When Curiosity Doesn’t “Kill the Cat”

In a recent New York Times interview, Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture was asked what she looked for in a new hire.  I thought the two traits she named are also a part of what makes successful salespeople and presenters effective. They were curiosity and leadership. How does that apply to selling and presenting?
Curiosity Makes the Cat Smarter
Sweet wants her new hires to be continuous learners, to be eternally curious.  We have all heard the expression “curiosity killed the cat.”  Not so in sales.  When a client describes a situation, poor salespeople, alert to listening for a need or a buzz word (cost, time lost, slow turnaround, poor interface, etc.), tend to quickly jump into solution presentation mode.  Then, they are surprised when the client doesn’t buy or, worse, buys from the competition. It is invariably because, based on limited situational knowledge, the salesperson committed presentation suicide: presenting to only