It's a choice.  It's always a choice.

Developing elite (top 5%) listening and questioning skills requires a tremendous amount of preparation. 

Athletes work behind the scenes every day. You may only see them on the field during games, but for every three hours they spend on the field, they invest six hours in the weight room, with trainers, developing their skills, participating in drills, studying video and practicing.  Those activities contributed to how they became elite and today they influence how these athletes remain elite.  Those practices aren't limited to athletes.

Take any high-paid, high-profile profession and you'll witness the same practices.  Talk-show host.  Variety Show host.  Actor. News Anchor. National Politician. Speaker. Musician.  Band.  Dancer.  Comedian. Sales Development Expert! The stuff doesn't just happen! It requires preparation and Practice.

Most of the salespeople I've met at most of the companies I've helped didn't practice at all!  No studying, no training, no practice.  They didn't work on their presentations, listening and questioning or tonality.  They didn't watch themselves in the mirror, record conversations, video tape their presentations or role play with others.  Yet day after day, they would go on calls and expect different results without preparing differently.

It's a choice.  It's always a choice.  You can wait for salespeople to figure it out (it's a long wait), you can figure it out for them (beats the alternative) or you can hire these people at the outset (you must know how to find, attract, identify, hire, on board and retain them). A note of warning though...if your culture isn't ready to support elite salespeople (you must have elite sales management and products) they won't stick around even if you can convince them to work for you. by Dave Kurlan