How do you go about finding a good sales rep?

Now that my mind has been dwelling in the land of sales people, I've got a whole gaggle of interesting questions concerning the topic. One of the first ones that come to my mind is:

How do you normally go about getting hooked up with an account rep at a vendor/reseller? Do you ask for any good reps that your colleagues know about? Do you cold call the sales department and pray for a good rep? Are there other options that I'm missing?

I'd love to hear all of your experiences in this realm. You can't get an practice exam or boot camp on topics like this. =)