I agree. Sales is often domain-specific, and this becomes truer the longer you spend in any given domain. And sometimes a long list of great contacts is more of

I agree. Sales is often domain-specific, and this becomes truer the longer you spend in any given domain. And sometimes a long list of great contacts is more of a liability than a benefit. You need someone who can call up anybody you need them to -- not just someone who's going to hit up his list every time. The people on the list might not even be the customers you want or need. Hell, who you need may change in two months. In general, a static and inflexible asset in a variable environment is a bad thing. [Side note: there are such things as general "salesmanship" skills, like being personable, charismatic, good at articulating value propositions, good at finding ways to get in front of people, and so forth. But these things need not be conflated with capital-S Sales.]