Charaterstics of a good sales guy

I have seen a lot of people talk to stereotype sales guys. A few of times I correct, a few times I ignore and a few times I provoke the debate, what are the characteristics of a sales guy. So I list them here:
1. Patient ( and not pushy as most people perceive)
2. No attention to detail.... Seriously NO. He should be able to see the big picture, forget the tactical ones, the operation teams can ponder on those.
3. Empathy, No sales guy has ever able to sell anything without empathizing with the client. So unlike the perception that sales guys are insensitive, sales guys are empathetic.
4. Truth nothing but truth. A very common misconception is a sales guy lies.. and lies glibly and blissfully. Though I do not blame the perception as some sales guy do resort to selling by hiding truth or lying about them. But the fact is most of this lot are not born sales guys. And not successful sales person. They are existing on a temporary basis, but can never make it in long run. Customers are not ignorant. They will at some point come to know the truth. When they do, it hurts them so badly that not only your reputation but also your company's is at stake.
5. Ignorant and dumb. Salesmen can never be ignorant and dumb. They need to understand the product what they sell. They need to understand why they are selling, what purpose it solves/addresses for its buyers. Only successful sales folk are the ones who know the product/service/solution at hand thoroughly.
6. Lazy. If there is anything someone successful in career has done, it is hard-work. All that pays in end is hard-work. Do not go by the time they hang around in office. Or the time to work on a deck/ppt. The picture perfect deck, the dug-out contacts requires more than just an 8 hour job.
7. Less of Directionless. If anything the process of selling is anything but direction less. There are a lot of things a sales person need to worry about with complete focus.
8. Discipline masked with Glamour, Drink, Dine: That's what it might appear at top. But it requires a lot of discipline to network right, dig out well and wind up cheerful. Though the glamor, drink and dine might be enticing for an observer, but for the right incumbent he knows the responsibilities right.
9. Differentiate between aggressiveness and assertiveness. A sales guy need not be aggressive, but he need to be assertive. He need to know not only where not to bend but also how to pass on the message without offending that things cannot be made to happen as needed.
10. Read to practice: Without evolving market dynamics , a sales person has to be on his toes. He need to know the next wave and also be prepared for it. To ensure this, he need to read a lot and at the same time practice all that is read.

Who obstructs your sales?

So you are again short of your targets. What went wrong? You were able to achieve it in yester-quarters then what happened this quarter? Where is the problem? It is the same you... so no change can occur in sales pitch. It is the same process so no deviations allowed. Who is the stumbling block? The first peeve is the market. Markets do not take excuses, markets are demanding and markets are forgetful. But that's not the complete picture about markets... MARKETS ARE FAIR. Markets follow the theory of natural selection, picking the best. So who let you down? Its your delivery team ... the flip side of your selling team. They are the ones who did not deliver in time or deliver the best quality or not let you keep up your (company's) reputation in the market.They are not in the same league as you are. They do not have KRAs or Targets as you do. They are not motivated with success of the deal. They are not concerned about the business side, as long as they get challenging work to do. So how to mitigate them? Lets talk about it in next post.