There are two types of salespeople: good salespeople and bad salespeople.

The bad salespeople rely on outdated 1960s sales training, spewing canned scripts that repulse and annoy prospects, sending them running for the door.

My wife and I were fed one of these lines recently when shopping for a mini-van.

We were in an exploratory stage, and had no reason on Earth to hurry: our old mini-van was running fine, and would do so for many months. But it was getting old and unreliable, so we were planning to upgrade.

When the salesperson saw that we were going to walk out of the dealership without buying, he ran after us and repeated, like a robot, a line I knew he was given in Sales Training 101: ?What would it take to put you in this car today??

Our skin crawled and we ran, he in hot pursuit. Did he ask where we were in our buying cycle ? just looking or in dire need ? and tailor his approach accordingly.

His question was clearly 100% motivated by his self-interest ? his desire to get a sales commission ? and not what might be best for us? So his personality immediately became repellant instead of attractive to us, and we responded accordingly?

What experiences have YOU had ? what things have salespeople said or done to you ? that similarly turned you off and lost them the sale?

Are there certain industries whose business model is dependent on not helping customers?

Here are some that have been suggested to me by various people:

1. Insurance ? my late father, an insurance agent for five decades, once said, ?Insurance companies want to write fire insurance policies for pig iron at the bottom of the ocean.? They want to collect fat premiums for policies they will never have to pay off, and often make it difficult for policyholders to collect on legitimate claims.

2. HMOs and managed health care — see #1 above.

3. Psychotherapists ? if the psychotherapist quickly cures every patient in a few weeks, the lifetime value of each client diminishes drastically.

4. Stock brokers ? Wall Street is rigged against the individual investor. Brokers are told to push shares their firms underwrite, not those stocks that are the best investment. If the stock they recommend loses you money, they make commissions three times — first when you buy, then when you sell, and again when you put it into something else.

5. Advertising agencies ? have a financial incentive to sell you ad campaigns that are (a) the most elaborate and expensive (increases billings) and (b) win creative awards (which helps win them new business).

I don’t mean to imply that everyone, or even the majority, of practitioners in these fields are out to cheat customers.

I am just observing that there is an incentive inherent in each business model NOT to always do what is best for the customer (which a smart practitioner knows is canceled out by the business benefits of delivering superior customer satisfaction).

Would you dispute any of the above? Or do you agree wholeheartedly? Any other industries you?d add to the list?

A small company with just a few employees wants to promote a new anti-cancer technology ? specifically, a cancer vaccine — it is developing.

The company president, an R&D scientist, is busy 24/7 in the laboratory and has neither the time nor the inclination to write a blog.

The marketing director suggested, ?Why don?t we hire a writer to write a blog on cancer vaccines ? which of course will talk a lot about our company and its research program??

They asked for my opinion.

To me, it sounded like a good idea ? except wouldn?t they ethically have to divulge prominently on the blog that it is sponsored by them and that they are paying the blogger to write it?

And wouldn?t that in turn entirely destroy the blog?s credibility and marketing effectiveness?

What do you think?

Business book authors tell us we can succeed by ?working smarter, not harder.?

The problem is, many of our competitors are as smart as we are. And some are smarter.

Therefore, ?work smarter, not harder? is a myth.

The fact is, almost without exception, the very successful people I know ? all of whom are smart ? also work hard: 50 to 60 hours a week or more.

The people who regularly post on this blog are successful, so let me ask you ? how many hours a week do YOU work?

A. less than 40.
B. 40 to 49.
C. 50 to 59.
D. 60 to 69.
E. More than 70.

And do you work that hard because you want to ? or because you HAVE to?

I hate networking for several reasons.

One is I?m introverted and shy.

The other is I like to be home ? not out schmoozing for business.

But let me ask you?.

If you HAD to pick one or the other, what factor would you say is the most important contributor to business success?

1. WHAT you know — your skills, knowledge, training, expertise, and experience, or

2. WHO you know — the contacts you make through networking?

I frequently get asked by readers, “Can you recommend a blogging consultant to help me set up and run a blog for my business?”

If you are a blogging consultant and advisor, please let me know by leaving a comment in response to this post, so I can add you to my referral list.

Also, should my clients hire a blogging specialist to help set up their blog … or can their current Web designer do it just as well and easily?

Your thoughts?

In his post on this blog, John Thomas asks, ?What counter-intuitive ?secrets? would you say there are to becoming a successful direct response copywriter, since that would be a particular business you are familiar with??

I assume he means ?freelance? direct response copywriters, since most of the top DM copywriters are in fact self-employed.

The answer, John, is the same for freelance copywriters as it is for dentists, optometrists, financial planners, attorneys, CPAs, and anyone else offering professional services on a freelance or independent basis:

Assuming you are reasonably skilled in the service you provide, the differentiating factor between those practitioners with the highest incomes and the others in the same field is the ability to marketing and sell their professional services to clients.

In other words, success at self-promotion is the biggest (but not the only) factor separating the $50,000 a year copywriter from the $500,000 a year copywriter ? or the financial planner writing $1 million in premium (and earning $65,000 a year) from the one writing $10 million in premium (and earning $650,000 a year).

Do you agree? Are those who make the most money in any profession the best salespeople and marketers ? or the best craftspeople and technicians?

Do employers have the right to tell employees how to dress?

I?m not clear on whether employment laws say they do. But I think they should ? and now the city of Cheyenne apparently agrees with me.

Cheyenne?s municipal government is considering a ban on restaurant workers wearing nose rings, tongue rings, and other facial jewelry.

Reason: the Cheyenne Department of Health has had several cases of restaurant customers finding tongue rings in their food (though not yet in a tongue sandwich).

But even if a foolproof method could be found for preventing tongue rings from falling out, I think they should be banned in restaurants and most other professional workplaces.

Here?s my logic: your employer is paying you not just to perform a specific job function, but for your total contribution to her business.

Part of that contribution is the impression you make on customers. When you dress too casually or outrageously, that impression is negative ? and the business that pays your salary suffers.

Yes, I am a cranky curmudgeon. But I?m betting that you will agree with my on this one. Yes?