I was recently asked this question, and I sat down to try and come up with a definitive group. I’ve got to admit, after an 11+ year career of sales and challenging myself to get better, I’ve got quite a library to narrow down.

I believe momentum doesn’t just happen to you. If you want it you have to create it yourself, right now, by getting up and getting started.

Sales is a results-oriented game, so it’s easy to focus on the results and assume that with your eye on the prize, everything else will magically fall into place. That’s only partially true – it’s not the whole story.

You’d be surprised to find out how often that attitude check at the door is all that stands between you and what you want.

I want to challenge you to think about the thing that is holding you back. 99% of the time that thing is you, and it’s time you stopped making excuses.

Within weeks of employing this system, my effectiveness was off the charts, and everything seemed like a win. I doubled the business in my new position in less than six months.

The frequency of the message is not nearly as important as the perceived value of the message. Understand this concept, and you’ll never be considered a pest again.

Don’t kid yourself. Chasing infinite efficiency is a fool’s errand. You’re a human being, not a robot. The water cooler is not the only reason you don’t put in eight productive hours at the office.

If you’re really in touch with your customers, you’ll know the real reasons they buy. You’ll also know by now, that those reasons don’t have a whole lot to do with what is in the copy on your website, or printed on your brochures.

What’s more responsible for your success, your acumen or your corporate credit card?

If you cultivate an environment where you look out for your customers’ best interests, and provide enough value, you’ll find that they’ll do the same for you.

You may not think you’re the funniest person in every room you walk into, and you don’t have to be. Just remember the little things that make all the difference between making a real connection with your customer, and just another sales call.

Sometimes eggs break- and that’s what it takes to make an amazing meal. Spend more time thinking about what things could be instead of what they’re not right now.

Following up with prospects is arguably the most-missed sales opportunity. You may think of follow up as sending a note or calling to check in. I think about follow up as continually providing value after initial contact.

Sales is not about taking orders, you know how to do that. Sales is about earning orders. Earning orders requires that you stimulate tension.

What would happen if you differentiated yourself by not asking the same questions that have been asked by sales professionals for the past 40 years?

Selling is hard. There is no way around it. Even high-achieving salespeople fail twice as often as they succeed. It’s critical to keep your wits about you in this line of work.

How many salespeople don’t actually have a perspective on sales? They may have views. I’m sure they have opinions. But so many people are dug into a specific process or system that doesn’t allow them any field of vision.

Ten things you might think motivate your customers to buy from you, and ten real reasons why the do.

Take a deep breath (or ten). Get some calm. Find some focus. Gain some clarity. Then go out and be great.