{"id":1344,"date":"2007-12-18T11:39:06","date_gmt":"2007-12-18T17:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/12\/what-all-top-salespeople-possess\/"},"modified":"2007-12-18T11:36:02","modified_gmt":"2007-12-18T17:36:02","slug":"what-all-top-salespeople-possess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/12\/what-all-top-salespeople-possess\/","title":{"rendered":"What All Top Salespeople Possess"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The ability to ask the right question.\u00a0 From <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/colleenfrancis.blogspot.com\/2007\/12\/quick-fix-4-turn-self-centered.html\">Colleen Francis&#8217; blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Over 20 years ago, Neil Rackham concluded a 12- year study analyzing some 35,000 sales calls conducted by 22 companies in 23 countries. The objective of the study was to determine the precise behaviors of successful sales people.<\/p>\n<p>What did he find? That mediocre sales people make statements. The best ask questions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That is absolutely true and we see it in spades on a daily basis.\u00a0 Have you ever noticed how people assume someone who is talkative is often told they should go into sales?\u00a0 I think this conventional wisdom is the reason why there are so many overbearing salespeople in the world.\u00a0 Successful selling involves many aspects, but the ability to ask the right question, shut up and listen is foremost among them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ability to ask the right question.\u00a0 From Colleen Francis&#8217; blog: Over 20 years ago, Neil Rackham concluded a 12- year study analyzing some 35,000 sales calls conducted by 22 companies in 23 countries. The objective of the study was to determine the precise behaviors of successful sales people. What did he find? That mediocre sales people make statements. The best ask questions. That is absolutely true and we see it in spades on a daily basis.\u00a0 Have you ever noticed how people assume someone who is talkative is often told they should go into sales?\u00a0 I think this conventional wisdom is the reason why there are so many overbearing&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/12\/what-all-top-salespeople-possess\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,9],"tags":[150,151,149,142],"class_list":["post-1344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-sales-techniques","tag-listening","tag-questioning","tag-sales-question","tag-sales-technique"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-lG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3203,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2016\/07\/reading-microexpressions-a-key-to-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":0},"title":"Reading Microexpressions A Key To Sales?","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In a word...yes. We spend a fair amount of time working with salespeople to access their empathy and read the prospect in a qualifying situation. \u00a0This ability is one of the keys to all successful selling. This article from Harvard Business Review provides a thorough breakdown of this topic. \u00a0A\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/microexpression-collage-2-1200x675.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/microexpression-collage-2-1200x675.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/microexpression-collage-2-1200x675.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/microexpression-collage-2-1200x675.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/microexpression-collage-2-1200x675.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3211,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2017\/03\/oddities-that-make-strong-salespeople-noncompliance\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":1},"title":"Oddities That Make Strong Salespeople-Noncompliance","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been assessing salespeople since 2001 which, as you can imagine, has provided some unique experiences.\u00a0 These experiences have revealed some odd factors that seem to be supportive of sales success. The oddity is that there seems to be a yin and a yang to abilities\u2026a give and a take.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Carnival.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Carnival.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Carnival.png?fit=560%2C315&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1840,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/01\/salespeople-with-emotional-needs\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":2},"title":"Salespeople With Emotional Needs","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the reasons we are so adamant about assessing sales candidates is to know what motivates and rewards the person.\u00a0 Once identified, these factors can be explored during a face-to-face interview.\u00a0 There is one reward that requires an in-depth discussion with any sales candidate who possesses it - Status\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":995,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/06\/the-sales-mindset\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":3},"title":"The Sales Mindset","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"June 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Yogi Berra once said, \"Slump? I ain't in no slump... I just ain't hitting.\" Sales slumps are a fact of sales management life. I personally think most sales slumps occur because salespeople get complacent and out of the good behaviors that lead to closed deals. As a sales manager, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/windowslivewriterthesalesmindset-5ddchome-plate.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2128,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/10\/this-is-85-of-sales-success\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":4},"title":"This Is 85% Of Sales Success","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"October 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From an article in our local StarTribune.com (bold mine): A Carnegie Foundation study once found that only 15 percent of a businessperson's success could be attributed to job knowledge and technical skills -- considered an essential element but overall, a small contribution. A whopping 85 percent could be determined by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2196,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/12\/salespeople-born-or-made\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":5},"title":"Salespeople &#8211; Born Or Made?","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"December 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The nature vs. nurture debate is one for which I am most intrigued.\u00a0 My Bachelor\u2019s degree is in psychology and this topic was a popular debate topic in my courses.\u00a0 Yesterday I came across this article from CNNMoney.com - Are entrepreneurs born or made?\u00a0 As I look at the stats,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Aptitudes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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