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How To Become A Great Salesperson In The 21st Century [30 Insanely Actionable Tips]
Pedro Campos
Senior Paid Media Buyer ? Performance Marketing Manager ? Growth Marketer ? Customer Acquisition Specialist
You`re probably already doing pretty good. You`re better than most salespeople out there, you know what you`re doing. But something is missing…
You know you have the potential to go beyond your reality because you`re always pushing for the next level. I know what that is: never satisfied!
The answer to the question “how to become a great salesperson?” might be a little bit different from what you`d expect. You see, getting to sales excellence has nothing to do with being in sales.
Let me explain…
We`re all salespeople! Becoming a master salesperson is a process and one that will help you not only put more money in your pocket but give the ability to have everything you want in life.
Your environment is much more powerful than your willpower.
Look at Warren Buffett… master salesperson, convincing shareholders every day; Steve Jobs… master salesperson, doing presentations for Apple products to the world; Mother Teresa… master salesperson, influencing people to follow her cause.
It doesn`t matter if you`re in sales or not, this actionable list will help you become a great salesperson and get everything you want out of life because ultimately life is a sale.
We also know that today`s “buyers” are smarter than ever, information is everywhere, so in order to dominate you need to think of your craft as an Olympic sport and you must prepare and operate like an athlete.
#1 – Invest In Yourself
The moment I stopped watching TV and started to buy courses, reading books, listening to podcasts, watching educational YouTube videos and getting into a plane to attend conferences, my life changed. Let me ask you this… what`s on TV that`s gonna change your life?
Exactly, nothing! The first step to sales excellence is to pay attention to what you put in your brain.
#2 – Commit To Greatness
You`ve got to commit, man! You need to wake up every day and say “I deserve greatness in my life and I`m gonna do whatever it takes to get it.” I didn`t think like this a while ago. I thought… “you know, I`m just gonna work to live a comfortable life and that`s it.” Big mistake! I found that this little voice inside telling me “you can do more” didn`t seem to go away.
So, if you have that voice, embrace the obsession and shoot as high as you can think of.
#3 – Stop Caring What Others Think
Seriously, stop! Nobody really cares about you. My mentor once said something I`ll never forget… “in your 20s you care too much about what others think of you, in your 30s you don`t care that much and in your 40s you discover that nobody was even thinking of you at all!” Get over it, seriously.
Once you start operating like a top performer, you`ll get critics, people will call you a freak. You`ve got to be prepared to embrace it.
#4 – Choose Your Environment Carefully
Stop hanging around your broke friends, they`re slowing your progress down. Drowning people will pull you under!
You`ve heard this, your environment will shape your beliefs, your decisions and ultimately your life. If you have someone around you that`s not on the same page as you, step away. I know it`s hard sometimes but it`s the right thing to do. Your future self will appreciate that.
#5 – Find A Mentor
This changed everything from me. Having someone that`s been there and done that giving you feedback and guidance can have a tremendous impact on your growth as a person and professional. Find something you resonate with, someone you want to be in your wildest dreams and go deep with that person.
Or study 2 multimillionaires, consume their content, watch how they think, become a sponge. 2 multimillionaires, not 54!
#6 – Read 2 Books A Week
I was reading one book a week, following the general message of most gurus out there. And I thought… “hmm, what if I start reading 2? One on sales/marketing and the other on mindset.” I cannot tell you how much more confidence that gave me.
All the sudden you start operation at a different level, filling your brain with new knowledge and converting that into experiences.
People are not thinking about you, they`re thinking about what you`re thinking about them.
#7 – Know Your Product Inside And Out
Nobody ever became a great salesperson selling products they didn`t believe in. That could`ve been possible in the 1960s, where salespeople had all the information. Now, with so much information out there, to stay afloat, you cannot afford to not know what you`re selling inside and out and most importantly, believing that your solution is the best and can solve your prospects` problems.
(RELATED: 58 Best Sales Books Of All Time To Help You Crush Your Targets And Dominate Your Industry)
#8 – Roleplay Consistently
If you`re in a sales position, you know this. Personally, I hated it and still do! So what? It`s necessary, even if it is only for 10 minutes a day, doesn`t matter. It could be practicing a new line, asking better questions or improving your tonality. I also see roleplay not as a sales “activity” but as a life “activity.”
Before giving a speech on stage, the speaker prepares himself in advance, roleplaying. Before you try to convince your spouse to do something you want, you think about what you`re gonna say, rehearsing the words in your head… you`re roleplaying.
#9 – Listen To Your Own Recordings
It`s the key to constant improvement. Listen to your sales calls, your presentations, your speeches, be critical about your videos and posts. Ask for feedback! See what works and what doesn`t. Over time you`ll pick up patterns that will help you avoid costly mistakes in the future. Mimic pro athletes.
