Later on in the article the author also says that it's luck.

Of course you need to be better than your colleagues to be the best, but also the environment you're working in should help.

If there is demand for the product you're selling, and you can actually offer them an interesting deal, then you have a lot more chance of succeeding in your elite sales person life.

If there's little demand, and the industry has changed and people are more aware, the same old tactics and products are not gonna work anymore. Because these customers also get called by other new sales people with new exciting products and new ways of persuasion.

It's not just about how you make people feel, it's also about the product, company, and market situation, obviously.

The company the author worked for went bankrupt eventually. So I imagine no sales people were doing great at the end.

So there is no golden rule.