The Best Sales Motivational Quotes to Get You Fired Up!

I’ve always loved motivational quotes. Even when I was a little kid, the right inspirational mantra could get me fired up and ready to go for anything.

After getting into sales, nothing got me more psyched to sell than a great motivational sales quote.

Sometimes all you need is the right inspiration to jumpstart your selling.

So, we’ve scoured the world to bring you the absolute best sales motivational quotes to get you fired up. Check it out:

1. “The key to success is to start before you are ready.” —Marie Forleo

This is one of my favorite sales motivation quotes of all time. Far too many salespeople are just waiting for that perfect moment to arrive. But you have to just seize the current day and go for it. Get started now.

2. “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” —Napoleon Hill

We must create a real, tangible deadline for every sales goal, if we truly want to achieve it. Merely dreaming about it doesn’t count.

3. “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” —George Patton

Salespeople often drag their feet, waiting for their campaigns, scripts, or outreach to be perfect before launching it. If it’s not perfect, that’s fine. Just do it. Execute now—because no one knows what’s going to happen next week.

4. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.” —Amelia Earhart

When it comes to motivational sales quotes, it doesn’t get much more powerful than this. So much of sales is just about making the decision to act—and then going all in.

5. “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” —Marcus Tullias Cicero

The modern-day interpretation of Cicero’s profound motivational quote doesn’t just involve books. It refers to the act of constantly sharpening skills, getting better, and improving craft through books, courses, podcasts, videos, trainings, and whatever resources we have at our disposal. Make that commitment to always up your game.

6. “All progress takes place outside of the comfort zone.” —Michael John Bobak

This is so true in sales. If you’re living deeply within your comfort zone, then you’re not pushing hard enough to win at the game of sales. If you’re not growing by taking risks, then you’re never going to hit higher sales goals. It’s as simple as that.

7. “Do not wait to strike until the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking.” —William Butler Yeats

This motivational sales quote resonates with selling at the most fundamental level. Pick up that phone, make that call, reach out to that prospect. Don’t wait for opportunities to present themselves. Create opportunities by acting.

8. “Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” —George Herbert

In sales, we learn as we go. The best salespeople understand that improvement comes only if you take action now, while being open and willing to learn along the way. Try your new script and get feedback about whether it works. Send those emails now and make the next batch better. Keep going, keep learning, keep improving. Don’t wait for everything to be “just right”—it never will be.

9. “Sales rarely get better by just waiting around.” —Colleen Francis

Are you starting to sense a pattern with these sales motivation quotes? Waiting around is the antithesis of success in sales. I see so many salespeople just waiting by the phone, hoping that an inbound lead is going to come. This is not the way to succeed in sales. Take proactive steps to make sure you’re reaching out to the right people. Don’t just sit around.

10. “Don’t be afraid to give up the good for the great.” —John D. Rockefeller

A lot of salespeople go after small sales because that’s where they feel comfortable. But in reality, small opportunities can be just as difficult to close as bigger ones—yet the reward is so much greater for the big sales. Be willing to let go of merely “good” opportunities to focus on great opportunities instead.

11. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” —Sam Levenson

This motivational sales quote is self-explanatory—and so powerful. Just keep going. Persistence is key to success in sales.

12. “Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” —Jim Rohn

Every salesperson knows that a day spent selling can feel like a grind. This is particularly true if we are not taking proactive steps to do what really needs to be done—systematically reaching out to clients and prospects, etc. When we don’t focus our attention on getting the important tasks done each day, the day takes on a life of its own. Things start filling up our plate. And before we know it, we’re not doing anything that actually grows our business. Run your day. Don’t let your day run you.

13. “Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.” —Victor Kiam

We need to keep trying new things in sales, and even if they don’t work—even if the prospect tells us to screw off or to take a hike—we’re still learning from that. We’re still moving forward. Every time you fall on your face in sales, you’re not just moving forward, you’re getting better. Remember that.

14. Ever tried. Ever Failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” —Samuel Beckett

In my opinion, this is one of the most important sales motivational quotes out there, because it’s telling us that we need to keep failing. We need to be willing to make those mistakes and get back up and do it again. And next time, maybe we’ll fail again, but we’ll fail just a little bit better. This is a critical mindset held by all the top-performing salespeople I’ve ever met.

15. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” —Og Mandino

If we are determined to keep moving forward in sales, we can never fully fail. It’s as simple as that.

16. “Stick to your true north. Build greatness for the long term.” ―Ruth Porat

Take this motivational sales quote to heart. Most salespeople are focused on what they’re doing over the next week, month, or quarter. But what is your longer-term plan? What are you building towards? Focus on that as your true north—and then design weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals to get you there.

