Sales people have a tough job. They have to convince people to listen to the reasons why their product should be bought. Sometimes you have a need for a product like theirs and your group is gathering information about all the possible choices. But even if there is no immediate need, the sales person still would like to get information about potential needs and start the process of persuading you and your group that his product is the best choice.

A good sales person will try to set up a meeting with the highest ranking person in your group (the decision maker). Or the sales person will try to set up a meeting with the widest audience possible to minimize his time.

The first case is easy. Only accept the meeting if you get something out of it (increase your knowledge of the product's market, including who might be using the product or what other products compete with yours). These can be useful meetings.

The second case can waste the time of your entire organization. I was managing a group of about ten engineers when a salesman got one of the junior engineers to agree to set up a meeting with every engineer in the group to listen to his sales pitch for three hours! We were about to lose 30 man-hours of useful work because some sales person asked (he had grabbed the clock).

The solution is to educate your group about the dynamics of the sales process and help them learn when it is important to talk to sales people and how to better manage the receiving end of the sales process.

Another example is the "I happen to be in your area and would like to spend an hour with you to tell you about my super products." If this means completely rearranging your schedule to accommodate, that is likely the wrong decision (sales guy grabbed your clock). Instead, if it is important to have the meeting, do it on your schedule (you will be amazed at how flexible the sales person will become).

It's all about the clock. In most start-up companies, there is a fixed window of opportunity defined by both the marketplace and the finances of the company. You need to be constantly vigilant about finding ways to hog the clock.

-Don Burtis