I am a professional sales person. I study the art of selling each day. I work to improve and to get better. And each day I speak to people whose actions are driven by a low opinion of salespeople and the sales process. I know this and have know this for a while. Yet I work hard to bring value to my prospects by listening and understanding their business and their needs. 

At trade shows I watch the booth people interact with visitors:

"Hi, thanks for dropping in and our company has been in business 50 years and our ABC SuperWidget has more bells and whistles than the USC marching band. Just take a look at this."

The hapless booth visitor ducks like shots are in the air. And the shots all miss because the sales person fires product features or bullets not at a target. This type of sales approach evolves for several reasons. Number one, the thought that sales is  not an art and is not treated with the training and focus needed. And I also believe the high turnover of sales people prevents the seasoning needed.

The Doctor analogy, might be overused, but works. I visit my internist for my annual check up. The Dr., owning years of care giving experience, does not tell me about the last 5 patients, does not tell me about the latest technology stethoscope hangin from his neck. He starts like this: 

"So how is it going?" An interaction, Dr and patient, rolls through a dialog that uncovers pains or lack thereof. This is how the professional sells.