I recently read Be a Sales Superstar: 21 Great Ways to Sell More, Faster, Easier in Tough Markets by Brian Tracy. Let me tell you, I LOVE this book. It’s one of my favorite selling books of all time. It’s well organized, easy to read and absolutely loaded with great tips.
Be a Sales Superstar: Top Brian Tracy Quotes
What I want to do in the rest of this post is share some of my favorite Brian Tracy quotes from the book. Each quote is in bold and italics. At the end of each quote I will provide my own thoughts about it. Enjoy.
# 1: Everyone is in sales, no matter what you do. Your entire life is a continuous process of communicating, persuading, and influencing other people.
When people tell you they don’t like to sell they are lying to you. Most people think of sales as high pressure sales. At the end of the day we all sell things every day of our lives. If nothing else, we sell our ideas and thoughts to other people.
# 2: Small differences in ability in key areas can lead to enormous differences in results.
Focus on getting a little bit better every single day. Continuous improvement, over a sustained period of time, really adds up. I call it the power of incremental growth.
# 3: The better you become at selling, the more opportunities will open up for you.
Once you learn how to sell, you offer a ton of value to the marketplace and will never have trouble finding a job or opportunity.
# 4: Your outer world tends to be a reflection of your inner world. You invariably attract into your life the people, the circumstances, the opportunities, and even the sales that are in harmony with your dominant thoughts.
Work on yourself. Grow, learn and change. In order to change your outer world you must first change your inner world.
# 5: You become what you think about most of the time.
Our thoughts become our habits. Our habits become our reality. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.
# 6: Top salespeople are far more optimistic than average people.
Keep a positive outlook about life. Be realistic, but focus on the good in people (and situations).
# 7: Your self-esteem is directly related to how much you sell.
If you don’t feel good about yourself, you will struggle in this profession (and any other profession).
# 8: The more you like yourself the better you do.
It’s hard to succeed at anything when you don’t think highly of yourself. If you struggle with low self-esteem or worthiness issues, please get some help from a counselor or minister.
# 9: Everyone who is in the top 10 percent today started in the bottom 10 percent!
Every successful person you will ever meet started out unsuccessful. You must fail your way to success, just like everyone else did.
# 10: The world is full of people who are wishing, hoping, and praying for their lives to be better, but they never make the kind of do or die decision that leads to great success.
If you really want something you need to set a goal, make a plan, and get after it. Success will not just be handed to you.
# 11: Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are, and always have been, the greatest enemies of success and happiness.
Action cures fear. Do the things you fear and the fear will go away. On the other hand, the longer you sit around and worry about things, the more your worry will grow.
# 12: Instead of waiting to feel courageous enough, do the thing you fear, and the courage will come afterward.
The more you do something the less you will fear it.
# 13: Selling has often been called a transfer of enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm is the most powerful thing you have going for you. Your job is to transfer your enthusiasm (the seller) to the buyer.
# 14: Top salespeople see themselves as consultants rather than salespeople.
Think of yourself as a teacher. Your job is to educate your prospect, not pressure them or convince them to purchase something they don’t want.
# 15: Perhaps the most important single determinant of whether or not someone buy from you is how that person thinks and feels about you.
People like to do business with people they know, like and trust.
# 16: Once a customer views you as a consultant and as a friend, he or she will never buy from anyone else, not matter what the small differences might be in price or product/service features.
Once again, people like to do business with people they know, like and trust. If you can form a solid “relationship” with your client, you won’t have to worry about your competition.
# 17: Preparation is the mark of the professional – in every field. Be prepared for every presentation you give.
Anticipate objections. Learn what you can about your prospect ahead of time. Each moment spent planning will save you time, money and frustration on the other end.
# 18: To earn more you must learn more.
The more you grow as a person the more money you will make. For things to get better you must get better. We all get paid based upon the value we bring to the marketplace.
# 19: Invest 3 percent of your income back into yourself.
Never stop investing in yourself. It’s the only investment you can’t lose money with. Read books, listen to tapes, attend events, hire coaches and do whatever you can to learn and improve.
# 20: The biggest mistake you can ever make is to think you work for anyone but yourself.
No matter who signs your paycheck, you are still your own boss.
# 21: The highest paid sales professionals in every field accept 100 percent responsibility for their lives and for everything that happens to them.
You will not make it to the top with a victim mentality. Man up or woman up and accept that the buck stops with you.
# 22: You are paid for results, not activities.
As a salesperson or entrepreneur, you are only paid when you produce and make the cash register ring. Do not confuse busy work with income producing activities.
# 23: If your prospect says something like “I want to think it over,” what he or she is really saying is “You have not aroused my buying desire enough for me to want to proceed at this time.”
You must be prepared to handle this objection. It is very common.
# 24: Fully 85 percent of the happiness and success you enjoy in life will be determined by the quality of your relationship with others.
Make more friends. Be nice to people. Value your friendships with others.
# 25: All of your selling success today, and for the rest of your career, will be based on the quality of the relationships that you form with your customers.
Put the relationship first. Everything else will fall into place.
# 26: For most customers today, the relationship comes first.
Treat people the way they want to be treated. Be nice to people. Add the personal touch. Do the little things that most businesses don’t do.
# 27: The bigger the sale and the longer the life of the product or service are, the more important the relationship is in making the sale.
You will need a strong level of trust with your customers if you are selling them high ticket items.
# 28: A major reason that prospects do not buy is because they do not fully understand what you are selling and how they can use and benefit from it.
Find out what the other person wants and show them how what you have to offer can fill that want.
# 29: You position yourself as a teacher, rather than a salesperson.
Focus on educating your prospect, and advising them, rather than hard-selling them.