#10 – Know Your Strengths
There`s a test out there called Strengths Finder 2.0. It gives you a report with your top 5 strengths. Knowing your top strengths will prevent you from wasting time doing things that don`t give you as much joy and satisfaction. You may think you know yourself pretty well. Think twice! The result of the test you`ll probably surprise you.
Focusing on your weaknesses is nothing more than false data because in doing so, at the end of your life all you`ll end up with is a bunch of strong weaknesses.
#11 – Be The First To Arrive And The Last One To Leave
If you work in an office for someone else, do yourself a favor. Be the one that opens the freaking office. If that`s too much, show up an hour early and stay one hour later than everybody else. Your confidence is gonna skyrocket, your boss is gonna love you and you`ll produce way more than the rest of your peers.
All the sudden you start believing that you deserve and expect to win because you do stuff that others refuse to do.
#12 – Get To Know Your Prospects Better Than They Know Themselves
Don`t make the mistake I made in my first online business. Thought I was the marketing genius, didn`t know sh*t about my ideal prospect. I`m not talking about knowing their interests, income level or profession, I`m talking about knowing their deepest desires, what keeps them up at night and their personality types.
You have to be able to communicate their problems better than they can. It`s your role as a master salesperson, you`re more a problem finder than a problem solver.
Greatness is your duty and responsibility.
#13 – Become Obessesed About The Details
In the Olympics, what separates number one from number two? You got it! The details. No different in sales.
You`ve got to be super honest with yourself and become obsessed about studying your performance. Make it a game. Watch out for the way you dress, your grooming, the way you carry yourself, your sales call, your presentation. Take every detail into consideration.
#14 – Build Your Own Personal Brand
I know what you`re thinking! Everybody has a personal brand. If I was to ask one of your friends to describe you he would tell me “well, he`s like this or like that.” Personal branding is how people perceive you in the long run. If you`re not pushing your name out there consistently on social media, giving value to people, you`re not operating as a master salesperson.
Remember, if nobody knows you, nobody flows you.
#15 – Show Up At Your Community`s Events
Again, you want to be seen by your community as someone they can trust. I promise you, the average salespeople are too lazy to even extrovert into their community. Be of service to people, show them that you care and that you`re a person of value. When the time comes to do business, you already have the upper edge.
Business is about relationships. Think long term!
#16 – Stay At The Best Places
Want to condition your mind for greatness? Yes, don`t stay in the cheapest hotels in town when you`re traveling in work or vacation. This makes such a huge difference in your subconscious mind. You start believing that you`re a person of value, that you`re worthy of success and abundance.
And when you come from that place, negotiation a deal, closing a sale, you`re not attached and people love it.
(RELATED: 3 Mental Blocks Preventing You From Closing Sales)
#17 – Go Touch Your Dreams
Go see, touch and live a piece of what your dream lifestyle looks like. Again, another tactic to condition your mind for success. Want to own a Ferrari? Go test drive the exact model you want. Want a house on a lake? Go to an open house and feel what`s like to live there.
This has made such a difference in my life and I`m pretty sure it will help you too.
Look at Warren Buffett... master salesperson, convincing shareholders every day.
#18 – Write Your Goals Down Every day
Sales excellence is not possible without some massive goals. Goals are difficult to attain if you don`t write them down, if you don`t see them every day and visualize what it would look like once you achieve them. Create a vision board as well to complement your goals.
Put it in a place where you can see it every day. Your goals will be the driving force behind all your efforts.
#19 – Eliminate Negativity Out Of Your Life
TV, drama, negative people… eliminate them out of your life. They don`t serve you! Not everybody is willing to do whatever it takes to become great at something. It`s tough to step away from family members, waking up early or finding a new spouse, we both know that. But what are you willing to do to become the person you were meant to be?
Maybe it`s time to go after your potential and let go of the limitations others have put on you.
#20 – Approach Every Sales Situation With A Giving Attitude
People can sense it when you`re just after the commission. Genuinely caring about people will bring you more joy and money than you could ever imagine possible. When you come from a place of giving, the world opens his arms to give you everything you want.
Help someone get what they want instead of pushing them and you`ll have way more abundance in your life, I promise you that.
#21 – Master The Fundamentals
What are your fundamentals in sales? Time to get honest. Giving value, being empathetic, taking care of the customer, not sounding like a typical salesperson, delivering on the promises and not saving people are some of my fundamentals. If you`re not getting the results you want it`s probably because you either haven’t mastered the fundamentals of sales or you have the wrong ones.
Go back to the basics, make a list of your fundamentals and see where you can improve. Maybe there`s something you don`t know!
(RELATED: The Real Difference Between Sales And Marketing – Everything You Need To Know)
#22 – Stack Other Skills On Top Of The Ones You Have
Sales, closing, influence are pretty much three skills in one. Sales involves many skills, contrarily to what most people think. If you`re already a pretty good salesperson maybe it`s to start stacking new skills and mastering them, like public speaking, marketing, leadership or finances.
