Best software salesman I ever met was the best because he knew how to fucking listen. He worked for an electrical engineering software company. First time I ever met the guy, he flies into town to meet with my employer, his client, for the first time after taking over the account. I called him up and asked if I could buy him dinner the night before the big meeting, basically to warn him that they’re on the verge of getting fired.

Dude walks into the meeting the next day with nothing but a pen and a legal pad, introduces himself, and says something like, “I’m not happy because I’ve heard you all are not happy. I’m going to do whatever I can to fix that so I want you to tell me every single problem you’re having no matter how small you think it is.” And they let him have it for a good two hours. He took it like a champ, listened to and documented every single complaint, and made an actual effort to get fixes for the things we were upset about. He saved a $2 million a year account just by listening and making an effortto help keep the customer happy.

I guess the moral of the story is, good salespeople don’t sell products. They solve problems.