Are you, by nature, a curious person? Sales trainer Bill Caskey posed that question in a recent blog post, going on to say that, “Having worked with thousands of sales people - and hundreds of managers - I honestly believe it is a pre-requisite to income success to be curious.”

Answer these self-reflection questions from Caskey to determine your curiosity level, then read on to find out why curiosity is so important for a successful salesperson.

--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,” says Caskey. “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 get 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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