Sales can be simply summarized as the act of selling something to someone. Buying is an easy activity, while selling can sometimes be tough. So for an extra boost in your hustle, here are 189 inspirational sales quotes.
Inspirational Sales Quotes
1. You’re only as good as your last sale, so you put your all into something and just hope that from that you can get your next job. – Josh Peck
2. Begin by always expecting good things to happen. – Tom Hopkins
3. It’s not about having the right opportunities. It’s about handling the opportunities right. – Mark Hunter
4. Sales success comes after you stretch yourself past your limits on a daily basis. – Omar Periu
5. Expect the best, Prepare for the worst, Capitalize on what comes. – Zig Ziglar
6. Value the relationship more than making your quota. – Jeffrey Gitomer
7. Sales is the most important aspect of a company, which in turn is about how well you treat your customer and stay ahead of your customer’s requirements. – Mark Cuban
8. Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful. – Mark Victor Hansen
9. Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better. – Jim Rohn
10. Treat objections as requests for further information. – Brian Tracy
11. Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the prospect. – W. Clement Stone
12. Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships. – Stephen Covey
13. You don’t need a big close as many sales reps believe. You risk losing your customer when you save all the good stuff for the end. Keep the customer actively involved throughout your presentation, and watch your results improve. – Harvey Mackay
14. Make a customer, not a sale. – Katherine Barchetti
15. If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren’t doing enough asking. – Jack Canfield
16. Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible. – Tony Robbins
17. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time. – Thomas Edison
18. Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. – George Addair
19. Always do your best. What you plant now, will harvest later. – Og Mandino
20. Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things that you’d rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, drive through the other barrier. And after you’ve done that, to do it again the next day. – Seth Godin
21. 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
22. An effective process has the reps thinking in terms of ‘them’ as opposed to ‘us.’ – Trish Bertuzzi
23. Start working with your prospects as if they’ve already hired you. – Jill Konrath
24. If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. – John Wooden
25. Opportunities don’t happen. You create them. – Chris Grosser
26. Be an example. Are you prompt? Are you professional? Are you engaged? As sales leaders, we have to set the bar high for ourselves as well as our teams. – Lori Richardson
27. A salesperson’s ethics and values contribute more to sales success than do techniques or strategies. – Ron Willingham
28. Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation, there is sure to be failure. – Confucius
29. What you focus on is what you get. – Bob Burg
30. You don’t close a sale; you open a relationship if you want to build a long-term, successful enterprise. – Patricia Fripp
31. Companies should be selling ideas more than benefits. Sell Ideas. Not stuff. – Aaron Ross
32. The questions you ask are more important than the things you could ever say. – Thomas Freese
33. Far too often, salespeople get ahead of the prospect. They predict a close date based on their quota instead of on the prospect’s needs. The only way to know when a deal will close is to ask the customer. – Alice Heiman
34. Sellers who listen to buyers carefully and then give them the missing ingredients – those are the ones who stand out. – Deb Calvert
35. It’s no longer about interrupting, pitching and closing. It is about listening, diagnosing and prescribing. – Mark Roberge
36. Remember, people don’t believe it when WE say it, they believe it when THEY say it – Shari Levitin
37. You will attract way more buyers if you are offering to teach them something of value to them than you will ever attract by simply trying to sell them your product or service. – Chet Holmes
38. If you harness the power of innovation, you’ll convert sales complexity into a brutal competitive advantage. – Tim Sanders
39. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out. – Robert Collier
40. Filter everything you’re doing, saying and pitching and you’ll improve just about every metric you care about today. – Matt Heinz
41. If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time. – Steve Jobs
42. Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. – Bobby Unser
43. If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success. – John D Rockefeller
44. Numbers alone won’t fix anything. But they will help you identify where the problem is. – Steli Efti
45. Become the person who would attract the results you seek. – Jim Cathcart
46. Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going. – Sam Levenson
47. The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. – Walt Disney
48. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. – Mark Twain
49. Change before you have to. – Jack Welch
50. The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. – Thomas Paine
51. Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives. – Daniel Pink
52. I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. – Florence Nightingale
53. Well done is better than well said. – Benjamin Franklin
54. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky
55. It ain’t over ’til it’s over. – Yogi Berra
56. Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. – Vince Lombardi
57. Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting. – Christopher Morley
58. Trying is winning in the moment. – Dan Waldschmidt
59. Fall down seven times and stand up eight. – Proverb
60. If you aren’t going all the way, why go at all? – Joe Namath
61. Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. – William James
62. Whatever you are, be a good one. – Abraham Lincoln
63. Fortune favors the bold. – Virgil
64. Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts. – Winston Churchill
