Sales people talk too much. Watch an untrained sales person work and the prospect never gets a word in edgewise.

If all products were one-size-fits-all, the motor-mouth approach might work. But most accounts are custom jobs--especially when they involve technology solutions or financial and consulting gigs.

That's why the best sales people are disciplined listeners. They know how to ask open-ended questions. Then they shut up.

The best open-ended questions encourage prospects to lay out their problems, hopes and fears. They do the talking, not you. They're on the couch and you're the shrink. (Shrinks have it easier--they get paid no matter what. Sales people actually have to offer a compelling solution or else they don't get the business.) If you don't know what's truly eating customers, you have no idea how to help them. You might make a sale, but if the customer isn't satisfied, that sale will come back to haunt you.