There are many best practices to keep in mind to help you your competitors in terms of phone sales. The secret is quality leads, and making more phone calls to each lead than competitors. Sales teams need a way to make calls as efficiently as possible in order to get more done in less time. You can rely upon automatic phone dialer software to improve sales productivity and reduce manual labor.

Gamification is the application of game playing elements (i.e, point scoring, competition, rules of play) to other areas of activity, such as learning in the education world, training in the military, and sales in business. Gamification injects fun into what has become routine. Even though the concept is not new, it is currently generating a lot of buzz. “Companies have been using games in non-game contexts for a long time,” says Gabe Zichermann, the author of Game-Based Marketing. Think airline frequent flier programs, hotel loyalty clubs, and the points you earn to get a free cup of coffee. Now, the concept of “game” is being used, not just to keep customers buying, but to also keep sales reps selling.

Inside sales is a competitive field where professionals need to bring an incredible work ethic to the job each day. Unfortunately, some find that their habits, which include choice of equipment, can hurt their sales productivity and their careers. Here are 11 bad habits that every sales professional should focus on eliminating.