65. High expectations are the key to everything. – Sam Walton
66. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. – Frank Herbert
67. If you don’t give up on something you truly believe in, you will find a way. – Roy T. Bennett
68. Great things are done by a series of small things done together. – Vincent van Gogh
69. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do. – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
70. We generate fears while we sit. We overcome them by action. – Dr. Henry Link
71. What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle, and giving 110% all the time. – Don Zimmer
72. In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. – Albert Einstein
73. I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard. – Estée Lauder
74. I never lose. I either win or learn. – Nelson Mandela
75. Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. – Willie Nelson
76. Establishing trust is better than any sales technique. – Mike Puglia
77. Don’t bother telling the world you are ready. Show it. Do it. – Peter Dinklage
78. Refuse to attach a negative meaning to the word ‘no.’ View it as feedback. ‘No’ tells you to change your approach, create more value or try again later. – Anthony Iannarino
79. I am hitting my head against the walls, but the walls are giving way. – Gustav Mahler
80. If you want to improve productivity, you have to be relentless in terms of your focus on activity. – Jim Ninivaggi
81. Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
82. Past performance is not indicative of future results. – Stock exchange risk disclaimer
83. You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do. – Henry Ford
84. You just can’t beat the person who never gives up. – Babe Ruth
85. Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you. – Tony Hsieh
86. Ninety percent of selling is conviction and 10 percent is persuasion. – Shiv Khera
87. I like to think of sales as the ability to gracefully persuade, not manipulate, a person or persons into a win-win situation. – Bo Bennett
88. A-B-C. Always Be Closing. – Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross
89. Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running. – Christopher McDougall
90. Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them. – Ann Landers
91. We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over. – Conor McGregor
92. Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success. – Biz Stone
93. Be so good, they can’t ignore you. – Steve Martin
94. Dreams don’t work unless you do. – John C. Maxwell
95. Sell with a Story – Paul Smith
96. The start is what stops most people. – Don Shula
97. Without hustle, your talent will only get you so far. – Gary Vaynerchuck
98. Show up early, treat people with respect and perform at the highest levels until the world can’t deny you. – Grant Cardone
99. Most people think that “selling” is the same as “talking”. But effective salespeople know that listening is the most important part of their job. – Roy Bartell
100. Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period. – Pursuit of Happyness
101. Numbers of sales do not correspond to numbers of readers. – Michael Korda
102. So long as new ideas are created, sales will continue to reach new highs. – Dorothea Brande
103. Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make. – William Bernbach
104. The most unprofitable item ever manufactured is an excuse. – John Mason
105. You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. – Charles Robert Buxton
106. The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail. – Napoleon Hill
107. Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming. – Richard Branson
108. Take risks. If you win, you’ll be happy; if you lose, you’ll be wise. – Anonymous
109. There is always room at the top. – Daniel Webster
110. Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. – Dale Carnegie
111. The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph! – Marvin Phillips
112. The secret of man’s success resides in his insight into the moods of people, and his tact in dealing with them. – J. G. Holland
113. We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. – George S. Patton
114. I love working with customers. Sales has really influenced everything I do. It has instilled in me the important traits of operating with a sense of urgency and listening to people. – Jeffrey R. Immelt
115. Most of my career has been in sales. I spend 50% or more of my time with customers and employees, and I can’t wait for it to be more than 50%. – Anne M. Mulcahy
116. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. – Helen Keller
117. Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th. – Julie Andrews
118. Either I will find a way, or I will make one. – Philip Sydney
119. It’s the steady, quiet, plodding ones who win in the lifelong race. – Robert W. Service
120. As much as people are griping about the Internet taking sales away from artists, it’s been a huge promotional tool for me. – Al Yankovic
121. As a young entrepreneur starting an enterprise company, be prepared for the fact that you’ll need to get involved in enterprise sales. Everyone wants to speak to the founder, and this is also how you’ll get feedback on your product. It’s worth bringing in early somebody with enterprise sales experience. – Anthony Goldbloom
122. To succeed at selling a losing product, you must develop seriously superior sales techniques. In addition, you have to be massively competitive and incredibly hungry to survive in that environment. – Ben Horowitz
123. Really good customer service will deliver sales. You are training salesmen to give the best possible advice and then to achieve the sale. People actually like you to ask for a sale because it shows you value their business. – John Caudwell
124. Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. – Theodore Roosevelt
125. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. – Arthur Ashe
126. I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down. – Mia Hamm
127. Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. Don’t sell out. – Christopher Reeve
128. Don’t be casually committed to your profession. If your best is 70%, you’re 30% short, and your earnings will reflect that shortcoming.
