How are you feeling at the beginning of this new year? Do you feel like you’re the best salesperson you can be? If not, it’s time to change that. January is the perfect time to renew and refresh, and sales pro Joseph Curtis has some insightful advice for sales self-improvement. 

 In an article for Harvard Business Review, he discusses his years of experience working with sales professional. He’s observed many “great” salespeople and noticed that they all share similar habits, traits and patterns. “I’ve distilled them down into five major categories and have begun integrating them into my work life — practicing them, honing them, teaching them,” he explains. Curtis goes on to share these five findings with readers, one of which is below:

Great salespeople own everything.

Made a mistake? Own it. Curtis points out the importance of approaching everything in sales, especially goals, with an owner mindset. Attitude is vital to success, and a salesperson who takes responsibility for both the good and bad always comes out on top. He admits that this is a tough skill to coach on, primarily because it depends so much on the individuals’ personalities. One way to assess how well you “own” your responsibilities is to sit down and consider your current situation (accounts, role, etc.) and ask: 

•  How did I get here? 
• Did I build the right relationships? 
• Did I put in the extra work? 
• Did I speak up?
• Did I blame others for my failures but take credit for my successes?

 If your responses don’t lead you to the conclusion that you do, in fact, own everything, it’s time to work on that skill. 

His other four insights are just as important to reps’ success. Look them over and see how they relate to your own experience as a salesperson. Then, Curtis suggests also taking a look at how they relate to great salespeople you’ve known. Likely, there will be many shared traits.  Take his advice to heart, and make 2019 your year to be truly great!