Over the course of my career, I’ve learned firsthand that practicing good sales behaviors is essential for success … and that bad sales behaviors can sink an entire sales org.
Developing good sales behaviors yourself and helping your team improve is the hallmark of an effective sales professional. But it’s hard to know how to get better when you don’t know what you’re doing wrong.
That’s why I wrote this article. In this post, I’ll start by walking through five of the most common bad sales behaviors that hold promising salespeople back. Then, I’ll discuss some of my top good sales behaviors to nurture, as well as strategies to monitor and improve sales behaviors on your team.
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Table of Contents
- Bad Sales Behavior to Kill
- Good Sales Behaviors to Practice and Nurture
- How to Monitor and Improve Sales Behaviors in Your Team
Bad Sales Behavior to Kill
1. Getting Stuck in “Reacting” Mode
The number one bad sales behavior that I’ve seen hinder otherwise promising salespeople is getting stuck in “reacting” mode. Too often, sellers wait passively for leads to find them. Rather than proactively reaching out and building relationships with prospects, these reactive salespeople just wait around for a perfectly teed-up opportunity to come their way.
This approach is understandable. After all, it’s a lot less work than actively connecting with potential buyers. However, experts agree that reactive salespeople are likely to be constantly playing catch-up to their proactive competitors.
In his comprehensive book Sales Management. Simplified., Sales Coach Mike Weinberg argues that “probably the most common and damaging driver of salespeople being perceived and treated simply as vendors is being late to a sales opportunity.” Weinberg notes that to be seen as a valuable consultant rather than just someone trying to make a quick buck, it’s essential for salespeople to be proactive, taking the initiative to share insights and earn their seat at the table before the customer is ready to buy.
2. Focusing on the Product
Another common failure mode is an excessive focus on the product. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen well-meaning salespeople put their product front and center in an initial pitch, going on and on about its many features and benefits without even stopping once to check if it’s what the customer really needs.
Again, I can understand how salespeople fall into this trap. If you’re excited about the product you sell and you truly believe in its potential to add value, it’s only natural to get a little carried away when telling a prospect about it.
However, to move from that initial conversation to a closed deal, it’s essential to balance a healthy focus on the product with a focus on the people. As Sales Coach Nick Kane explains, “Unless your product is revolutionary, like the first smartphone, it’s only marginally different from the competition. On its own, there’s not much to distinguish it from the others.”
Kane continues, “That’s why a product-focused strategy is limited. Instead, even the best products need a sales strategy centered around the people who sell.”
If you focus too much on the product, you’re liable to send the message that all you care about is selling. Instead, it’s critical to demonstrate that you’re truly invested in understanding and delivering what the customer actually needs.
3. Forgetting the Basics of Sales Calls
As a sales professional, I believe strongly in the importance of ongoing learning and development. It’s essential to stay up to date with the latest trends, from the impact of AI tools to industry shifts that may be affecting your customers. That being said, it’s also vital to remember the basics.
Specifically, one of the most common bad sales behaviors I’ve witnessed from otherwise high-achieving salespeople is to completely forget the basics of how to conduct an effective sales call. For example, I’ve seen sales reps fail to establish an agenda, jump right to a demo without getting buy-in first from the prospect, and go through an entire call without asking a single question.
Basic errors like these can make it seem like the salesperson is just there to pitch a product, rather than to learn about the customer’s needs and establish a relationship with them, ultimately making them come across as self-interested and untrustworthy.
As Weinberg puts it, “You don’t earn a seat as the expert or consultant at the customer’s table when you’re viewed as a pitchman better suited to doing infomercials than to helping your customer address business challenges.” Forgetting the basics of sales calls is a great way to sink a potential client relationship before it even begins.
4. Ignoring Objections
Many of us like to focus on the positive — but when it comes to sales, ignoring the negative is not a recipe for success. On the contrary, it’s impossible to address prospects’ objections to your offering if you don’t know what they are.
While it may feel a little uncomfortable, asking probing questions to better understand why a customer is hesitant to move forward is a key part of a good sales rep’s job. Indeed, sales coach Jeet Vadher points out that “addressing objections effectively helps build trust, as it shows that you’re listening to their concerns and offering thoughtful, informed solutions.”
Vadher further notes that “when you handle objections with insight and clarity, you reinforce your role as a problem solver, not just a seller.” At the end of the day, Vadher argues that “objection handling is not just about closing the deal. It’s about creating an ongoing relationship with your customer.”
While it may be tempting to bury your head in the sand and refocus the conversation on the positive, being willing to discuss customers’ objections is a necessary step to overcoming them.
If you’re still not sure, just ask yourself: Do you want to know what it will take to get your customer to buy? Or would you rather they just walk away without any explanation? If you ignore the prospect’s objections, you’ll have no way to figure out what it will take to turn their no into a yes.
5. Never Saying No
You may have heard that the customer is always right — but that doesn’t mean the salesperson can never say “no.”
