2. Failure to Practice - Even midget football players practice. High school players practice, too. But when they get out of school and become PROFESSIONAL SALESPEOPLE, they often stop practicing. Salespeople must be willing to practice their craft if they expect to grow as professionals.

3. Failure to Identify the "Real Reason" Customers Don't Buy - Most reasons customers give for not buying are nothing more than excuses. If salespeople don't learn the techniques to identify the "real reason" customers don't buy, they'll forever be chasing their tail.

4. Talking Too Much - "Telling is not selling!" Salespeople who do too much of the talking during sales calls are learning nothing. They're only dispensing information.

5. Failure to Ask Enough Open-Ended Questions - If salespeople will ask customers and prospects enough well-designed, open-ended questions, they'll tell them everything you need to know to sell them.

6. "Me Too" Selling - Me too selling is saying virtually the same things as competitors say. Example: "We have great quality, great service, and competitive prices." Have you ever heard a salesperson say that he/she has lousy service? Of course not. Put numbers to your service claims. Make sure what you say is unique.

7. Failure to Perform a Thorough Needs Analysis - Salespeople who offer a prescription without proper diagnosis are guilty of malpractice. Find out what customers most pressing problems are and you will soon be in a position to "earn" the right to a piece of the customers' business.

8. Too Little Personal Development - We call this "sharpening your ax." Salespeople must continuously work on themselves; that is, improve their knowledge, skills and techniques. In other words, work on themselves harder than they work on their jobs. Ask yourself, what have I done over the past 12 months to enhance my own personal development.

9. Failure to Qualify and Focus - Some prospects shouldn't be prospects at all. Many salespeople try too many prospects. To achieve the best results, all prospects should be qualified; that is, meet certain predetermined criteria. Then focus on those qualified prospects and work them until they buy or die. Prospects simply can't say no to a persistent salesperson who is going over and above the call of duty to help them be more successful.

10. Stuck in the Comfort Zone of an Existing Customer Rut - Customers die. Customers move away. Credit managers are forever suspending customers' credit previledges. Customers go bankrupt. And sometimes the competition takes them away. Salespeople who don't take the time to prospect aren't in control of their destiny. New business is the life blood of any company.

11. Waiting for Someone Else to Take the Lead - Don't wait for the company to buy you a book or audio-cassette training album. Don't wait for your boss to send you to a seminar. Take the initiative yourself. It's your life. It's your livelihood. Take charge of it.