Know who you're selling

I just had a terrible conversation with an agency person (who I secretly hope will read this) about various advertising products available on Facebook, and re-sold by this company. (I won't name names). The problem is that this person didn't prepare. The deck they emailed was mostly stock, highlighting everything we had already covered in the first meeting. They felt the need to walk through it again, just in case there were questions, even though I fully understood everything, and let them know this fact. Don't waste my time. Then the kicker: They proceeded to sell me on some Facebook page creation and management services that they offer for multi-thousands of dollars. This is my job. This would be like selling a plumber a pipe-fixing service. Do your research. You know you're talking to the Social Media guy-- why not find out if this is something that is needed before you try to pitch. This person was also clearly non-technical, as any even remotely 'tough' question was met with awesome word combinations (which I know because I've used them)like strategic management. You're going to 'strategically manage' my needs directly to the nearest nerd, who won't know anything about what I need. This person also made a critical error in recommending that I not develop a relationship with Facebook's sales team in California directly, because I will get better service from a Canadian reseller. "Facebook hired us to act as an advertising reseller and provide management for our Canadian clients". Sure they did. Guess what-- I want to know what Facebook charges for this stuff. They may have preferred rates, but they're just as hungry for the business as you are. They are in the ad-platform business, and will have to give up a straight CPM, otherwise risk getting laughed at. (That's what I got when I called them by the way...) In addition to some case studies, official documents about their products, and even specs for what I wanted. They don't need to hide anything--- it's their site! The biggest problem is this agency's actual product. Because this reseller is in a specific vertical, they are only 'allowed' to sell products that pertain to that vertical, so this sales person spent a considerable amount of effort telling me how we can make my consumer-facing ads have a (industry vertical) focus so that they meet the criteria. (Facebook reviews their submissions to make sure they meet the criteria. Good thing I'm working with a reseller and not Facebook directly). Super-- but what about if I just want to buy some ads and have them have NOTHING to do with that vertical. Well-- uh---... Ya, that's what I thought. Everyone is out to sell something. It's in your job title, do you think I don't know what account executive means? I was one. I know it means "Salesperson". I think people in sales need to slow down. Take the time to do a little bit of research about the company and person you're dealing with. Isn't that hour of research worth it when you land the 'big deal'? When I was selling POP displays, I would google the snot of the person and company I was about to call, just so I would not sound stupid. If someone googled me before attempting to sell me a Facebook Management service, they would realize very quickly that I'm a nerd, I'm using the platform all day, every day, and that most of the time people aren't allowed to outsource their own jobs and get paid for it. /Rant