On the contrary, one of the worst sales behaviors I’ve seen is an unwillingness to push back on a customer. While it’s always important to be respectful, it’s also essential for salespeople to know how to refuse an unreasonable request or how to suggest an alternative to an uninformed customer.
In some cases, this may mean turning down a prospect entirely. For example, Entrepreneur and Sales Expert Michelle Weinstein speaks eloquently to the importance of saying no when a customer isn’t a good fit, sharing, “I know that the temptation to accept every client that comes your way is high, especially when you find yourself in a financial pickle. You’ve got bills to pay. Rent is due. And you don’t have another deal in sight. It’s scarcity mentality at its worst, and it can shake you to the core. But believe it or not, if you accept a client out of sheer desperation, you might be setting yourself up for an even bigger disaster than not making rent this month.”
In other cases, a prospect may be a good lead, but it’s still important to set healthy boundaries and learn to say “no” when they ask for a last-minute demo, demand yet another discount, or make other unreasonable requests. As entrepreneur Theresa Delgado explains, “Whether it's declining unrealistic demands, setting boundaries, or redirecting your priorities, knowing how to say no tactfully and professionally is crucial for long-term success.”
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Good Sales Behaviors to Practice and Nurture
So far, we’ve covered what not to do. But what are the good sales behaviors that set top-performing salespeople apart? Below, I’ll go through some of my favorite expert-approved good sales behaviors to practice and nurture.
1. Qualifying Leads
In my experience, one of the most critical behaviors of a successful salesperson is qualifying leads. Rather than simply assuming that anyone who gets on the phone with you is a potential customer, it’s essential to take the time to qualify each prospect you connect with.
Indeed, as Jack Bowerman, senior marketing manager for the prospecting platform Surfe, argues, “Qualifying leads effectively makes sure you’re investing your time in the right prospects — which improves the overall success rate of the deals you close.” In other words, if you don’t qualify your leads effectively, you’re likely to waste a lot of time talking to the wrong people.
2. Building Relationships
Of course, sales isn’t just about determining who is qualified to be a potential customer. Once you’ve qualified a lead, it’s essential to start cultivating a relationship with them.
Building relationships starts with building rapport. That means demonstrating curiosity about the person you’re talking to, asking questions, and making the effort to learn more about them and their challenges. Aja Frost, HubSpot’s director of global growth, notes that “to build rapport, sales reps typically practice active listening to successfully uncover prospects’ needs and form a relationship.”
In addition to active listening, sales reps can build strong relationships by following best practices such as fostering trust by mirroring the prospect’s body language and speech patterns, demonstrating empathy by sharing common experiences, and emphasizing their dedication and expertise by researching the lead and their industry in advance.
3. Demonstrating Value
In his comprehensive overview of the concept of value selling, Founder and CEO of the Harris Consulting Group Richard Harris takes the controversial stance that “sales hasn’t changed since the days of merchants trading their wares in Mesopotamia.”
How can that be? Harris clarifies, “Sure, we may have more (powerful) sales tools and new methodologies. We’re even starting to harness AI to predict buyer behavior and respond to it more quickly. But, strip away all the nuanced strategy and tech, and sales remains simple: Identify a need and show how your product or solution meets that need while delivering positive economic impact.”
At its core, selling is all about demonstrating value. Whether you’re selling a product or a service, a B2B offering or mass market B2C merchandise, I’ve learned that making a sale always boils down to demonstrating the value you can add to your customer.
To do so, Harris recommends doing your research before every call to ensure you’re prepared to ask probing questions. Then, during the conversation, he suggests prioritizing active listening and empathy, to help you understand the problems the prospect is facing. And finally, Harris reminds us to “avoid the hard sell:” Rather than desperately trying to close the deal at all costs, great salespeople work together with their prospects to identify the best way to add value.
4. Serving Customers
Hand in hand with demonstrating value is serving the customer. In my experience, great salespeople know that selling isn’t just about closing deals — it’s about truly prioritizing the needs of the customer throughout their customer journey.
As Sales Expert Amy Bradley explains, “Sales success hinges on more than just transactions. It’s about creating lasting connections with your customers.”
To create those lasting connections, Bradley recommends several strategies, including establishing your expertise and credibility, following up consistently, and customizing your communications for each prospect. By serving the customer in these ways, salespeople can build relationships that are genuine, sustainable, and truly mutually beneficial.
5. Leveraging AI
Finally, in recent years, I’ve seen AI transform from just another hype cycle to an incredibly impactful sales tool. That’s why no list of good sales behaviors would be complete without including leveraging AI and automation.
This can take many forms. From a tool that helps automate prospecting to AI-generated call scripts and emails, there are countless ways in which today’s top salespeople have begun to use AI to save themselves time and boost productivity.
In fact, according to HubSpot’s latest State of AI report, nearly half of sales professionals currently use some form of AI at work, and more than three out of four believe that by 2030, most people will use AI or automation to assist them in their jobs.
As such, it’s hardly surprising that University of Alabama at Birmingham professor Colleen McClure believes that “AI technologies are helping to augment every phase of the sales process, especially as it relates to complex B2B sales.”
