Sales Activities: Why We’re Still Selling Like It’s 1999
You can tell what really matters in a company by where it concentrates its energy. And nowhere is that more obvious (or occasionally tragic) than in sales.
At an old employer of mine, we had what was politely called “the sales deck.” It was 450 slides long. Yes, four-hundred and fifty. To put that in perspective, that’s longer than most doctoral dissertations, but with fewer footnotes and less originality.
Of those 450 slides, 449 were about the product. Every little toggle, switch, feature, and blinking LED was lovingly detailed. There was one—just one—slide about the company itself. And I never, not once, saw a salesperson bother to talk about it.
I once asked how on earth anyone was meant to present 449 slides. The answer? “Oh, we don’t present all the slides. Just the ones that matter to the client.”
Ah yes. The ones that matter. Because nothing says “client focus” like handing over a product encyclopedia and telling them to pick their favorite chapter.
The Problem with Product Worship
It’s safe to say that sales team was focused on products. Lots and lots of products. And here’s the funny thing: clients don’t buy products. They buy solutions to business pain points.
In a world where products increasingly look the same, do we really think concentrating on the product is a winning strategy? I mean, honestly—does any CIO wake up at 3am and whisper, “If only this widget had a 17% faster data throughput, my problems would be solved”? No. They wake up at 3am worried about lawsuits, budgets, compliance audits, and whether the board will sack them before they cash their bonus.
But in technology sales, we cling to this romantic notion that clients will fall in love with our products if only we can help them understand how clever they are. That if we can just explain how our algorithm is 0.2% more efficient than the competition’s, the client will leap into our arms, sign the contract, and maybe even write us a sonnet.
That’s simply not true.
What Clients Actually Want
What clients actually want is something far more boring—and far more important. They want a solution to their business problem. Preferably one that is:
Easy to buy
Easy to own
Low hassle
Notice what’s not on that list: world-class algorithms, revolutionary architectures, or synergies so disruptive they’ll make your eyes water.
Clients want less drama, not more features.
What Does “Hassle” Look Like?
Hassle is a vendor who makes life difficult in ways that go far beyond the product. For example:
Accounts payable nightmares: If their purchasing department can’t get you into the system, congratulations—you’re not a vendor, you’re a problem.
Employment practices: If your company ends up on the front page of the newspaper for the wrong reasons, you’ve just given your client’s legal department a migraine.
Supply chain risks: Nothing keeps a CISO awake like the thought that your supplier’s supplier might also be moonlighting as a spy.
Reputation for drama: Even the faintest whiff of instability—financial, ethical, or operational—becomes a big red flag.
And these issues often play on a client’s mind a lot more than whether your product has a new button labeled “AI-powered.”
The Questions That Really Matter
When clients are deciding who to buy from, here’s what they’re actually asking themselves:
Future direction: Will this vendor still exist in five years, or are they on a countdown timer?
Alliances: Who are they aligned with? Do they have the right certifications, partners, and credibility in the market?
Supply chain security: Not just at the factory—what about the entire reseller and distribution network? One weak link and the whole chain snaps.
Market alignment: Are they even going where the market is headed, or are they desperately trying to sell VHS tapes in a streaming world?
Channel relationships: Do resellers and distributors actually make money selling this stuff? Because if they don’t, guess what—they won’t.
Legacy product handling: Do they support their older products, or do they abandon them like a toddler losing interest in a toy?
Leadership quality: Does the senior team have deep industry experience, or are they quarterly-obsessed spreadsheet jockeys who think customer loyalty is a “nice to have”?
Acquisition risk: If this vendor gets bought, what happens to support, pricing, and continuity? Clients know acquisitions often come with “surprise” changes—usually unpleasant.
In other words, clients are buying risk management as much as they’re buying a product.
The Brutal Truth
The brutal truth is this: product differentiation is shrinking every year. The speed at which competitors can copy your shiny new feature is terrifying. One engineer in Shenzhen can make your “revolutionary” idea look positively mainstream within a quarter.
So if your sales team is still trying to win on product alone, they’re playing checkers in a world where everyone else is playing 3D chess.
Clients know they can get a good-enough product from half a dozen vendors. What they want is confidence that the one they choose won’t become a headache, a liability, or a career-limiting move.
What Leadership Should Do
For senior leaders, this requires a mindset shift. Stop asking your sales teams, “How are we proving our product is the best?” Instead, ask:
How are we making ourselves the safest choice?
How are we reducing friction in the buying process?
How are we demonstrating long-term stability, vision, and alignment with customer needs?
How are we helping customers look good to their own leadership when they pick us?
Because here’s the kicker: most clients don’t actually want the “best” product. They want the least risky option. The one that lets them sleep at night.
A Final Thought
The next time you see a 450-slide deck, remember this: nobody ever closed a deal because slide 327 explained your product’s “innovative use of containerized microservices.”
But plenty of deals have been lost because the client thought, “This vendor seems unstable. If they implode, I’ll have to explain it to my board.”
So, by all means, polish the product slides. But don’t forget: your customers are buying peace of mind, not feature sets.
And if you really can’t resist showing all 449 product slides—at least have the decency to provide coffee. Strong coffee.