Imagine you are a VP of Sales with the following choice: You can have a great product with an average sales team or an average product with a great sales team. - but not both. Which way would you go?

I posted a similar question on several LinkedIn sales and marketing groups. Not surprisingly, this question generated close to two hundred responses:

-       - 56% of all responders went for the great sales team

-       - 64% of people with sales in their title opted for great sales team

-       - 61% of people with marketing in their title chose the great product

-       - 100% of CEO’s chose great sales team

People made the following points to support their choice:

-      “Great sales team. Products, no matter how good they are, do not sell themselves.”

-      “Depends on the industry. In the medical device space, great products win out.”

-      “Great product. It’s easier to build a great sales team than build a great product.”

-      “Look at Microsoft. Mediocre products that dominate markets.”

-      “Sales momentum can only last so long with an average product. Great sales people will get frustrated and leave.”

My take-away from this exercise – people’s opinion on the topic is influenced by what they have personally experienced.  In my career, I’ve had more exposure to great sales teams than to great products. I do believe however that it is easier to build a great sales team than a great product. (Of course I know how to build a great sales team but have less knowledge on how to build a great product.)

About five years ago, a well-known venture capitalist said to me “Sales people are useless. We only invest in companies that have products so good, monkeys could sell them.”

I recently checked his firm’s portfolio - no successful IPO’s or acquisitions since 2006. Hmm…maybe the monkey sales approach wasn’t such a good idea after all.

As the economy continues to morph, sales professionals need to evolve as well. Understanding the cultural and behavioral shifts in the sales environment is a key step in the evolution process.

The following "What's In / What's Out" list will provide readers with a competitive advantage over those unenlightened non-readers of this blog. Even though extensive research went in to creating this list, I admit that I may have missed a few pertinent topics. Please contribute your own "In / Out" suggestions in the comments section....