Thank you, Anna, for the specifics about the training of company reps and *how* they are able to present as "nice people".  I have heard the "nice people" description even from some of the most intelligent and supposedly canny people in health care, who just don't see what's hitting them.  You've described how opinion leaders are targeted, analysed and lulled, and of course busy, trusting, caring people working at the coalface are also very vulnerable to skilfully targeted approaches.  Neither realises that s/he has been manifpulated.
     Virginia

On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 Anna Swisher wrote:
> .... just had to second Virginia's cogent and very accurate observation ....
>I spent over 11 years, pre-children, working for one of THE biggest Fortune500 co. in marketing, selling high-tech communications and data 'stuff' to businesses. Marketing to corporate accounts is HUGE $$--.... My former co. spent thousands of dollars training reps in highly sophisticated sales techniques, for weeks at a time .... including understanding the specific industry, very technical training, corporate structure,
>"positioning," reaching the highest decision maker, overcoming objections
>and discrediting 'gatekeepers,' volunteering in community venues where we would work with our customers as individuals, etc.  There was profound unwritten pressure to live in the same neighborhoods of the customer
"decision makers" and frequent the same country clubs, private clubs,
schools, associations, etc. 
>.... we could go into a company, identify each contact's personality, and give that person what they wanted (and would respond positively to) in terms of what we said, how we said it, how we acted, spoke, dressed and  presented
the products.
>.... it is essentially sanitized prostitution, and not beneficent.  It's ALL about $$ for the company
(preferably this quarter), never, never, never, never, about what is truly in the customer's best interests, or good for society or our world.

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