1. They talk way too much. The days of fast-talking salespeople are long gone. You’ve heard the phrase you have 2 ears and 1 mouth so use them accordingly; well I recommend that you take it a step further. The prospect should be talking 3 times the amount of time you are. Therefore you should spend 75% of your sales call listening!

2. They’re only in it for the commission. All too often salespeople jump right in to the old 'dog and pony show.' They get so excited to present what they can do so they can 'go for the close' that they fail to truly determine if they can help the client …this is what I call having commission breath - and the prospect can smell it!

3. They fail to ask the client about what else they have done to solve the problem: Most salespeople are afraid to ask if the client has looked at any other solutions. They think that the prospect won’t figure out another way to solve the problem. They say' Hey if they don’t bring it up, why ask them?' One big way to establish credibility with a prospect (and for us to learn more about what’s going on) is to ask them what other things they are doing to solve their issues - you’ll be amazed at how much they’ll tell you.

4. They fail to go to the top. Another of those broken records salespeople have playing is that the 'higher-ups' of a company are too important or too busy to bother. But once again, you cannot get back the time lost by dealing with someone who can’t make a decision on your product or service. Even if you gave the greatest presentation in the world, don’t you think it would lose something when the secretary tried to summarize to the CEO?

5. They were taught not to like salespeople. I’m not sure about you, but my I know when I was born that my parents weren’t saying ' I hope that he’s a salesperson when he grows up'. It’s probably safe to say that most of us were not raised by our parents to be salespeople; probably because the majority of the world’s salespeople are no good at it. And unfortunately, these negative thoughts we heard growing up are still with us today.

6. They don’t understand the Universal Laws. There are certain universal laws, such as the law of gravity that just exist. In sales, laws like the law of attraction or the law of cause & effect can have a direct impact to your success. Understanding these laws is necessary to truly be the best salesperson possible.

7. They don’t have a prospecting or networking plan. Salespeople don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan. A good prospecting plan can do many things but most importantly it finds prospects: people who have a need for your product or service. In conjunction with networking skills, an effective prospecting plan makes for a salesperson with lots of selling opportunities.

8. They can’t detach. If you’ve ever dealt with someone like this, you’ll probably never forget it. They are so desperate to get the deal that it may as well be tattooed on their forehead. They are always operating from a position of lack: 'It’s the end of the month and I’m not even close to my quota…do you know anyone I can call?' When you can truly detach and let go, not only will selling become more fun, but you will actually sell more, as well.

9. They don’t have a system. Most salespeople just fly by the seat of their pants. While some can still have moderate success doing it this way, many fail. As with anything in life, the best of the best have a specific system they stick to in order to produce the results they desire.

10. They can’t overcome the FEAR. There is so much to be afraid of as a salesperson isn’t there? Between cold-calling and asking people to buy, and I’m not even going to go into rejection. Well guess what…90% of the things we worry about never happen. Fear is merely an acronym for False Expectations Appearing Real. But without jumping in with both feet we never learn this. Procrastination and hesitation bring only deterioration.

Reprinted with permission of Jay Wallus, StreetSmartTraining.com