said by aryoba: like your situation including mom-and-pop shops and non-profit organizations.
Well, I realize selling a couple hundred units at a time is 'mom and pop' for some of you, but I can receive product support from sales representatives from every other product we sell for considerably less quantities. I can pick up the phone and talk to my partner rep at Intel, Adobe, Symantec, HP or Microsoft, get the info I need, resell their products all day long. This is the first time I've had deals where I can't pick up the phone and talk to knowledgeable sales rep.
said by aryoba: You contact Cisco directly usually when you already have at least some familiarity with Cisco solution, know exactly the right question to ask, know exactly the right people to reach, and also know how to ask the right questions to the right people.
Well, that's a series of annoyances that you normally don't have to deal with elsewhere. I shouldn't have to know the magical questions to speak to the secret people to sell their product. I should be able to pick up the phone, talk for 10 minutes and have all the info I need confirmed.
In any case, I now know the tricks so hopefully I can get the answers I need to sell their products and I think all is well.
