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This story was printed from silicon.com, located at http://www.silicon.com/

Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/itdirector/0,39024673,39160440,00.htm

IT vendors 'more honest' than estate agents
In fact, they're an example to all salesmen...

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Monday 17 July 2006

The image of IT salesmen who might look to offload a bundle of unnecessary kit or software on companies by blinding them with double-talk and spin may be a thing of the past.

A poll of silicon.com readers has discovered that given a choice of five of the most common kinds of salesmen, voters backed the IT vendor as the least dishonest, with estate agents far and away the least trusted.

In total 36 per cent of more than 700 people polled said they believe estate agents to be the most dishonest salesmen.

Used car salesmen rank next in people's perceptions of dishonesty with 24 per cent of the vote. Double glazing salesmen (17 per cent) and mobile phone salesmen (13 per cent) came next. The honest IT vendor was ranked fifth with just 10 per cent of respondents suggesting they are the most dishonest of all salesmen.

Of course, even among a largely IT-focussed readership (which likely includes more than a few vendors) more people may have contact with estate agents than IT vendors in their lives. Still the results represent a turnaround for the reputation of IT vendors who in the past have faced serious criticism for their methods.