payment. Later the technical guy had to correct his bodge job. Who paid for the errors? Moi.

More recently, we decided to renovate the staircase in our house. A smart-looking sales guy from a Dutch company (I admit, that might not have been my smartest choice) comes and visits us, takes a look at the situation, listens to us and makes us an offer according to a concept we'd agreed on. I accepted the offer. In his favor: at least he made us an offer that did not undergo any raises because of sheer stupidity. However, I noted similar problems when the technical guys arrived to do the installation. A first fragment of my conversation with the Belgian foreman:

  • Me: "By the way, as requested in your latest e-mail, I asked the local council to organize a parking ban for a week in front of our house, such that you can park your lorry and place your equipment. But I only did this for the current week, because I only heard yesterday that you would need eight working days instead of five. Will you still be needing that parking ban after the first five days?"
  • Him (surprised): "Oh, who told you that we needed the parking ban? We can park and work on your driveway, so no problem. You shouldn't have bothered."
  • Me thinking: "80EUR down the drain..."
  • Him: "And who told you that it would be only eight days? We need at least ten and even then..."
  • Me: "Really? The sales guy told us it would be five... the guy from accounting increased it to eight and now you tell me that it will be more than ten?"
  • Him: "Yes, I can do it five if you want, but you won't like the result... Those guys from sales they don't know shit about what it takes to renovate a staircase. I'm sorry, sir."

So let me rewind to the e-mail conversation with the guy from accounting a few days earlier:

  • Him: "In attachment you will find the final invoice, to be paid either in cash or by bank transfer, but in that case you need to give a proof of payment to the technical guys on the last day of their installation."
  • Me: "So you want me to pay before the works are finished? That does not seem fair. I will only pay the invoice when I had the occasion to fully inspect the works and then I will pay you the very next day. Your invoice mentions December 3rd as expiration date, and you will be finishing the works on November 29, so there's plenty of time for me to pay the invoice. Besides, it is illegal in Belgium to ask for a cash payment above 3000EUR."
  • Him: "The expiration date is indeed December 3rd as our crew will need until then to finish the job. So if you pay before December 3rd, I'm fine."

After that I gave him a short lecture on (a) the fact that in Belgium the expiration date on an invoice should be fair (and requesting payment before you can inspect the result is not fair) or agreed on in advance (and just unilaterally putting a date on an invoice is not considered to be 'agreed on in advance') and (b) that asking payments above 3K in cash is illegal. He shut up after that lecture. I found that strange. Most of my students ask questions after a lecture. This one clearly was not a keen learner.

Back to a later conversation with the foreman:

  • Him: "By the way, the project description from the sales guy does not mention whether I need to install the LED lights in the treads or in the side boards. What do you prefer?"
  • Me: "We decided that at sale time. I don't remember. Let me call my wife about that..."

And a bit later:

  • Him: "I read that you want that central pillar mitered. I wouldn't do that if I were you."
  • Me: "Why not, the sales guy told me the result would look gorgeous and would be very durable. I remember challenging about the durability."
  • Him: "Yeah, it will look amazing, for a few years and then the joints will open and you will curse yourself to death by not having requested corner profiles."
  • Me: "OK, why didn't he tell me this?
  • Him: "As a told you before: he knows shit about renovating stairs; He doesn't care about your staircase at all, he only cares about the money."

That final sentence stayed with me for the entire night. It summarized my feeling w.r.t. sales people. They just can't be arsed. I hope that you now understand a bit of my sentiment this morning.

Resolution

In the mean time, I had the time to think it over more than once. I still think that most sales people are incompetent and overly focused on making sales. But, the true question is: who made them like that? And after a wile, it dawned on me: it's not the fault of the sales guy. It is the management that does not coach the sales guy towards happy customers, but only towards high sales figures. Review my rant on 'soot, brains and honesty' and you will see that also in that case the quality of my car dealership is going down because 'profit' and 'growing' are valued over a long-term healthy customer relationship.

Epilogue

After 21 days (of which 14 labor days), the works have been finished. I must admit: I'm very pleased with the result. That Belgian guy working for the Dutch company that renovated our staircase, did a top notch job. He's a pro. And payment? And what about my struggle with that Dutch guy from accounting? Yes, I paid, but only two days later, after I thoroughly checked the result. I will not be harassed. Especially not by a Dutch guy from accounting. Even not after a dodgy story he told me about the warranty only starting when I would have paid. Nonsense. The Dutch primary school education system urgently needs an extra class explaining that Belgian customers - apparently opposite to Dutch customers - are not stupid.