They may have been talking about XP Pro, but if they were saying 5.1, Win2k was referred to as "NT5.1"
As for XP being "NT5.1", can't make a generality like that when theres XP Home out there. Sales Rep? I'll take an MCSE's word over a sales rep anyday ;)
Think of XP Home as NT 5.1 Lite. It's the same OS, just various capabilities have been removed.