i could name my favorite sales person, but they're not the best. the best salesmen to ever live have mostlly been evil dictators.

think about it: sales is applied persuasion. to become a dictator you must persuade a group of people that you should no longer need to persuade them. if this isn't salesmanship, i don't know what is.

so the problem is, the best sales people can't be the best people.

in modern times i'm a fan of sales people who listen more than they speak, who ask questions instead of state assumptions, who do their homework before the pitch, and who focus on helping vs closing.