Appendix A: Five Roles for Successful Sales--A Search for the Indicators of Sales Success

Overview

AchieveGlobal conducted a series of research projects from 2000–2003 to identify what salespeople actually do and say to achieve—or undermine—their success, and the role that selling organizations play in this success or failure. The research included a review of the literature, interviews with decision makers, and the collection and analysis of more than 2,000 incidents of actual sales behaviors, both good and bad.

From this research, AchieveGlobal analyzed the work of selling—the daily observable behaviors of salespeople—and broke it down into five major roles. These roles represent the core activities of the selling process that top-performing salespeople devote the bulk of their time to and include the following:

1. Long-Term Ally

2. Business Consultant

3. Strategic Orchestrator

4. Consistent Cultivator

5. Focused Optimist