Here are a few random thoughts that if applied, will deliver astounding sales results.  These ideas are not new or revolutionary, they are just practical common principles and activities that all of the top salespeople apply.  There is no great secret or mystery to achieving excellence.  Here are the ideas, now you go to work and apply them.

1.     Begin each day with a definite purpose.  Time is too precious to squander or to waste.  Determine what you want to accomplish and then make every minute count in achieving that purpose.

2.     Write out a specific detailed plan for accomplishing your purpose.  The more detail the better.  When you know the specific steps necessary to achieve your objectives you are more likely to be successful.  Your plan should also have time frames and time limits for each step.

3.     Create a list of accounts that you would like to land.  Identify the specific products and services you can provide to those accounts.  Make a plan for winning those accounts.  Be specific and then go to work on implementing your plan.  You will amaze yourself at how quickly you will close new business instead of just continually thinking about it.

4.     Hold yourself accountable for your time and achievement.  Give yourself rewards and penalties relating to your success or failure in achieving your objectives.  If there is no accountability there will be no progress.  Where there is accountability your progress will be exponential.  Become public and verbal about your goals and let the pressure of your peers keep you on task.

5.     Don’t allow yourself to become distracted with unimportant details, many of which can be and should be delegated.  Focus on the heart of the activity and don’t “take your foot off of the pedal.”  Stay engaged until you have accomplished the task.  Do what you do best and let someone else do the rest.

6.     Never forget this principle: “You are the master of your own destiny.”  There are no excuses because it is all up to you.  Your choices, your effort, your skills, your actions and reactions are the reasons for your success, failure or mediocrity.  Knowing that you control your destiny should be empowering.  Remind yourself of that fact often and enjoy the power it brings.

7.     If not you, who? If not now, when? There are many responsibilities in life that you might shy away from doing or put off as long as you can.  Attack difficult and unpleasant tasks with a vengeance.  Master them and defeat them.  Don’t allow yourself to be controlled by your tasks, activities or circumstances.

8.     Think before you leap.  Henry Ford is quoted as saying, “Thinking is one of the most difficult tasks.  That is probably the reason so few people engage in doing it.”  Think through your activities and determine the best approach before you begin to move forward.  A good carpenter measures twice and cuts once.  In selling, think it through a couple of times before you take action.

9.     Actively identify needs that you can satisfy.  If there is no need then there will be no sale.  Salespeople who sell products or services that are not needed may make the first sale but they won’t enjoy repeat sales.  The only reason a salesperson has a job is to provide solutions to the customer’s problems.  Selling isn’t telling prospects and customers what you do and what you sell.  Selling is providing solutions to problems through the use of your products and services.

Think long terms.  You can work to find twelve customers who will each purchase from you once a year or you can find one customer who will buy from you every month.  Top salespeople know that selling is a long-term proposition.  Repeat sales, broad exposure within a company, referrals and introductions are a typical pattern found with top performers.