Dave Ramsey is a fantastic businessman with an approach to businesses and finances that eschews what works over what’s hot. Given Wall Street’s track record of late, I’d say that’s a really good thing. He’s got a good regular column called Dave Says, answering questions about personal finance and business (with a focus on entrepreneurs and SOHO’s). The following came from the latest post, and I thought it stood out as a gem for anyone who’s their own sales force:

Dear Dave,

What’s the key to becoming a great salesman?

Brent Dear Brent,

I can sum it up in one word - serving. And don’t think for a second that serving means being subservient. I’m talking about being proactive, and making an effort to ensure that customers and potential customers alike are served well. Serving means you’re excited about what you have to offer, and you believe you’ve got a great product at a great price. It means you’re determined your customer is going to have a great experience, and if you happen to hit a bump in the road you will take care of it in a way that will make them forget it ever happened. Serving is an attitude. You have to provide goods or services in a way that makes your customers willing to trade their time or money - things that are very precious to them - to interact with you and your business. You can pressure people if you want, but that’s going to lead to a dull and frustrating life of one-shot deals. But if you serve people well, you’ll not only have clients for life but they’ll also send all of their friends your way. If you help enough people, Brent, and make that your first order of business, you’ll never have to worry about money. That’s a different attitude, isn’t it? But I’ve got news for you - it works!

• Dave