Are you your own worst enemy in selling? Does it sometimes seem like you almost try to fail on purpose? Are you forever shooting yourself in the foot, when instead you should be making the sale?
   Wait a minute. There might be a pattern here. Maybe you're engaging in self-sabotage. That's right. Like you have a self-destructive streak. Or a sales death-wish. Or you like to terminally tease yourself by almost closing the sale, but you walk away at the last minute.
   What are you doing to yourself?
   This sales behavior is like packing your parachute with old bed linen. You jump out of the plane, pull the rip cord and nothing happens. That ground comes up awful fast. So it goes in selling. All that time spent on a customer and you end up with nothing. Zip. Bupkus. Nada. Cut! Let's change that bad sales acting scene.
   If you understand some of the reasons salespeople blow a sale, you can be on guard for those unfortunate maladies in your own selling and quickly take appropriate, sale-saving steps. Here are seven ways that people get in their own way when they sell. Which of these do you fall victim to?

Seven Ways Salespeople Sabotage Their Success-
And How To Stop Those Failures

• They Make Mental Errors.
  Don't make basic errors like calling your customer by the wrong name, getting their job title wrong and other items that are simple to get right. Top sales performers take time to get details correct and prevent unnecessary problems.
• They Create Mental Obstacles.
  You have to believe you can make the sale or why bother making the call? Are you just looking for practice? Don't talk yourself out of the sale before you begin. Clear your mind and visualize success.
• They Maintain A Rigid Mindset.
  Your customer is a moving target. You need to move with them. Stay nimble and read your customer, their wants and needs, their emotions, and be prepared to shift gears instantly. Consider it a point of personal pride to be flexible and adaptable.
• They Let Fear Take Over.
  Is fear adrenaline or is adrenaline fear? Call excitement what you want, but use it to perform better. In anything exciting, fear is always present. Feel the fear. Dive into it. Love it. Use it for energy and focus and close the sale.
• They Focus on Not Losing Instead Of On Winning.
  No one plays a game to lose, but many people play a game not to lose. There's a vast difference. You're in sales to get results, not to look good, to get close to victory, or to play a good game. Keep your eye on the win and go straight for it.
• They Get Tentative And Lose Confidence.
  Know when you have momentum with your customer and use that to close the sale. Take your time until everything seems right and then go for it. Victory favors the bold. Be assertive and close repeatedly until it happens.
• They Fail To Ask For The Business.
  Don't keep talking beyond the point where your customer is ready to buy. Read your customer and know when they are sending "buy signals". Then ask for the sale right there. The contract won't get signed by magic. You have to make it happen.

   Stop sabotaging your sales efforts today. Take a hard look at how you hold yourself back. Start believing you deserve success. Take charge of your selling and soon you'll be playing a championship sales game.