1. Ignore questions.
2. Sidestep questions.
3. Downplay problems.
4. Exaggerate benefits.
5. Speak in meaningless generalities.
6. Speak in excruciating detail.
7. Make fewer than 10 new calls a week.
8. Make so many new calls you can’t follow-up properly.
9. Make assumptions about client needs instead of asking.
10. Launch into a sales monologue.
11. Don’t listen.
12. Don’t ask questions.
13. Ask questions and don’t listen to answers.
14. Fail to return phone calls.
15. Fail to ask for the order.
16. Trash talk the competition.
17. Trash talk your company.
18. Misspell the client’s name.
19. Misspell the company’s name.
20. Divulge client secrets.
21. E-mail a proposal instead of delivering it face-to-face.
22. Have your assistant do your dirty work.
23. Bluff.
24. Lie.
25. Slander.
26. Pander.
27. Curse.
28. Over rehearse.
29. Wing it.
30. Be vague about terms of sale.
31. Be more worried about assigning blame than solving the problem.
32. Avoid eye contact.
33. Take a cell phone call during a sales meeting.
34. Be vague about price.
35. Cut your own price.
36. Cut your price without getting something in return.
37. Don’t follow up within 2 days of an initial call.
38. Take shortcuts.
39. Write ungrammatical letters and e-mails.
40. Know nothing about your products and services.
41. Know nothing about your industry.
42. Over promise and under deliver.
43. Keep notes in your head.
44. Fail to confront problems, hoping they will go away.
45. Know only one person at your account.
46. Know little or nothing about your client’s business.
47. Tell the client why his business benefits you.
48. Tell the client why his business benefits your company.
49. Pontificate.
50 Obfuscate.
51. Vacillate.
52. Put your customer on a pedestal.
53. Look down on your customer.
54. Never remind your customer why he buys from you.
55. Never thank your customer for his ongoing business.

Word Sell … Scrambled Toast