AI is making a major impact on the world of sales — so it’s imperative for today’s salespeople to learn to leverage these new tools and technologies.
How to Monitor and Improve Sales Behaviors in Your Team
Knowing what to do (and what not to do) on an individual level is important. But what does it take to monitor and improve sales behaviors on a team? There are no shortcuts or one-size-fits-all solutions, but I’ve found that the strategies below can help managers support their teams, ultimately boosting both engagement and productivity.
1. Set clear expectations.
Your team can’t read your mind. If you want your sales reps to follow certain processes, hit certain targets, or engage in certain behaviors, it’s vital to tell them.
That means setting clear expectations and quantifying those expectations whenever possible. For example, don’t just tell people to follow up with prospects “in a timely manner.” Instead, specify exactly how quickly you expect them to follow up, perhaps even with tactical guidelines around what should go into those communications.
Michelle Richardson, Vice President of Sales Performance Research at the Brooks Group, argues that “in order for the members of your sales team to be successful, they must know exactly what defines ‘success’ in your organization.”
As a result, she continues, “it’s critical for sales leaders to establish and communicate expectations with their sales reps early on, and enforce them on a continual basis.” To begin to improve sales behaviors on your team, it’s essential first to define the behaviors that you expect people to engage in.
2. Target specific behaviors for improvement.
Next, once you’ve defined key expectations for your team, you can begin to target specific behaviors for improvement. After all, as President and CEO of ValueSelling Associates Julie Thomas wrote in a recent Forbes article, “To propel your sales team toward accelerated results, you must initiate behavior change.”
Importantly, I’ve learned that it’s really vital to isolate specific behaviors to focus on. While it may be tempting to try to optimize everything all at once, real progress usually happens one step at a time. So, rather than trying to push your sales team to totally overhaul their approach, choose just one or two specific behaviors to target for improvement.
For example, if you’re interested in improving customer acquisition rates, you may opt to focus on behaviors such as prospecting, setting up introductory calls, or adding new leads to the pipeline.
Then, for each of these behaviors, identify exactly how you’d like your team to improve. And remember: This may be different for different sales reps. Perhaps you’d like one person on your team to prioritize increasing the number of new leads they add to the pipeline, while another might benefit more from focusing on scheduling more intro calls.
“Ultimately,” Thomas concludes, “by prioritizing behavior change and investing in the necessary support structures, companies can unleash the full potential of their teams and drive sales success.” Being strategic — and specific — about the behaviors you want to improve will help increase the chances that you achieve your goals.
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- People to Meet
- Feedback/Review Process
- And More!
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3. Track key performance metrics.
Of course, you can’t just say you want to improve a certain behavior and expect it to happen. To drive lasting progress, sales leaders must identify quantifiable metrics associated with those behaviors, and then track those performance metrics consistently.
Thomas speaks to the importance of metrics in another recent article, sharing, “Measuring both sales behaviors (leading indicators) and sales results (lagging indicators) is important. Many organizations only set goals that focus on lagging indicators, and this narrow focus hinders enablement’s ability to demonstrate its accomplishments.”
In other words, effective sales leaders recognize the importance of tracking key performance metrics on an ongoing basis, making sure to focus on both sales results and the sales behaviors that drive those results.
4. Share feedback regularly.
Finally, I’ve learned that when it comes to helping sales teams improve their performance, feedback is everything. That means celebrating achievements, but it also means being clear when people fall short of targets.
While some managers are hesitant to share constructive criticism, research from the Center for Sales Strategy found that 91% of salespeople report that they want more learning and development opportunities. In other words, sales reps are hungry for feedback — it’s up to their leaders to provide it.
As sales and marketing expert Dan Lever explains, “No matter how effective your sales training is, it’s unrealistic to expect your sales reps to achieve their best without some form of ongoing sales coaching. Achieving sales excellence requires continuous development and feedback.” Great sales leaders know that the most valuable thing they can offer their team is regular, open feedback.
Don’t Let Bad Sales Behaviors Hold You Back
As I wrote this article, I was consistently impressed with just how powerful good sales behaviors can be — and just how much harm bad sales behaviors can cause. From getting stuck in reaction mode to never saying no, bad sales behaviors can seriously hinder salespeople’s ability to succeed.
Luckily, my research also illustrated the many good sales behaviors that can help professionals thrive. In particular, I was struck by the importance of classic behaviors, such as demonstrating value and serving customers, as well as newer trends, like leveraging AI throughout the sales process.
At the end of the day, I believe that it’s the responsibility of sales managers to monitor and improve sales behaviors on their teams. By setting clear expectations, targeting specific behaviors, tracking performance metrics, and sharing feedback regularly, sales leaders can help their teams reduce harmful sales behaviors and cultivate the good sales behaviors that will help them (and their organizations) succeed.
Free Sales Training Template
Use this template to set up a 30/60/90 day sales training and onboarding plan.
- 30/60/90 Day Goals
- People to Meet
- Feedback/Review Process
- And More!
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All fields are required.
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