The Consumerist somehow came into possession of a Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) employee training manual that seems to spell out customer stereotypes -- from early adopter males to empty-nester couples. Why would the consumer electronics retailer need such a document to train its floor associates? So that the company could outwit "demon" customers and focus on "angel customers."

Those terms was coined by consultant and customer guru Larry Selden based on his recommendations to the retailer in 2004. Demons were customers who constantly bargain hunted and returned products at a high rate and angels were profitable customers who paid higher prices and bought extended warranties with many purchases. In other words, some customers are great and some are horrible. Selden's advice: focus on the customer, forget the actual product.

Now, Best Buy's focus on the customer apparently includes training associated on "personas" that Best Buy employees use to sell the most profitable products to the the correct "type" of customer. In the training manual, young urban males are termed "Buzz" while upper middle class women are termed as "Jill."

Once a blue-shirted salesperson identifies what type of customer they are dealing with, they can customize their sales approach to get the most profitable product sold. Although this stereotype way of selling may bother some, this is the future of retail. Each customer needs a specific sales approach and a customized experience. In the process, the retailer needs to move inventory and hopefully the most profitable kind at the same time. Looks like Best Buy may be leading the way.

With Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) flailing in the wind for the last two quarters, the company's shares are sitting in prime takeover territory. Best Buy, Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is not letting up on its death grip yet, and continues to out-sell and out-perform rival Circuit City at every turn. As I mused a few weeks ago, CEO Phil Schoonover may as well put his resume up for a peek. Well, if anyone wants to look at hiring him, anyway.

But, downtrodden times usually bring out the shorters, and of course this is the case with those shorting Circuit City shares right now. Shares in the consumer electronics retailer are already sitting in cherry-picking territory, closing yesterday at under $10 each. Do they have room to go even lower? Based on recent results and the guidance being given for a possibly poor-performing holiday retail season, Circuit City shares may head south even further.

Is it time to get in now? Only if you're into shorting -- or believing that a private equity buyout may soon happen to the retailer (a rumor for quarters now). Shares are sitting at a four-year low as of this week, and the opportunity vultures may be swooping in for several reasons. It's an opportunity with risk, but isn't everything? Almost 33 million shares were held short in September of this year, which comprises 19% of outstanding public shares. What does that tell you? To me, everything.

I encountered a fascinating article at Forbes.com. Writer Tara Weiss brings to light the fact that when accepting a new job, recruits should realize that they have a right and even a responsibility to take some initiative in negotiating their pay package. Think of it this way: After all the long hours of processing applications, reviewing resumes, and conducting interviews, if you are the individual who receives the offer for employment, that indicates you have a lot going for you. Don't be undersold. It's not an issue of pride. It's responsible economics plain and simple.

With the hope that you'll read Ms. Weiss's article, I'll take the proposition one step further. I submit to you that once you have become established in a job, don't let a job classification or title restrict you from asking for more. If you're not bound by the terms of a labor agreement through a union or other labor contract, then the sky's the limit, and I'm saying that you should go for it. Every employment situation offers opportunities for advancement and for income increase also. If you don't believe me, let me prove it to you.

The company I work for is historically tight-fisted when it comes to employee compensation. It's not that we don't generate enough profit to justify pay raises, but as a subsidiary of a larger entity that provides the lion's share of our workload, accounting is "manipulated" to push the profit up to the parent company. This is simple to prove when given the fact that, in a responsible business sense, any company that shows the minimal profit we do would be immediately shut down and those capital assets would be put to work elsewhere. This makes it tough for a guy like me to get ahead. I, however, applied a strategy that has performed for me all of my working years, and which is encompassed in the following ideal:

I don't work for my employer, I work for me. It's all about my own bottom line.