Ogilvy & Mather, IBM and Salesforce.com should be ashamed of themselves

I don’t need my cup of extra-strong coffee to get going this morning.  If you’re in sales, you won’t either.

Just read about this Ogilvy & Mather-led contest that insults the intelligence of sales professionals, managers and executives everywhere.  Selling a red brick to a panel of “executives” from Ogilvy & Mather, OgilvyOne, IBM and Salesforce.com is proof of sales skills???  I think not.

For the contestants, it’s a demonstration of cutesy manipulative skills.  For the panel, it’s a public declaration of being clueless about how to succeed in sales.

The fundamental goal of sales is to help a customer make and/or save money.  The process begins with identifying & clearly defining a customer problem and/or objective, and ends with the successful, ROI-producing implementation of a new customer process.  It does not start with the product. Hello!!!  Is this news?  Could you possibly caricature a noble profession in a more demeaning fashion?

Why yes you can.  And you did!  You tell me your goal is “recreating the noble art of ka-ching.”  I’m not kidding.  That’s a quote from the vice chairman for the British operations of Ogilvy & Mather.  It’s all about me, me, me?  As long as I get my commission check, all’s right with the world?  Delivering value to the customer has no place in your dopey contest?

Shame on you, Ogilvy & Mather, IBM and Salesforce.com!

I for one intend to contact all three firms to complain about being publicly insulted.  I think you should click on the links above and do the same.