Being great at sales comprises many different things: a complete understanding of the product/service and its benefits, knowing exactly what the potential customer is looking for, understanding the psychology of sales, and so on.

But that also means there are several pitfalls a salesperson can easily fall into. Here are a few of the biggest mistakes a seller can make:

Getting into sales just for the money: An effective salesperson loves to sell. He or she gets up every workday looking forward to the chance to close a sale (or two, or three…). When someone’s trying to do sales but isn’t passionate about it — or worse, truly dislikes it — it’s never going to work out. Hire salespeople who are in it for the long haul. Professional sales isn’t just what they do, it’s who they are.

The blame game: When something falls apart on a sale, how much time should the salesperson take to blame someone else? You’ve already figured out the answer to that one. Things go wrong sometimes — that’s life.

The salesperson needs to take full responsibility for making sure everything goes right from start to finish. If there’s any possibility of an issue, make sure it’s covered ahead of time. Most failures are based on poor communication, not poor execution.

Blaming outside circumstances for a failed sale: This is the same idea as the one above, but it’s worth repeating. Computer malfunctions, delivery issues, whatever: Don’t let them be reasons the sale didn’t happen (or was immediately reversed). If a problem arises, find a creative way to make the customer happy and seal the deal.