Let's face it: The sales profession doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation. The industry of selling is fraught with people who will say or do anything to close a deal (and companies who condone such behavior). Unfortunately, you too may be guilty of some bad sales habits — habits that could be affecting your reputation.
Here are seven bad sales habits you need to kick:
1. Pitching too soon. The vast majority of salespeople pitch their products or services too soon. As a result, they end up pitching the wrong solutions or failing to effectively position their solutions because they haven't taken the time to determine whether or not prospects actually have need of them.
2. Opening your pitch by talking about your company. I'm flabbergasted by the number of salespeople who still believe this is the best way to open a presentation. They use up valuable time talking about their companies and their achievements, when they could be focusing on what is important to their prospects: the solutions to their problems.
3. Failing to listen. Too many salespeople don't listen to their clients or prospects. As a result, they fail to address the key issues their prospects have stated are important to them. This is a very common mistake in the business world. One of the easiest ways to connect with decision-makers is to carefully listen to what they have to say.
6. Delivering a generic presentation. The objective of a sales 