129. All progress takes place outside the comfort zone. – Michael John Bobak
130. A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him. – David Brinkley
131. If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on. – Sheryl Sandberg
132. Successful people ask a lot more questions during sales calls than do their less successful colleagues. – Neil Rackham
133. What we dwell on is who we become. – Oprah Winfrey
134. The first part of success is ‘Get-to-it-iveness’; the second part of success is ‘Stick-to-it-iveness’. – Orison Marden
135. On any given Monday I am one sale closer and one idea away from being a millionaire. – Larry D. Turner
136. You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle
137. Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals. – David Ogilvy
138. I still work hard to know my business. I’m continuously looking for ways to improve all my companies, and I’m always selling. Always. – Mark Cuban
139. I think sales is the most important skill set young people can learn. Understanding how to pitch an idea with confidence and secure a client are valuable skills that apply to every single aspect of business. – Jennifer Hyman
140. There’s no lotion or potion that will make sales faster and easier for you – unless your potion is hard work. – Jeffery Gitomer
141. Goals aren’t enough. You need goals plus deadlines: goals big enough to get excited about and deadline to make you run. One isn’t much good without the other, but together they can be tremendous. – Ben Feldman
142. Excellence is not a skill. It’s an attitude. – Ralph Marston
143. Sales success comes from the right balance of quality human interaction and appropriate use of supplemental tools. – Deb Calvert
144. Tough times never last, but tough people do. – Robert Schuller
145. How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win. – Gilbert K. Chesterton
146. Success is the culmination of failures, mistakes, false starts, confusion, and the determination to keep going anyway. – Nick Gleason
147. You can never quit. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. – Ted Turner
148. Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. – John F. Kennedy
149. Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. – Michael Jordan
150. Action is the foundational key to all success. – Pablo Picasso
151. The secret of success is consistency of purpose. – Benjamin Disraeli
152. The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland. – Jeff Haden
153. Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. – Abraham Lincoln
154. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
155. Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way. – Les Brown
156. If football taught me anything about business, it is that you win the game one play at a time. – Fran Tarkenton
157. Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable. – Coco Chanel
158. Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. – Fred Rogers
159. If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. – Josh Billings
160. Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit. – Conrad Hilton
161. How you sell matters. What your process is matters. But how your customers feel when they engage with you matters more. – Tiffani Bova
162. Sales is not about selling anymore, but about building trust and educating. – Siva Devaki
163. When reps take the role of a curious student rather than an informed expert, buyers are much more inclined to engage. – Jeff Hoffman
164. Care enough to create value for customers. If you get that part right, selling is easy. – Anthony Iannarino
165. If your sales have tanked, maybe the issue is not your lack of sales skills, but you are rushing the knowing and trusting aspects of the buying process. – Leanne Hoagland-Smith
166. You need to be able to paint a picture in a conversation. The lost part of sales is the storytelling side. – Richard Harris
167. The best salespeople wonder what it would be like to be in the other person’s shoes. They know they can’t play that game unless they continually strive to train themselves in how we as human beings communicate. – Bob Phibbs
168. 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. – Jill Konrath
169. Every brand isn’t for everybody, and everybody isn’t for every brand. – Liz Lange
170. Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. – Samuel Johnson
171. If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. – Milton Berle
172. The way you position yourself at the beginning of a relationship has profound impact on where you end up. – Ron Karr
173. Nothing happens until someone sells something. – Peter Drucker
174. Every time your customers purchase from you, they’re deciding that they value what you have to offer more than they value anything else their money could buy at that moment. – Josh Kaufman
175. The sale most often goes to the most interested party. – Steve Chandler
176. To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas. – Leo Burnett
177. Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates
178. There is no royal road; you’ve got to work a good deal harder than most people want to work. – Charles Wilson
179. We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in. – Arianna Huffington
180. I’m not afraid to take a swing and miss. – Fred Smith
181. Train yourself to let go of the things you fear to lose. – George Lucas
182. Success is best when it’s shared. – Howard Shultz
183. I talk a lot about taking risks, and then I follow that up very quickly by saying ‘take prudent risks.’ – Irene Rosenfeld
184. Make every detail perfect, and limit the number of details to perfect. – Jack Dorsey
185. A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well. – Jeff Bezos
186. Life is too short to spend your time avoiding failure. – Michael Bloomberg
187. Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing. – Warren Buffet
188. We must focus on purposes instead of just setting goals, for long-term vision is what keeps us from being frustrated by short-term failure. – Dan Clark
189. Ask that extra question. It’s that one little extra question that makes the difference. – Steve Richard