What does it take to be successful in sales?
It takes a lot of courage and a winning attitude. It takes hard work and dedication. It takes nerves of steel when picking up that phone to cold call. It takes skills.
Most importantly, it takes a constant flow of motivation.
Being successful in sales does not happen by accident. If you want to get yourself or your team fired up to take on the day with fierce determination, then you’ll have plenty to learn from these sales success quotes.
Dive into these 15 non-cheesy sales success quotes and find out what it really takes to be successful in sales.
1. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Winston Churchill
Many times, your success will depend on your outlook.
Being optimistic in sales can be a challenge, especially during difficult times. But how you look at your pipeline and your prospects will affect how you act and how you sell.
For example, during a downturn like the one we’re facing now, you may see a significant drop in your pipeline. But if you’re low on leads, does that mean you’re automatically going to fail?
Nope.
A successful salesperson is an optimist who looks for opportunities in a difficult situation. There are plenty of ways to creatively build up a dry sales pipeline, such as increasing your upsell efforts, experimenting with your cold call scripts, or working harder for referral sales.
Be a sales optimist: Find opportunities in every difficulty.
2. There’s not a single winner on earth that took it easy. – Gary Vaynerchuk
This is true in any business, sport, industry, or career type. If you’re looking for shortcuts and hacks, then sales definitely isn’t the right choice for you.
If you want to be a winner, you need to be willing to work hard and build your skills to become a pro.
3. Sales is about actions: The more you do, the more you get! Consistency is the key to success. – Iulia Neicovcean
Consistent action is the road to success in sales. If you want to close deals, you need to make calls, send emails, write text messages, and follow up on everyone.
The first step towards consistent action is tracking the right sales KPIs. When you have a clear idea of what your activity level is during any given month, you can focus on consistent, continuous improvement.
4. Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.' Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life. – Mary Kay Ash
 |
This motivational sales quote is especially true when it comes to closing more deals. If you don’t focus enough on the people you talk to, you will never succeed.
There are several ways to put this idea into practice. First, ensure you always lead the conversation with what’s important to the prospect. This is one of the top sales strategies that the pros use every day. When your conversation starts with what’s on their mind, you’re sure to grab their attention.
Another way to use this idea in sales is when speaking to people who are not your prospect. For example, when speaking to a gatekeeper, some salespeople lose the charm and try to force their way into a conversation with the decision-maker.
But remember the quote above: Treat every single person you meet as important. This includes gatekeepers.
5. Sales success comes after you stretch yourself past your limits on a daily basis. – Omar Periu
The people whose names we remember are always the same people who weren’t satisfied with the status quo. The people who go beyond what is considered normal and reasonable are those who go down in history as the biggest success stories.
So, push yourself. Take this sales advice and work to be less reasonable. Push yourself out of your own comfort zone, and you’ll be better able to convince your prospects to do the same. Then you’ll be able to accomplish great things together.
6. Great things are done by a series of small things done together. – Vincent van Gogh
 |
So your manager is setting sales goals that seem like giant obstacles to your success. If you’re worrying too much about hitting your quota and reaching your goals, this advice will help you refocus and move forward.
Let’s take your sales quota for the month and break it down.
- How many deals does it take to reach your quota?
- How many meetings does it take to win a deal?
- How many cold calls does it take on average to get a meeting?
Using these questions, work backward and break your quota into smaller, more attainable goals.
For example, it takes an average of five deals per month to hit your quota, and you have an average of five meetings before you close one deal. So, you’d need to have at least 25 meetings during the month to hit your quota.
By breaking bigger goals into smaller action steps, you’ll focus on the small things and be more motivated to work. Success is more than just setting goals--its reaching them.
7. Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
Let’s face it: No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you will face failure.
That’s especially true if you want to be successful.
The important thing is how you react to those failures. If you give up after failing a cold call or completely ruining a product demo, you will never be successful.
But remember: If you try something new and fall flat on your face, you haven’t failed, you’ve learned.
The best way to react to failure is to maintain your enthusiasm. When you make a mistake or face failure in a product demo, for example, keeping your cool and staying enthusiastic can actually turn that demo fail into a demo win.
All successful people have failed at some point. It’s up to you how you react to your failures and keep pushing toward success.
8. If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try. – Seth Godin
 |
When you got into sales, there were probably a few things that scared the heck out of you.
But those were exactly the same things you needed to do if you wanted to succeed.
No matter how much experience you have as a salesperson, some aspects of the job probably cause you a bit of fear.
For example, what causes the most fear in sales reps? Cold calling.
If you still get that knot in your stomach when you reach for the phone, remember that doing the things you fear is what will ultimately lead to your success.
The more cold calls you do, the more likely you’ll be to close deals.
The more it scares you, the more important it is to try.
Want to reduce your fear of cold calling? Improve your skills with these 36 cold calling tips.
9. If you only walk on sunny days, you'll never reach your destination. – Paulo Coelho
As a salesperson, you’re going to have bad days. But don’t let those bad days steal your motivation.
True, you may not always walk into the office (or your home office) with a big smile on your face and a T-shirt that says ‘Go get ‘em’. But that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed.
The point is to keep trying, keep working, and keep selling, even on the days when you don’t feel like it. Good sales leaders know that their team has better days and worse days, which is why they’ll provide sales scripts that help reps work consistently, even on the days when they’re not feeling 100%.