17. “For every reason it’s not possible, there are hundreds of people who have faced the same circumstances and succeeded.” —Jack Canfield

There’s no place for excuses in sales. Whatever position you’re in, the reality is that there are tons of salespeople who have been in your exact same circumstance, and succeeded. So figure out how to get it done and keep going.

18. “I found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances, be more active, show up more often.” —Brian Tracy

I love this sales motivation quote because everyone always talks about being “lucky” in business. But luck only shows up when we’re doing lots of things. When lots of things are happening, when we’re doing a lot of activity, that’s when the lucky breaks happen. Luck doesn’t happen if we’re just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring.

19. “I have not failed, I have just found ten thousand ways that don’t work.” —Thomas Edison

Whether you’re inventing the lightbulb or trying to bring on more clients, you’re going to fail a lot before you succeed. I love this motivational quote from Thomas Edison because it reframes failures as opportunities to learn what doesn’t work. In sales, you’re going to hear a lot of nos. But every time you hear a no, you’re learning from that. It’s all part of the process.

20. “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” -Oprah Winfrey

We must see our value in what we offer in order to be successful in sales. Remember that you’re changing the lives of the people you ultimately sell to. Value what you do, or else people will not view you as valuable. Period.

21. “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” —Albert Einstein

This is the perfect sales motivation quote because it reminds us that simplicity is key to sales. Salespeople often try to bring complexity to what they do with fancy jargon or complicated presentations. But your prospects just need a simple explanation of what you do. And if you can’t deliver that, then they’re never going to understand it, let alone buy from you.

22. “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you will fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”—Jim Rohn

Most salespeople are like bottles in the ocean, at the whim of forces around them, without a real plan for where they’re headed. This is not the way to approach sales. We must be crystal clear on what our plan is. If we aren’t, we’ll inevitably fall into someone else’s plan—and that’s not going to be pretty.

23. “If you don’t value your time, neither will others. Stop giving away your time and talents—start charging for it.” —Kim Garst

In sales, you may not be charging for that initial time you’re spending with a prospect, but you must still think of yourself as having real value. And time is your most valuable asset. This means that you must value the time that you spend with each prospect. If you’re going to spend time on a particular opportunity, first make sure that it’s 100% worth the effort.

24. “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” —H.G. Wells

Sales is a tough game. It’s a full-contact sport. You will get knocked down. Even the best salespeople get frustrated—but they get right back up and keep going.

25. “If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” —Dale Carnegie

Salespeople often fear the imagined possibility of what could happen with a prospect. But the reality is that it’s not going to happen. Go out. Get busy. Don’t worry about what you’re afraid of. Just go and do things, and you’ll soon find that your fears were never founded in reality in the first place.

26. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” —Confucius

This saying from Confucius is relevant as a powerful sales motivation quote thousands of years later. Salespeople should not be frantically doing tons of things all at the same time. Simply use a process, proceed consistently, and do not stop.

27. “I thrive on obstacles. If I’m told that it can’t be done, then I push harder.” -Issa Rae

This is such a beautiful motivational quote for sales because obstacles are going to come your way, no matter how good a salesperson you are. When you face obstacles in sales, just push harder.

28. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” —Vince Lombardi

The only time you fail in life—and in sales—is when you choose not to get back up. So don’t worry about getting knocked down. Simply be committed to getting back up.

29. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” —Charles Swindoll

This motivational sales quote reminds us that sales is not about what happens to us. It’s about how we react to every single situation that comes our way. Are we being proactive? Are we using a process to make the most of every opportunity? That’s what truly matters.

30. “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower

The idea of selling anything to anyone is stupid. Instead, find those right people and help them get to where they want to go. Get the right people to do what they already want to do.

So there you have it. Now you know the best sales motivational quotes to get you fired up. Which of these quotes did you find most inspirational? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below to join the conversation.

Even More Motivational Sales Quotes…

I don’t know about you, but nothing gets me more fired up about sales than a really motivational quote.

Maybe it’s because I’ve always been involved in self-help and I’ve always loved it, but I find that sometimes just hearing the right quote puts my mind in the exact place where I need it to be to crush my goals.

So, what I’ve done is compiled some of the best motivational sales quotes I’ve ever come across to help you get in the best selling mindset possible. And I think you’re really going to enjoy them.

In this video, I’m going to show you what I believe are truly the best motivational sales quotes of all time—and why. Check it out:

31. “Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won’t be. Don’t count on motivation. Count on discipline.” — Jocko Willink

This quote is perfect for selling. We need to count on our discipline to get us where we want to be—not on our natural motivation.

32. “Fortune favors the bold.” — Virgil

This is so true in sales. We need to be bold in every single selling situation. That’s how we become successful.

33. “Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts.” — Winston Churchill

Prospects aren’t shooting at you. You just need to push through and get rid of your fear of rejection. Have the courage to pick up that phone, push back on that prospect, and make things happen.

34. “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” — Ann Landers

This is right on. We need to create our own opportunities in sales, not expect them to come to us.

35. “We generate fears while we sit, and we overcome them by action.” — Dr. Henry Link

When we’re just sitting in our office waiting for the phone to ring, all our selling fears start to creep in and overwhelm us. Get out there and take action. Overcome your fears by actively generating your own opportunities.

36. “Talking isn’t selling and selling isn’t closing.” — Steli Efti

I love this quote. Just because you’re great at talking, doesn’t mean you’re great at selling. And just because you’re trying to close sales, doesn’t mean you’re selling. Rather, selling is about following a process that truly engages prospects in the right types of conversations.

37. “The one thing you’re putting off or dreading? That’s your brain telling you it’s the thing you need to do most and next. Get it done. Stop dreading. Do.” — Nancy Nardin

When it comes to sales, it’s so easy to procrastinate the really important activities that can make or break our sales numbers. Don’t dread it. Just do.

38. “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” — Chris Grosser

The importance of creating your own opportunities in sales can’t be over-emphasized. Salespeople need to take full responsibilities for their pipelines. So, go out there and create your own opportunities.

39. “Sometimes the most influential thing we can do is listen.” — Bob Burg

As salespeople, our goal shouldn’t be to persuade, or to get someone to agree with us, but instead it should be to understand what’s going on in the prospect’s world—and then connect our solutions with what’s going on.

40. “True productivity comes from allowing yourself to make mistakes. Do so, and you’ll succeed more often than any ten perfectionists.” — Laura Stack

In sales, it’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of perfectionism. But this holds us back. Sometimes you just have to allow yourself to make mistakes. As a result, you’re going to learn so much more—and you’ll be 10 times more successful than any perfectionist salesperson out there.

41. “There are no limits to what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on your own thinking.” — Brian Tracy

This is so true in selling, because salespeople often place arbitrary limits on themselves and what numbers they can hit. But it’s all just in your head. Sell higher, sell bigger, and go make things happen.

42. “Companies should be selling ideas more than benefits. Sell ideas. Not stuff.” — Aaron Ross

Your prospects want to engage with you because you have ideas that can help them; not because you have some benefit or feature that sounds impressive. Sell ideas.

43. “It’s no longer about interrupting, pitching, and closing. It is about listening, diagnosing, and prescribing.” — Mark Roberge

This is exactly how we should approach modern-day selling. You need to be listening, diagnosing, and prescribing.

44. “The customer doesn’t care about features. They care about solving their problems.” — Trish Bertuzzi

Your prospects don’t care about your offering. They don’t care about your features. What they care about is that you can solve the problems that they currently have.

45. “Sales is an outcome, not a goal. It’s a function of doing numerous things right, starting from the moment you target a potential prospect until you finalize the deal.” — Joe Konrath

This is so true. Salespeople often think success in sales is all about doing a few big things right. But in reality, it’s about doing tons of small things right, and pulling it all together in a strategic way. That’s what successful selling is all about.

46. “If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, neither will your prospect.” — Frank Bettger

It might sound simple, but if you don’t believe in what you’re selling, and if you don’t believe that you’re actually helping people, then your prospects are never going to buy from you. You must believe in what you sell.

47. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier

Sales is all about those small steps. Don’t want to be the hare who’s just running here and there without a good strategy. Instead, be the tortoise. Take small, consistent action every single day.

48. “Leaders must get across the why as well as the what.” — John Doerr

We need to understand why a prospect needs to change—not just that they must. What’s driving them?

49. “Focus on being productive instead of being busy.” — Tim Ferriss

I couldn’t agree with this more. Perpetually busy people are usually the least productive. Don’t focus on being busy. In fact, you shouldn’t be super busy…you should just be dead-on productive.

50. “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” — Helen Hayes

The process of learning is about starting somewhere. And if you’re in a beginner role right now, that’s okay. You need to start there in order to get wherever you want to go.

51. “High-level buyers want to talk to people who know more than they do. They hunger not for information but insight.” — Barbara Weaver Smith

You can teach a monkey to provide information. But a great salesperson provides insight to their prospects.

52. “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.” — Michael Phelps

To be successful at sales, we’ve got to be willing to push through our doubts and embrace our mistakes. If you just keep going, there are absolutely no limits.

53. “A mediocre person tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person inspires others to see for themselves.” — Harvey Mackay

This is modern selling in a nutshell. Your job is to inspire others to actually discover for themselves that they need what you have.

54. “The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.” — Tony Robbins

This is so inspiring. Stop making excuses and banish the BS stories you tell yourself about your situation. Get over whatever self-limiting narratives are holding you back and instead focus on what you really want to accomplish.

55. “Most people think ‘selling’ is the same as ‘talking.’ But the most effective salespeople know that listening is the most important part of their job.” — Roy Bartell

We make sales by understanding our prospects better than their business partners do…and even better than their spouses do in some regards. When you can really bring them out of their shell and get them to open up, that’s when you have a great prospect on your hands.

56. “Yes is the destination. No is how you get there.” — Andrea Waltz

Your prospects may say no to you multiple times during a selling situation. And when you’re making dials, you’re going to be getting lots of nos along the way. But always remember, yes is the destination and no is how you get there.

57. “The only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.” — Michelle Obama

As salespeople, we’re only limited by what we imagine is possible for our own success, and our drive to actually make it happen.

58. “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill

This is such a crucial mindset for sales. You must be able to make mistakes, lose sales, and hear a lot of nos, all without losing your enthusiasm. That’s how you become successful over the long run in sales.

59. “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” — John Maxwell

Especially in uncertain economic times, we must constantly be adjusting our sails, not just hoping the wind changes its direction in our favor.

60. “Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.” — Malcolm Forbes

You know what? This is so true in sales, too. You’re going to experience a lot of defeat along the way, but that’s what makes victory so, so sweet.

61. “The most unprofitable item ever manufactured is an excuse.” — John Mason

This is tongue-in-cheek, of course, but it’s also right on. We have to let go of the excuses we make for ourselves and focus on where we want to go, taking full responsibility for getting there ourselves.

62. “Business opportunities are like buses. There’s always another one coming.” — Richard Branson

Don’t kick yourself over losing a good opportunity. Stop dwelling and focus on the future.

63. “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit.” — Conrad Hilton

You need to take consistent action. Success doesn’t just come to us in sales. Always keep moving forward.

64. “Engaging people is about meeting their needs—not yours.” — Tony Robbins

When it comes to selling, it’s not about us. It’s all about them.

Now to close out, I’m going to share with you my own favorite quotes that I’ve said over the years that I hope you’ll really connect with.

65. “When you are perceived to be like every other salesperson, the protective walls of the prospect go up.” — Marc Wayshak

When you’re perceived to be like every other salesperson out there, the protective walls go up. We need to be distinct from everyone else.

66. “When you’re a high-fee expert, clients treat you infinitely better than when you’re begging to give your information away.” — Marc Wayshak

You deserve respect, and the only way to gain that respect is by seeing and presenting yourself as a truly high-fee expert.

67. “Think of yourself as a doctor, rather than a salesperson.” — Marc Wayshak

Stop being the cheesy, pushy salesperson. Instead, act like a doctor and seek to diagnose exactly what’s going on in your prospect’s world.

68. “You don’t want to persuade everyone to buy from you; you want the right people to buy from you.” — Marc Wayshak

Stop trying to sell anything to anyone. Instead, focus on finding the right people.

69. “People don’t buy from people they like; they buy from people who understand them.” — Marc Wayshak

You don’t need your prospects to be your best friends. Just make sure you understand them better than anyone else around them.

70. “Realistically, at least fifty percent of your prospects will not be a good fit for your offering.” — Marc Wayshak

In fact, the data supports this exact idea. Don’t focus on trying to sell to everyone. Instead, move on from those who aren’t a fit so you can focus all of your time on those who are.

71. “Know what challenges you solve, and only help people with those particular challenges.” — Marc Wayshak

There are so many distractions out there. Narrow your focus to only people that you can help.

72. “You and your services will immediately seem higher-value to the prospect when you ask them good, meaningful questions.” — Marc Wayshak

We don’t create value by doing some fancy ROI calculation or by telling prospects how great we are. Instead, we create value by demonstrating that we understand them through the quality of our questions.

73. “If you were strong in the beginning, the end is the easiest part of the sale.” — Marc Wayshak

People always want to learn the fanciest closing techniques, but the reality is that the close should be the easiest part of selling if you were strong early on in the sales meeting.

74. “Always call as high up as is relevant. Period.” — Marc Wayshak

Call high up the food chain. If you’re calling on low-level prospects, you’re beating your head against the wall.

75. “Every goal in selling must be personal if it is to be compelling.” — Marc Wayshak

We’re ultimately driven by our personal goals. So, make sure you’re super clear on why you want to be successful personally.

So, there you have it. Now you know the best motivational sales quotes of all time. Which of these quotes did you find most inspiring? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section to join the conversation.