Sales has less to do with competency and more with mood...

[Jeremy]

Make a happy prospect and they'll make themselves into customers...


http://worldobserveronline.com/2012/12/12/how-to-be-genius-this-is-apples-secret-employee-training-manual/

 

[SamIam]

True need and being able to trust who your working with. If trust is a good feeling or a vibe I'll buy that.

 

[Shane Deubell]

That is a pretty awesome article!

But i would say reading people and not only your words but body language, smell, appearance are all a big part of competency in sales.
Was always told to look at a salesperson's shoes to get an idea of how detailed they are.

Stimulate-Response-Stimulate

 

[billyeadon]

I agree this is a most interesting article. If you want to do well in sales you need to understand people's motivations. I have mentioned it before but I can't recommend enough the new Dan Pink book To Sell is Human which includes a section on body language and mirroring.

And as Apple preaches empathy is key.