The more skills you have the more you`ll increase your earning ability and the more will people see you as the expert, the go-to person. Master one skill and move to the next, don`t fall into the trap of the shiny object syndrome.
#23 – Wake Up Before The Sun
If you can beat the sun every day, you`re on your path to sales greatness. Waking up early is a little trick you play to feel more confident. That also means going to bed early instead of watching movies until 3:00 am and waking up in the middle of the day.
When you start your day, say at 6:00 am, you have a lot more time to work on yourself in the first few hours and get ready to crush the day afterward.
If a few weeks go by when you`re not doing something that scares you, you not growing.
#24 – Practice Gratitude
Doing a morning gratitude exercise will help you remember the things you most appreciate in your life. It gets you from a place of fear into a place of abundance and joy. If you`re not a meditation type person, it`s ok. Every day after you wake up, ask yourself… “what I am grateful for?”
Extremely successful individuals practice gratitude daily, so why shouldn`t you?
#25 – Set Up “Greatness Alarms”
Greatness what? Ok, this is an invention of mine. I have about 6 alarms in my phone that are set at different times of the day with little notes like “I`m the best at what I do”, “I`m a creative genius”, “I`m worth $100 million” or “I`m unstoppable.”
It`s another creative way to condition your mind for success and to put positive thoughts into your brain. It is your greatness reminder. Very powerful technique!
#24 – Eliminate Distractions
Two things that skyrocketed my productivity: turning off all the notifications on my phone and not taking unscheduled incoming calls. In certain types of sales positions or businesses, you may not have the luxury to apply the later.
But one thing you can do is set up the expectations, letting your customers, clients, associates, friends know that you`ll take calls a certain time of the day. This way, you`ll eliminate time vampires and focus on the task in hand.
No Olympic athletes swim and tweet at the same time!
#25 – Let Go Of Your Ego
Just let go! I can`t tell you how much my ego has gotten in the way on my path to greatness. It still shows up from time to time. You`ve got to understand that closing is not about you. You`re in business because you want to solve a problem in the marketplace. You`re in sales because your main intention is to help people.
If you come into any sales situation with the focus on yourself or the commission, you`re dead in the water. Leave your ego at the door and focus on the other person.
#26 – Remember That Your Past Doesn`t Equal Your Future
Listen, my childhood was complicated. I was bullied, made of fun of, suffered the worst humiliations you can think of. But that didn’t stop me. It actually fueled my desire to strive to be in the top 0.01%. In your path to sales excellence, you have to let go of the past and understand that where you are right now has nothing to do with where you want to go.
You create your future. Maybe you had someone that didn`t believe in you, use that to propel you to take massive action.
#27 – Learn Public Speaking
Communication is wealth as my mentor said. Stage time is wealth time, in is own wise words. Public speaking is a great complement to your set of skills. You`ll be required to master it whether you fear it or not. Selling to a group of people is one of the highest forms of influence. Great salespeople know that.
Once you`ve mastered sales 1 on 1, give public speaking a shot. You can sign up for Toastmasters or start by giving small talks at your local community.
You need to wake up every day and say... I deserve greatness in my life!
#28 – Discover Your Why
Nothing will ever get done without a why. Why are you in sales? Why are you in business? What drives you? What is the one thing you want to be remembered for? Ask yourself these powerful questions because in those moments when nobody believes in you or in your mission, your reasons will help you move forward.
If you have the why, the how will always show up.
#29 – Rewards Yourself For Hitting Targets
Had a great month? Go to a fancy hotel this weekend with your spouse or a close family member. You can even write your targets for the day, week, month. Putting little “awards” next to each of them will give you that extra motivation to push forward when things get tough.
It`s a great way to keep yourself accountable while enjoying the result of your efforts.
#30 – Become Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
If a few weeks go by and you`re not doing something that scares you, you`re not growing. The ability to stay uncomfortable long enough to see a breakthrough happen is one of the characteristics of great salespeople. Do something that scares this week, it doesn`t matter what it is, something you`ve never done.
That`s what life is all about, experiencing new things and pushing through your fears. There`s always a next level!
The Path To Sales Excellence
I believe that to become great at anything, that “thing” not only should it be what you do but who you are. When being a top salesperson is who you are, the whole world will step aside and let you eat all the cake you want.
When it`s your identity, things just flow, like me writing this article for you, it`s effortless, beautiful. This is the place where magic happens. When you`re in flow, life is so much easier!
Business is about relationships. Think long term!
You`re not fighting against anything, you have this positive vibe that people can feel. Knowing that sales is nothing more than a transfer of energies, your job becomes a pleasing one when you`re in flow.
I`m sure these tips will serve you well, as I said they`re practical, now it`s up to you to make it happen. Implement one at the time if it feels overwhelming. Be a role model to others and step into greatness.