In the past, gift-of-the-gab and product knowledge were paramount.

Gift-of-the-gab equates to the SEO of today in terms of getting people to your site, and

Product knowledge is still the same and yours will be displayed as reviews and the like on your website.

The best sales people ever, are those people who believe in their product and don't have any hesitation in recommending it to others.

We must never forget the skills of old, we can always learn from them.

The most important skill that carries over then until now is Persistence.
The "Never take No for an answer" and "I can sell anything to anybody" was the attitude that killed Willie Loman.
Sales is a creative Art form. When done correctly it goes unnoticed, when done poorly it's a Sham Wow commercial.

The genius is in finding the right product. Give the people what they want, before they know they want it. Henry Ford said, "If I gave the people what they wanted I would have sold them a faster horse".

Brian Tracy says, "A product only has to be 10% better than what exists now to make a fortune... any more than 10% is probably too advanced".

Internet marketing takes away the face to face personal rejection. Nobody likes to hear "No" a hundred times a day. For me "No" is not an answer, it's just the start of an interesting conversation. ;^)

Intriguing question. Selling is still happening today. I think the Internet is a new channel that wasn't around a while ago. It has simply introduced new consumer behavior that did not use to exist.
We certainly can facilitate a transactional process by providing information that can positively influence a consumer to "tip" to the point of making a purchase (through a positive product review).

I think when you consider the fact that the way that a website is monetized is through commissions on product sales or ad revenues pushing a particular product; coupled with the fact that we do join affiliate marketing programs, it hard not to argue that we are somehow in the sales and marketing business,

Some excellent answers! And they all seem to weave together! A person of integrity who knows their product and knows their customer, and understands how their product fulfills a genuine need or desire for their customer. Who is in touch as a person with the humanity of their customer and doesn't just see them as a dollar sign. Who understands that they will not always make the sale and will not be defeated by the challenges. This will be not only a successful salesperson but a fulfilled salesperson!

Sales is just a numbers game. For everyone that says no, you're one step closer to a yes. Don't take the no personally. They may not mean no, they may just be saying not now. Don't try to scam your client, sell quality, believe in your product.......all relevant today. ~Debbi

My Grandfather was a salesmen and made a decent living out of it. I had to do some research, Questioned my dad,mom and grandmother and they all basically said the same thing. Sales people today have no idea what their selling. They read from a pre written script and sound like robots. Now back in the day a sales person would know exactly what they are selling without having to look at a script. Which in turn made the customer feel more comfortable buying from them. It makes people trust them, and with trust comes customers. Just my 2 cents:)

Many things remain the same .... honesty, fair dealings, great customer service, prompt response ... to name a few. M

Door to Door sales marketing, I remember so long ago that this was one of the best ways to sell products and services. Also the best way to get your exercise. You couldn't Target your market, the best you could do is knock on the doors of the rich and pray for a sale. To make the best sales, you had to be very good and precise at being a Salesman.

A salesman had to be able to speak effectively, without being shy about approaching a stranger. A salesman had to be skilled in picking out details of the person they were speaking with, and be able to talk to that person based on their personality.

Modern marketing is pretty much the lazy way to make money :) You can sit at home, build websites, target your market with a few keywords, and create content. You don't even have to be a great salesman in order to make an income.

What works for me is "Know what you sell and sell what you know". Hasn't worked here yet, I'm not that far along, but it will probably translate well in posts and pages. Good Luck

My Da was one of the best salesmen in the country in his day. He sold portion-control meats and seafood to high-end restaurants. He always told me the secret was just to never give up, to stick with it. His fave saying (and I'll clean it up a wee bit) was, "Ya throw enough stuff up against the wall, some of it's bound to stick." He always told me it takes contacting someone nine times before they consider making a purchase. If he was still on this earth with us, I'm sure I could get tons more great tips from him.