When you’re feeling low on motivation, fall back on the scripts that your team leader has provided. And if you’re looking to boost your motivation, have these 221 sales motivation quotes handy to get you fired up for the day.
10. Refuse to attach a negative meaning to the word ‘no’. View it as feedback. ‘No’ tells you to change your approach, create more value, or try again later. – Anthony Iannarino
 |
‘No’ is a negative word, but changing your view of it can help you keep selling successfully even after the ‘no’.
The best way to view a ‘no’ is as an opportunity to learn. You’ve learned about the prospect, their needs, or their desires. You’ve learned something about your approach or your pitch. And maybe you’ve learned there’s a better way to sell to this prospect.
Stop taking ‘no’ as the final answer. In fact, there’s a simple follow-up technique that you can use to turn that ‘no’ into a ‘yes’.
11. Success is 90% failure. – Soichiro Honda
You can only be successful after you’ve learned what doesn’t work. And yes, that will involve failure.
Think of failure as the greatest teacher you’ve ever had. When you fail, you need to own that failure. Understand what went wrong, and outline clear action steps you can take to improve.
For example, let’s say you just had a bad sales call. The best thing you can do is take 5 minutes to refocus your mind, then think about the call productively. Ask yourself what you could’ve done better, how you could’ve managed the objections better, or how you could’ve reacted differently.
By taking a failure and putting it in a positive, productive light, you can use those failures to grow and succeed.
12. Greatness is not only focusing on the grind but also enjoying the grind. – Jedidiah Collins
If you don’t enjoy the daily grind, it will be much harder to be successful in sales. After all, part of being successful is enjoying what you do daily.
So, how can you enjoy your work more?
First, try to have fun with sales. Use cold calls as an opportunity to try new things and experiment. Find real enjoyment in talking with people. Think about the impact your product can have on their life. Focus on what you’re giving, not what you’re selling.
Second, keep your energy level high by removing as much as you can of the mundane, day-to-day tasks that tend to bog you down.
13. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford
According to this, mindset is everything. You need to take a clear look at your mindset when selling if you want to be successful.
For example, how do you prepare for each call? You need to take time to think about the ‘why’ behind your call. Before dialing, refocus your mind on the ultimate goal: sales success. Ask yourself the right questions before making the sales call, and you’ll be focused on what you want to accomplish and how you plan on doing that.
With the right mindset, you can conquer any sales call or meeting.
14. Sales is a hard enough job as it is. If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, then it’s 1000 times harder. – John Barrows
 |
Before you can pick up the phone and start selling, you need to know everything there is to know about your product.
What are you selling? What does it accomplish for the user? How does it benefit them? How does it improve their life or business?
When you know your product inside and out, you’ll be able to give a simple pitch that resonates with your audience. (This is one the sales motivation techniques we use here at Close.)
But most importantly, you must believe in that product. If you’re not convinced that the product is good for your prospects, you will not be able to sell it. So, why not take some time to talk with your current customers? Find how why they love this product, and what it actually does for them.
Then, you’ll be better prepared to win deals and succeed in sales.
15. Being okay with ‘average’ kills any chance you ever had at being great. – Paul Salamanca
Sales success is not about being average. So, if you really want to be successful, you won’t be satisfied with hovering around the status quo.
If you want to be great, you’ll work hard to build a long-term sales career with long-term actions. By focusing on the bigger results of your day-to-day activities, you’ll be more motivated to go beyond ‘average’ and be a great salesperson.
16. People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons. - Zig Ziglar
The OG of sales Zig Ziglar knew a thing or two about selling. In B2B sales, its easy to get caught up in the "logic" of a sale by focusing on pain points and value props.
But even in B2B sales, people buy for emotional reasons. Does your sales pitch help prospects feel how your solution will help them? Focus on how your product or service makes them feel and you'll close more deals.
17. Ask yourself, “If I could only get three things done today, what would they be? - Aaron Ross
 |
Author Aaron Ross literally wrote the book on building a successful long-term growth machine. His book "Predictable Revenue" is a gold mine of quotable lines, but this is one of my favorites.
Why? Because it's simple and actionable.
It's easy to get lost in the details when you have dozens of leads and hundreds of tasks. Instead of getting overwhelmed, prioritize three things you can do--and get them done.
18. You don't need a big close, as many sales reps believe. You risk losing your customer when you save all the good stuff for the end. Keep the customer actively involved throughout your presentation, and watch your results improve. - Harvey McKay
Close rates falling? If you're saving up all the good stuff for the end of your pitch, you might be losing interest earlier in the presentation.
Instead, take the time to keep prospects engaged by asking questions and actively listening during your pitch. Propsects will become more involved--and you'll have more information to help seal the deal.
Sales Success Quotes to Level-up Your Career and Close More Deals
So, what does it really take to be successful in sales? The sales success quotes above have taught you that success involves:
- Having the right mindset
- Being willing to put in hard work
- Learning from your failures
- Making the people you talk with feel important
- Really believing in the product you sell
- Enjoying what you do daily
If we could draw one simple lesson from these 15 sales success quotes, it would be this: Being successful means constantly improving yourself.
For each person, success may mean something different. But if you’re willing to keep working at improving your skills, you’ll be on the right track.
Now it's time to stop talking and begin doing. What inspirational sales quote will you use to keep you on track?
Need more help setting goals and attaining them? Grab our sale success kit:
