3 Secrets You Never Knew About Being a Top Sales Performer

Do you ever pause to think, “Am I any good at sales? Is this even for me?” That’s the question I asked myself when I first got into sales more than 10 years ago. I struggled turning cold leads into customers, finding effective ways to sell and reaching my quotas. For years, I stayed stuck at the minimum earning potential and it was really bothersome. I knew I was capable of performing better, but I had no idea how to become a top sales performer.

Being a top sales performer means you get recognition from everyone in the company. The leaders in your company take note of your performance and consider you for raises, promotions, extra time off from work and leadership positions. In my mind, being a top sales performer rings more money in my pocket for me and my family to live the life we always dreamed of. We would get to live in a beautiful 5 bedroom house with all of our comforts, travel to resorts and exotic locations, and take as much time off as we wanted to spend quality time with each other.

I dreamed of becoming a top sales performer for years! The most challenging part of this dream was that it seemed far from my reach. But one day, I decided to take action. I started reading the books of some of the most influential personal development and sales leaders of our times and hired coaches to help me in my journey to become a top sales performer. The lessons I learned were empowering and life changing. My “aha” moment was when I learned that I didn’t have to work harder, I just had to work smarter.

After all the struggle and hard work, my day finally came 5 years ago when John Deere recognized me as the top sales professional in all of North America. The leaders of the company reached out to me personally to congratulate me on my accomplishment, I increased my annual income by 80%, and I finally realized I was living my dream. My biggest reward, however, was having people asking me to coach them to become top sales performers themselves and help them achieve a life of wealth and success in their sales careers. Just like I looked up to my mentors and inspirations, people now look to me as their source of knowledge and guidance toward success.

Now, listen up! It’s my mission to help people just like you become the top sales performers in their company, organization or business venture. I usually only share my best strategies in my one-on-one coaching sessions, but I decided to go out on the ledge and share these with you on my blog. Why? Because I believe in your potential to earn more and live the life of your dreams. One of my inspirations, Lou Tice, says “All meaningful and lasting change starts from the inside.” Since you’re ready to change your ways and be wildly successful, I’m going to share with you three secrets you never knew about becoming a top salesperson:

Top Sales Performers Prioritize Relationship Over Money

Once I started to transition from my minimum earning potential toward one of the highest earners in the company, I saw that my results came from one skill: building relationships. Yes, my managers kept urging me to upsell and think about the numbers, but I realized through experience that money is just a by-product of your work. Your relationships and focus are its main essence! You need to treat yourself and the people around you with respect and with full sincerity if you want to succeed. Otherwise, you might as well keep hiding behind your calculator crunching numbers and thinking about ways to upsell products and services.

Building solid friendships and rapport with your customers is a sure fire way to become a top sales performer. Stop thinking about the sale and getting your customer to sign the sales order. That will happen after you build your relationship with them. Building relationships with your customers means that you get to know everything about them. Learn what they love about their job and what they struggle with. Better yet, get to know your customers personally! Get a better understanding for their passions, family, personal interests and goals. When you can align your product and services with your customers needs, then you’re ready to sell with heart and integrity.

By building solid relationships first, you’ll shorten the time it takes to close deals and you’ll have more sales than you ever had before. Remember, relationships always come first.

Give Yourself Permission to Ask for Help

When I first started in sales, solving my customers problems was the biggest mystery! I had no idea how to research their pain points, communicate effectively, and make the sale. I had many questions that went unanswered, and I constantly felt like a person in isolation with no one show me the way. Especially earlier in my career when there wasn’t so much information on the Internet yet, finding the best sources to help me out seemed nearly impossible.

I finally surrendered and asked for help. I started opening up to my managers, my mentors and even my wife! The response I received was enlightening. They helped shift my thinking towards new and creative ways of reaching my customers. Instead of trapping myself in a corner I began to devise new solutions to solve the challenges in my sales strategies and methods.

By asking for help, I noticed that people wanted to see me succeed and that they could help me reach my goals with more ease and less stress.

But, let me also give you a word of warning about getting help! Make sure you’re getting advice and information from credible sources. This may take some trial and error. However, when you find the best sources to help you move through your challenges, you make bigger strides in sales career than you would have ever trying to figure everything out on your own. I always say, give yourself permission to have the best advisers and friends. This strangely translates into your clients viewing you as the salesperson they’ve been looking for. Trust me, this always works.

Take Inventory of the Present Before Taking Action

Most of the clients that I coach seem to be running circles around themselves when they first come to me. That’s because they never took the time to pause and reflect on their current circumstances. They keep thinking about where they want to be and take action without any plan in place. That’s one of the biggest mistake that salespeople make. Salespeople often try to sell and pursue higher sales goals without taking inventory of their existing state.

Taking inventory means that you spend time to take short breaks and review where you’re at right now. Write down how much you earned in the last quarter, year or decade. Then write down what your goals are. Is there congruence between these two numbers or are they much further away than you’d like them to be?

You can take inventory on most anything related to your sales career. This includes your performance stats, your relationship status with prospective clients, and even your emotional state during meetings!

Once you’ve identified where you are, then you’re ready to determine if that’s where you want to be or whether you should be doing something different in order to move closer to your goals. Always remember to take inventory first before you start moving forward. This will help you realize where you are so you can prepare a plan and strategy to achieve your goals and become the top salesperson.

Becoming a top sales performer is one of the best professional achievements I’ve ever had in my career. It’s helped me create the life for me and my family that I always dreamed of, and I’m honored to share these three strategies with you so you, too, can become a top sales performer. These methods have been a savior in my career and I know they will be for you too. Remember that relationships always come first, give yourself permission to ask for help, and to take inventory of where you’re at so you can become clear on where you want to be moving forward. Are you a sales professional struggling to increase your earning potential? What are your secrets for earning more and selling with confidence? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.