First Person Want to know what customers want? Try asking them.

Would you like to know how to be a successful salesperson?Simply ask a customer--but not just any customer. Ask a customerwho is accustomed to dealing with the cream of the sales crop. Overthe years, I've conducted thousands of hours of interviews withmy customers' customers, specifically those who have been soldto by the best sales reps in their industry. In other words, eachof these customers has exceedingly high standards.

Here are the five things customers expect from successfulsalespeople:

1. Listen and learn. Customers want salespeople whosemain goal is to understand them and their businesses. They wantreps who spend time in precall planning and have the basicinformation in hand before they start talking, reps who understandthe potential customers' total environment, overall industryand primary competitors. They want to know the rep is interested intheir goals and objectives. (A good sales rep might even help thecustomer define those goals.)