Networking and Interacting

I just returned from a national sales meeting and something that jumped out at me regarding the younger breed of sales people was the fact that groups of folks from different divisions and different companies stuck together: ate together, drank together; talked together.
The problem with that is that you never find out what's going on in other parts of the company or the other parts of the world or even another division of the company you work for.
The purpose of a sales meeting to network with other divisions and other geographies.  Knowledge is power and the knowledge you gain from talking to people from other places or other companies or other parts of the same company is invaluable.
And this goes for sales people working within one company--the sales people selling refrigerators need to talk to the tool people or the clothing people in a department store.  
Networking is critical to sales success.  And that means networking within your department, within your company, within your division and within your industry.
Get out from your little circle, meet people in your industry and other industries because you can learn a lot if you do.
Sales can be a lonely job, but by building a network of people who are not your competitors in your market can be very very valuable.  There is more to be learned in the sales job than just your product; you need to see how other people do things and apply them to your area.  Talk to people and ask them what they do and how they do it.  Never stop learning.