Although the vast majority of salespeople describe themselves as optimists, a survey shows that nearly two-thirds of high-performing sales professionals exhibit pessimistic personality tendencies, Steve W. Martin of the University of Southern California writes.

Inward pessimism may drive these high performers to question the viability of the deal and the buyer’s credibility, pushing them to ask tougher qualifying questions and seek meetings with senior-level decision-makers who ultimately decide which vendor will be selected.

(Source: HBR.org)

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, April 20th , 2015

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