I've been at a few big companies now and I have to agree that sales people have certain personality traits. But it might not be because sales attracts the usual stereotypes. I think it's that effective salespeople are able to better relate to upper management. At big companies, it's often someone with a stint (usually their first job) in sales who moves into the CEO (and beforehand the COO position).
If you want to be a successful salesman, you need to sell to salespeople. Most companies are driven by sales. When they want to drive more sales, the answer is to hire more salesmen. Every year, even in bad years, the sales organization will have money to spend on new initiatives. This means the VPs and SVPs of Sales have the power of the purse.
When sales guys want to sell a back end solution, it is easier to sell to not the CIO but the COO or SVP of Sales. Show them how it can return ROI by improving customer satisfaction or highlight the weak points in their sales figures. Thusly the salespeople that end up doing well are the ones that can better relate to the sales types who are now in management.
Edit: Now that I think about it, this can probably also be applied to other types that have to interact with upper management like investment bankers. But that is a whole other rant.
If you want to be a successful salesman, you need to sell to salespeople. Most companies are driven by sales. When they want to drive more sales, the answer is to hire more salesmen. Every year, even in bad years, the sales organization will have money to spend on new initiatives. This means the VPs and SVPs of Sales have the power of the purse.
When sales guys want to sell a back end solution, it is easier to sell to not the CIO but the COO or SVP of Sales. Show them how it can return ROI by improving customer satisfaction or highlight the weak points in their sales figures. Thusly the salespeople that end up doing well are the ones that can better relate to the sales types who are now in management.
Edit: Now that I think about it, this can probably also be applied to other types that have to interact with upper management like investment bankers. But that is a whole other rant.