"I don't have time to play politics. My job is to serve my customers"

This is a classic statement from a sales person and an obviously well intentioned one also.  But I beg to differ with this approach.

Research has shown that one of the top things that customers want from sales people is to feel that the sales person controls the resources of their company.  The customer wants to talk to a person who will get things done on their behalf. 

But in reality the sales person is rarely the owner or CEO of the firm and they cannot dictate what gets done.  This is where "politics" begins.  The sales person often has to fight for scarce resources within their firm on behalf of their customer (engineering support, special pricing etc.)

It seems like a lot of sales people get frustrated with this process very quickly and feel that fighting for these resources is not part of their job.  They often settle for sub-optimal results internally which they then deliver on to their customer (not what the customer wants).

What I find most interesting about this is that sales people of all people in a company should actually be the best equipped to "play politics".  Most of the tools and techniques sales people use to sell customers can actually be applied internally and be very effective (for example, understanding stakeholders and their motivations).

So my thought for sales people is to change your mindset.  Think of dealing internally not as "politics", a frustrating waste of energy, but as "inside selling", part of your process to close more deals and give customers what they want...