Why salespeople should blog

In my day job, I deal with technology salespeople all the time. They like me when I bring them bluebirds, hate me when they lose, hate me even more when they win but not at terms they would like. But deals get done. They bluster and posture  - but in the end, they know the market realities and when to walk away or sign up.

In contrast, I find many vendor marketing and investor relations folks live in a dream world. What they put in their brochures and investor packages is to them the only version of truth. Clearly IR folks have to be careful about statements, but if they had their way company blogs would look like today's version of yesterday's press releases. Most marketing folks like one way communications - debates in blogs cause them heartburn unless they are focused on a competitor.

But the real world, as any good salesperson will tell you, is full of bare knuckles debates and negotiations. Technology vendor and customer. Vendor and investor. Vendor and partner. Lots of direct - sometimes - heated talk. Which makes marketing and IR folks cringe, but happens every day, every hour.

Salespeople are too busy making money to waste time writing blogs. But if they did, their blogs would be far more "naked conversations" that those their marketing and IR colleagues are allowing their companies to propagate.