This article picks this up nicely, which is the ability to communicate.

What do I mean by that? - The ability to listen, the ability to ask questions and the ability to communicate through the written word.

We all have to write.  We write emails to our colleagues.  Often these are "action oriented" which is where we want to get our colleagues do do things.  Get our colleagues to attend a meeting with us.  We learn how to write to get things done.

We also write materials with client.  It could be that we are writing following a meeting.  Often this requires us to ask the client to do things.  Again this is action orientated.

We may have to respond to tenders, request for proposals (RFPs) and proposals.  Writing documents isn't about selling, it's about being factual but presenting your products and services in the best light.  As sales people we should be writing the management summary, which will describe the business issues and how we solve them.  There is often a business case we need to write.

Again, we have to understand the clients business issues and be able to write in a professional (non salesy way) on how we can help them and solve those issues.  This will mean you will understand the markets they work in, the business issues of the verticals they work in.  We all want to show that we (and our products and services) are relevant.

So what do High Performing Sales Reps Have That Average Sales Reps Don't?

They blog.  And they blog on LinkedIn.  They build a permanent record on their LinkedIn profile to show that they are "experts".  B2B buyers are looking for sales people that understand their Business issues, they understand their markets and they understand the industry and you as a salesperson can prove this by blogging on LinkedIn.

You are already doing this when you write emails and call reports, it's time to show your clients you are trustworthy and know what you are talking about ... on social.