27 Sales Tips [Super-Quick & Easy] to Crush Your Quota

Do you need that kick in the ass to crush your sales quota?

Now, I don’t usually make content like this. But I find that we all sometimes need that shot in the arm to push us a little harder.

So I’ve made a list of my favorite sales tips that cover all facets of selling.

In this video, I’m going to show you 27 sales tips—that are super quick and easy—to crush your sales quota.

Check it out:

Sales Tips Video Summary:      

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #1: Stop being like others.

Your prospects don’t want to buy from just another salesperson. They want to buy from someone who is different, distinct, and seems like an expert. So whatever everyone else is doing, I challenge you to do the exact opposite.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #2: Do what the data says.

We live in an unparalleled time of data on what does and does not work in selling. In the past, selling advice has always just been gurus saying what they think works. But now we really know what works because the data tells us. We can finally measure it. Only follow people who go deep into the data on what is truly working in today’s marketplace, which is changing constantly.      

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #3: Be tough on prospects.

As an industry of salespeople, we tend to think that whatever a prospect does has to be OK. And that’s not true. You have to be tough on prospects who are being difficult. If they’re breaking the rules, call them out on it. You don’t have to be aggressive or rude. But you can be very matter-of-fact and hold their feet to the fire. Do what you have to do to make sure that sales stay on track.          

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #4: No more tap dancing.

Old-school selling has always taught us that we want to talk and talk and talk. And we want to pitch. And we want to what I call “tap dance” all over the prospects’ table and show them how great everything we have is. This is an old-school mindset. Never be in the position where you’re tap dancing. If you find that you’re just doing all the talking and pitching, you’re in trouble. Stop doing that.              

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #5: Have guts.

Sometimes in sales what separates the top performers from everyone else is simply that top performers have guts. They’re willing to do things that put them out on a limb. This may make them a little uncomfortable, but ultimately it will lead them to close more sales. This might require some risk-taking—and top performers might even lost a sale as a result of having guts. But in the end they close more sales at higher prices to more people.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #6: Make that call right now.

If there’s a call to a prospect that you’ve been putting off or you’re ever thinking to yourself, “You know what? I should just call them right now,” do it. Call them right now. Make that call right now. Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do right this second. Always make the call now.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #7: It’s all a game.

Selling is a game. Salespeople who take losses in sales personally are not going to win in the long run. It’s all a game. Think of sales as a tennis match, or a football game, or a soccer match, or whatever other game you like. It could be a game of chess. It’s just a game. And when people do something that makes you frustrated, just remember, it’s a game. They’re playing their part, you’re playing your part. Don’t take it seriously.                  

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #8: Stop talking so much.

The data is unequivocal on this. Salespeople who do way more talking are going to lose more sales. We need to get better at listening. Record your phone calls and pay attention to how much you’re talking. Chances are, it’s more than you really think. We want to taper back all that talking and instead engage prospects to do most of the talking themselves.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #9: Map out the first seven seconds.

This is so big. Most salespeople don’t map out the first seven seconds of their interactions with prospects. As a result, the openings of their calls or meetings are kind of sloppy. This is especially true for cold calls and prospecting calls. You need to map out exactly what you’re going to say in the first seven seconds.      

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #10: Use a script.

Salespeople say all the time, “Oh, I don’t like to use a script. It makes me sound scripted.” At my house, we love to watch the show Homeland. We love watching Claire Danes just go completely wacky. But do you think that when she follows the script she’s saying, “Oh, that makes me sound scripted?” No. She’s a great actress. And as a result, she doesn’t seem scripted. When you have a great script and you practice, and practice, and practice it, you will not sound scripted. You’re going to be far more effective because it’s going to allow you to focus more on the prospect than on what you’re saying.         

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #11: Have call time.

This is not a new idea. But it works. Make sure that you block out time during your day specifically for making outbound calls. Almost every salesperson has to have a pretty consistent cadence of calls in order to be successful. Set a specific time for call time. Don’t just wing it. Have a specific time. As one of my sales mentors used to say, “That’s ‘going to church’ time.” You do not mess around with that time. You make the calls without fail.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #12: Get leverage with automation.

We live in a time of unprecedented technology and tools that can help salespeople. For example, cold email prospecting automation and follow-up email prospecting automation. There are so many different types of automation that we can use to help us get a little bit more leverage so we’re not spending all of our time typing up a new email whenever we want to reach out to a prospect. Use those tools. Use them wisely.  

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #13: If your pipeline sucks, it’s your fault.

Now, this is probably not fun advice for some people, but I often hear salespeople say, “Oh, my pipeline is weak and it’s because of the economy or it’s because of my company,” or whatever the excuse is. If your pipeline is weak right now, do something about it. Pipeline problems just mean that you need to be doing more prospecting. You need to be doing more to get people into your world. It is always our own responsibility when our pipeline is weak.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #14: Don’t complain about prospects.

This is a really simple sales tip. But we often get frustrated with prospects, and the reality is that they’re just playing a part. Don’t complain about them. Start to think about what you can be doing to make them behave differently. (And by the way, some prospects are just jerks. And if they’re jerk prospects, then they’re going to be jerk clients. So think about that. Maybe this person that you’re in front of is not really the right person to be dealing with.)

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #15: Stop making friends.