# 30: Fully 80 percent of the reason that qualified prospects do not buy a product or service is because they are afraid of making a mistake.
You need to understand this when you are talking with people. When possible, try to include the common “concerns” people might have as part of your closing process.
# 31: Follow the leaders, not the followers.
Hang out with the top 10% of the sales force, not the bottom 90%. More importantly, spend time with your best customers, not your problem ones.
# 32 Dress well when you visit customers.
Try to make a great impression with your customer.
# 33: Everything you do in a sales presentation either helps or hurts.
What you say and do is either helping you or hurting you.
# 34: Every prospect has questions and concerns about your offering that must be dealt with effectively before he or she can proceed with confidence.
Expect objections and questions. Most people will have them. It’s very normal. Know the common objections and how to overcome them.
# 35: Objections are good.
Objections means the prospect needs more information before they can make a decision. It also means they are interested.
# 36: Successful sales have twice as many objections as unsuccessful sales.
This is very interesting. Once again, objections are normal. It’s your ability to overcome them that matters most.
# 37: The first rule in handling objections effectively is that you should hear them out completely, without interrupting.
When you prospect has an objection, be quiet and listen to them. This will help give you the information you need to overcome it.
# 38: Price is seldom the reason for buying or not buying anything.
Most people are not price shoppers. People buy things based upon value, not price.
# 39: The person who asks the questions has control.
If you want to stay in control of the conversation, get good at asking questions and listening.
# 40: The first rule in dealing with price objections is never to argue or defend your prices.
When people argue about the price, just listen. Don’t try to explain things or justify your prices.
# 41: Customers today do not want the lowest price.
Once again, most people are not price shoppers. People want a good value for the money they do spend.
# 42: Your ability to ask for the order at the end of the presentation or at the end of the sales process is absolutely essential to your success.
At the end of every presentation, you MUST ask for the order. Look your prospect in the eyes and ask them to take out their credit card and buy. You will miss 100% of the sales you do not ask for.
# 43: Often a prospect doesn’t know how much he or she wants what you are selling until you offer to take care of all the details.
Make the buying process as easy as possible for your prospect.
# 44: Most sales are closed only after the fifth time the salesperson asks the prospect to make a buying decision.
You have to keep following up with your prospects UNTIL they are ready to buy. Very seldom will someone purchase on the initial call or presentation.
# 45: The second thing I discovered was that there was very little difference in talent or ability between the high performers and the low performers, except for the way they used their time.
How you spend your time will dictate how successful you become in selling or business. Keep the main thing the main thing and work smart.
# 46: Selling is very much a numbers game.
Work the numbers and everything will fall into place. What you lack in skills you can make up for in numbers.
# 47: Spend 80 percent of your time prospecting and presenting and only 20 percent of your time following up.
This is a great time management concept.
# 48: Avoid spending all your time calling back on prospects who won’t give you a yes or a no.
Don’t chase people who can’t or won’t make a decision. In fact, don’t chase anyone.
# 49: Do not waste your precious selling time with nice people who do not have the authority, money or ability to buy from you.
Spend all of your time with prospects who have the money and desire to buy what you are selling.
# 50: Spend more time with better prospects.
Spend your time with people who have the money and are qualified to buy what you are selling.
# 51: Sometimes the best use of your time is to break off discussions with a poor prospect before you waste too much time going down a blind alley.
Don’t waste your time with a bad prospect.
# 52: Never allow yourself to run out of prospects. Keep your funnel full.
Add new people to your pipeline every single day. If you do that, you will always have a nice steady flow of new sales.
# 53: You are only working when you are prospecting, presenting and following up.
These are the only activities that you get paid for in your business.
# 54: It is not the number of hours that you put in each day that counts but the amount of direct selling work you put into those hours.
Selling is about being productive, not just being busy. Someone who works one hour per day can outperform someone who works eight hours per day if they are organized and work smart.
About Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy is one of my most respected mentors. He is one of the top management consultants, trainers and speakers in the world. He trains thousands of managers in corporations large and small, all over the world, each year, on the subjects of strategy, management, personnel selection, hiring, firing and motivating people. Brian Tracy has written 16 books and produced more than 300 audio and video programs, some of which have been translated into as many as 20 languages and are offered in 38 countries. He speaks four languages and has spoken on management subjects in 23 countries. Visit his website to learn more.
About the Book
The book was published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers in August 2003. It comes in soft-cover and Kindle format. It is 166-pages. The ISBN is 978-1576752739. As of December 2015, the book has 25 reviews on Amazon with an average 4.5 star rating.
Final Thoughts
Be a Sales Superstar: 21 Great Ways to Sell More, Faster, Easier in Tough Markets by Brian Tracy is a great book. If you are thinking about a career in sales, entrepreneurship, or network marketing, I highly recommend the book. Overall, I give it a 9 of 10 and consider it a must read.
On a side note, I would love to hear from you. What is your favorite Brian Tracy quote from Be a Sales Superstar? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts. Have a nice day!
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I am a huge fan of Brian Tracy also. He writes and speaks straight and pulls no punches. I really enjoy the variety of quotes you listed here Chuck. Some of the ones that really hit home are: #14: if we consider ourselves consultants rather than salespeople, we will live to educate instead of living to sell, and the sales will come. #33 is so true. I remember that a sales manager at a top rated home improvement manufacture used to tell reps to only speak when you are presenting the product and consider all words carefully, because one wrong word can mean disaster, and one right word can mean a huge sale. Think before you speak.
Thank you for sharing all these quotes Chuck.
Yes, those are both great quotes.