1.  Top-performing salespeople are always students. They not only know their products and services inside and out, they know about the industry or industries they are working in. They read. They stay on top of market changes. They share the news. They get to know other top performers. And they learn the ins and outs of the industry as it changes.

2.  Top sales performers align themselves with other successful people in a business. Salespeople understand networking and how to reach a level of networking that gives them a pipeline of referrals and referral sources. You need to be connecting clients and associates with other successful clients and associates. Then they will refer back to you.

3.  Top performers take risks. They are willing to do new things, experiment, change old habits, learn and try new things. They are early adopters and don’t feel it is necessary to wait to “see how others do first.” If they believe in it, they take that risk. Although top performers are already successful, there is never a limit to their success. They always want to learn and implement new things.

4.  Top performers are never excuse makers. If there is an obstacle getting in the way to their success, they go over it, under it or around it. But they never see it as an obstacle. How do I work around this? How do I make the sale anyway?

5.  Top performers are stingy with their time. Your time is worth a lot of money. And top-performing salespeople are very particular about how they spend their time and what activities they spend time doing. It isn’t about socializing; it’s about getting out there and being productive. And it’s about being in front of the right people as often as they possibly can. They don’t spend time with marginal opportunities, only high-chance opportunities. They get that and don’t let the junk get in their way.