I used to watch this detective TV show, Columbo many years ago. It was a crime fiction TV series, starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective who uncovered many cases. 
My favorite part of this show was watching Columbo in action – his comical style seemed to disarm people, his questions were unobtrusive and his style was non traditional. He would walk around smoking his cigar as he probed to better understand the case, he was unpreditable, clumsy and yet he would get what he was looking for. In the end, the case is solved, the perpetrator exposed and Columbo walks away a winner.
When it comes to information gathering, uncovering needs and solving complex cases- Inside salespeople are in the driver’s seat. Their role is part detective, hunter, psychologist, advisor, consultant, and educator. Like Columbo, they cannot be blatently obvious about any of these because they will get immediately shut down. The bummer about being shut down is you have a lot riding against you trying to get back in.
I believe the smartest salespeople have a strong understanding of the human character. They have a strategy and know how to get people to tell them what they want to hear. They know exactly how far they should push and know how to stay many steps ahead. This takes careful planning and thinking and most important of all- LISTENING.
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