People often say, “So and so is amazing at making friends. They’re best friends with all of their prospects.” You know what? I often find that the person who spends all their time making friends is not a very good salesperson. Of course your clients can become your great friends over time. That’s fine. But prospects are not your friends at the outset. Stop trying to make friends with your prospects and instead just try to understand what’s going on in their world, develop that relationship, and solve their problems.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #16: Think-it-overs mean you’re being weak.

A think-it-over is when you’re in a selling situation and the prospect says, “Hey, this is great, but I’ve gotta think about it and get back to you.” If you’re getting a lot of those, then it means that you’re being weak somewhere in that sales process. Maybe you’re putting too much pressure on them and they’re ultimately backing off. Or maybe you’re being a little bit too meek. You’ve got to find that balance and understand that think-it-overs are never acceptable.                  

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #17: Always have a clear next step.

Every selling interaction should always end with a clear next step. This means that the last few minutes of any interaction should be spent clarifying what the exact next steps will be. What is going to happen as a result of this call? It should always end with a calendar invite coming out of your calendar going into theirs. That way you’re holding the sale together and it never disappears into never-neverland.         

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #18: Quit procrastinating.

This doesn’t just apply to salespeople. This applies to everyone. Right? Oftentimes, those things that are most important are what we put off the most. We procrastinate. And you know what? It’s killing us. Identify the most important activities that you need to be doing—and do them. Don’t put it off. Do it right now.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #19: Always call higher.

There’s a tendency for salespeople to call lower-level prospects because it’s comfortable, it’s easy. Prospects with a title that sounds like a manager or even a low-level director are less intimidating than prospects in the C-suite. But ultimately we want to be calling on people in the C-suite. Presidents, VPs, CEOs, COOs. Whatever it is. Call people higher because those people are going to have access to bigger budgets and they’re going to care about bigger problems that are going to lead to bigger sales.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #20: Make your title something that they don’t really get.

This may sound weird. But it’s so effective. If you have a title that’s obvious, like salesperson, immediately it’s going to tell the prospect that well, you’re a salesperson. And in this world, even titles like consultant often are kind of obvious at this point. Think about a title that is just a little bit different. It’s what you put in your email signature, it’s what you might have on your business card, or whatever it is. But maybe it’s a title that involves the word strategist. It can really be anything, but make it something that your prospects don’t entirely get because it’s going to lead them to be a little bit curious.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #21: Shop your competition.

This may be difficult if you’re selling really big products or services. But you should try to take a little time to shop your competition, see what they’re doing, go onto their website. If you can get on a phone call with them, great. Shop them, see what they’re doing, see what they’re doing well, see what could be done differently. It’s going to help you get inside the mind of your prospect and be that much more effective.         

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #22: Get introductions from all of your clients.

Notice I didn’t use the term referral. No. Referral is a buzzword. People don’t know what a referral is. It can be weak. It can be, “Oh, here’s their card. Give them a call. Tell them I sent you.” I’m talking about introductions. Get introductions where person A, your client, introduces you to person B. It can be by email, it can be by phone, it can be over lunch, it can be over dinner. It doesn’t matter. But get introductions from all of your clients. Ask all the time.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #23: Opt for less base salary and more commission.

If you’re in a really big company, maybe you don’t have complete control over this. But if you ever do have the option to get less base salary with a bigger commission structure on the high end, go for it. Have the courage to take that leap. Go for the bigger commission. Top performers are often 100% commission or really high levels of commission in very low levels of base. All base salary does is make you safer if you have a really bad year. If you have a really good year, it means you’re going to make a lot less.                  

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #24: Have an administrator who does all of the non-sales stuff for you.

Now, you may be a salesperson at an organization thinking, “Hey, I don’t have access to an admin.” Well, you actually do. You can get a virtual admin for $10 an hour to do those really rote non-sales things for you. If you’re a manager, try to take all of those really non-sales related things off of your sales people’s plate. We want to free our time up. And outsource all of the non-selling stuff to someone else.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #25: Be systematic.

Top-performing salespeople are always systematic. They’re always following a very clear process when in front of a prospect. They know what questions they’re going to ask, they know exactly what’s going to happen when. Be systematic. Find the system that works for you and follow it.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #26: Stop checking emails at night.

I know I’m going to get pushback from some people who say, “Sorry, but I have to be checking my emails all the time. I never know when a prospect is gonna reach out to me. I never know when a client’s gonna reach out to me.” But if you’re checking emails when you’re with your kids, at dinner with your family, or enjoying a glass of wine before bed, then you have a discipline problem. Have discipline. The time that you’re not selling should be spent not worrying about your sales. It should be spent doing what you want to actually be doing: Spending time with people you care about. This will also make you stronger when you come into the office the next day. You’re going to be focused on work because you’ll have had that time to rest. Be sure to turn it off so that way when it’s time to turn it on, you can.

Sales Tips to Crush Your Quota #27: Know why you do this.

Do you ever think about your why? What really drives you to be successful in sales? What drives you to pick up that phone? What drives you to show up at the office every day, to put yourself out there, to get into uncomfortable situations? What pushes you to do that? Is it your family? Is it financial success? What is it that really matters to you? Get crystal clear on what that is because if you’re not clear about your why, you’re never going to do what it takes to be successful. Know why you do this.     

So there you have it. Now you know 27 sales tips—that are super quick and easy—to crush your sales quota. I want to hear from you. Which of these ideas did you find most useful? Be sure to share below in the comment section to get involved in the conversation.