One Key to Sales Success

At the radio stations I work for, we have added 4 new advertising salespeople to our staff in the past 13 months.

The one that is the most successful has also been the one who asked the most questions.

He will make it. The other three? Time will tell.

This is from SalesDog.com:

The High Cost of Low Curiosity
by Bill Caskey

Are you, by nature, a curious person? Having worked with thousands of salespeople and hundreds of managers, I honestly believe it is a prerequisite to income success to be curious.

When someone says to you that they have mastered something, or they are experiencing success in a field that you, too, would like to have success, do you sit them down and pepper them (nicely) with questions?

When you've learned that someone has figured out a way to get to the CEO, do you stop them in their tracks and invite them to dinner?

When you're at a sales meeting, and you learn one of your associates has figured out how to find the pain of the customer better, do you handcuff them until they tell you exactly how they did it?

You probably don't. And I'm not sure why that is. Is it because we'll feel stupid? Is it because we wouldn't want to puff up the other person? Is it because we'd rather do it the hard way, learning it on our own, rather than the easy way, learning from someone who's done it? Is there some kind of guilt that kicks in when we take the shortcut?

So, the next time you hear of someone who has been successful at something, call them up, congratulate them, and invite them to tell you exactly how they did it. It will make you rich.

Bill Caskey is a sales development leader and experimenter. His ideas about selling are convictions about life, money, and meaning. He has coached sales professionals and executives for over 19 years. To learn more, visit his website www.CaskeyTraining.com.

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