Are you a sales guy?

I've noticed that over my twenty years in the business world, titles for sales guys have become ever more grand and difficult to understand.

My first business card said "Sales Representative" and my friends in sales at other companies had the same thing or something similarly descriptive on their business card.

Now I see things like "Business Development Director" or "Client Care Specialist" or even "Marketing Manager" on salespeople’s business cards. Many of these titles seem a bit sleazy – a bait and switch sort of thing to hide the fact that the person is in sales. If your company is tuned in, why do you need to hide the fact that you're in sales?

Several weeks ago I keynoted the Home Theater Specialists of America conference in Rancho Mirage, CA. At the event, I met several people from SpeakerCraft including Jeremy Burkhardt, the company president.  Jeremy and his company are tuned in and they are honest.

Jeremy's bio on the company site says, among other things "Perfect Day-wake up at the beach with my son, surf then wake board then sky dive then snow board then jump in the plane fly to mile marker zero at the Grand Canyon and white water raft to camp where we would eat and sleep under the stars." Honest man, that Jeremy. At the conference, he rode a skateboard from building to building at The Westin Mission Hills.

I was amazed when I received Steve Hayes’ business card at the conference. He works at SpeakerCraft too. His title? "Sales Guy."