On a working day where your team is more likely to hear ‘no’ than ‘yes’, a motivational quote or two can go some way to providing a pick-me-up just when they need it. If it’s your job to rally a sales team to get the results they need, then these motivational quotes could just be the inspiration they need.
From the leaders, thinkers, business greats and icons of our time, these are some of the best motivational quotes from the people who have been there and got the t-shirt and can now share their wise words with the next generation of people to follow in their footsteps.
Whilst most of these can be applicable for a variety of situations, read on to see why we think they’re perfectly suited for motivating sales teams, and the best ways to use them so you can take them away to use this week to power up your team when the going gets tough.
What Are Motivational Quotes?
A motivational quote is a phrase, saying, or direct quote from somebody else (usually of historical significance or popular culture) that can give an individual the boost they need to progress. Whether that progression is to keep going, try a different approach, aim higher, or start something for the first time, a motivational quote at an opportune moment can be used at home or work when you need a little extra something to power through.
Whilst no quote provides super powers, they can serve as a useful reminder that many people have already been through what you’re experiencing. They can give you the nudge needed to remember that you’re in control of your thoughts and actions, and that what happens next, really is down to you and nobody else. This brings us to why they can be so useful as motivational tools in sales teams.
Why Should Sales Teams Use Motivational Tools?
Whilst the best salespeople might seem like they’re always upbeat and winning at life, salespeople are human too and even the thickest armour can take a beating on a tough sales day, week or month. Strong sales motivation matters here, because motivational quotes can boost sales team productivity. Therefore, as a sales manager, sales managers often use motivational tools to boost morale and maintain quality performance during difficult periods, so you can rally the troops, get them back in the game and on their way to their next successful sale in no time.
If you’re a sales team manager, then you’ve likely worked your way up from doing the job that you’re now managing others to do. You’ve been there, you know how hard sales can be, but you also know how rewarding it is to succeed and celebrate when you smash your sales goals.
Your team looks to you for guidance so whether it’s the beginning of a new month, or a last-minute scramble before the end of the reporting period, using motivation tools is a tried and tested way for sales leaders to encourage reps, encourage teams to work together, and remember that the strongest sales teams compete together, not against each other, so they get the best out of people and help them to achieve their potential.
To help your team meet their targets, remind them why they love what they do, or give them the pick-me-up they need after losing a sale or hearing ‘no’ for the 99th time today, motivational tools like motivational quotes can tick all the boxes, and a positive mindset makes salespeople more effective at closing deals and helps them achieve targets.
25 Motivational Sales Quotes & When They Work
If you’re looking for simple but effective motivation sales quotes that inspire your team, then we think there is something to resonate with everyone in the list below.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time” – Thomas Edison. One to use when it’s been a tough day and your team can’t see a reason to carry on. Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm, and moving forward after rejection is what builds a successful salesperson.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing”. – Walt Disney. The perfect quote to end your team meetings with and send your team on their way to get the job done.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain. One of those inspirational sales quotes that works best when your team is overthinking and needs a push to take action quickly.
“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.” – Marian Wright Edelman This quote could strike the right note when your team has taken a battering and needs a reminder that you don’t need them to close every time, but they are good at what they do.
“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later”. – Og Mandino. A great reminder that sales is a numbers game and they just have to keep doing what they do well because eventually, that call, meeting or email they delivered could turn fruitful at any time in the future. Today’s effort is tomorrow’s revenue, and that steady work is what leads to making sales over time.
“It’s not about having the right opportunities. It’s about handling the opportunities right.” – Mark Hunter. This is a timely reminder that it doesn’t matter who is on your team’s call list, if they handle the contacts they are given well, the successes that could follow are in their hands for the taking.
“Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” – Michelle Obama. A great quote for those ranking at either the top or the bottom of the sales ranking to remind them that they’re dealing with people at the end of the day, not numbers, and their interactions can have a big impact on somebody else’s day. People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons, which is why the difference you make matters.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt. If you have sales reps that feel their losses hard, then this quote can remind them that it’s not you or the company making them feel bad, it’s their mind, and they have the power to turn that frown upside down!
“Don’t try to do everything by yourself, but try to connect with people and resources. Having that discipline and perseverance is really important.” -Chieu Cao. Whilst salespeople can often seem like lone rangers that are ruthless in it for the win types, teamwork really does make sales easier. Keep your team focused on teamwork, helping each other out and continually making new connections as you never know when they may prove useful.
“No matter how many customers you have, each is an individual. The day you start thinking of them as this amorphous ‘collection’ and stop thinking of them as people is the day you start going out of business.” – Dharmesh Shah. Another reminder that sales aren’t just about the numbers. Focus on building customer relationships, and fixing genuine problems, and you will have a returning client base. Strong relationships also support long-term success and help build a successful enterprise.
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” -Jim Rohn. From a motivational speaker known for practical advice, this is a useful reminder that results come from habits and follow-through, not mere talent.
“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth. If the team’s top-tier performers’ results are deflating the rest of your team, this quote might give them the nudge they need to keep going when they realise that ability not to give up brings consistent results.
“You can’t give up! If you give up, you’re like everybody else.” – Chris Evert. Similar to the previous one but reminds people to be the difference that they want to see. Nobody else can do it for them, so they’ve got to keep going.
“Nothing is impossible; the word itself says ‘I’m possible!” -Audrey Hepburn. A positive play on words that could provide the grit and determination needed during a tough day at the office when the odds seem stacked against the team.
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein. Having this positive mindset ingrained within your team really can make a difference in how they react when the going gets tough. Teach them to seek out the positives and find alternative wins, even if plan A didn’t go to plan.
“Prospecting – find the man with the problem.” – Ben Friedman. Whilst the hamster wheel of top of the funnel lead conversions and sales can feel never-ending, you’re much more likely to make that close if you can present the solution to people’s problems. This is a great reminder to bring that human touch to sales again and not take the same approach to everyone you meet as one size doesn’t fit all. Great salespeople don’t sell products—they solve problems, and sales is about selling ideas, not stuff.
“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. You can discover a lot of information by listening. Listen to your customer’s wants, needs, and problems, and you will find it much easier to provide them with the solutions they need. Don’t find customers for your products; find products for your customers. This in turn is more likely to make them warm to you and give the results you want over bursting into a generic sales monologue for every new person you speak to.
“Great things are done by a series of small things done together.” – Vincent van Gogh. Another quote to showcase that consistency is key. Sales aren’t always about closing over and over again. Less often, but consistent wins also add up to great achievements. If just one or two of your sales opportunities are closed each day, that’s 30-60 in a month and over 360 in a year.
“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”* – Henry Ford. A twist on the classic ‘put your money where your mouth is’. A great one for new team members who are confident in their abilities but have yet to demonstrate them. This one will send them on their way with the fire to prove they can do what they say they can do.
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs. A good reminder that persistence matters, especially when maintaining motivation feels difficult during a long spell of knockbacks.
“Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford. A motivational quote that reminds us that we are all our own biggest limiters or cheerleader. It’s time to get your team to believe that if they think good things, then good things will happen.
“True productivity comes from allowing yourself to make mistakes. Do so, and you’ll succeed more often than any ten perfectionists.” – Laura Stack. We are all human and we all make mistakes. In high-pressure, results-driven environments it can be hard to remember this, so this is one to bring out when team members have lost sales they could easily have won if they’d done something differently. Every rejection is a lesson. Every lesson makes you better.
“You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.” – John Mason. From a motivational speaker who pushed personal responsibility, this is a strong reminder that reps need to take accountability, create opportunities, and own success.
“Great sellers go into a meeting with multiple next steps; this allows them to proactively respond if a plan does not unfold as planned.” – Tibor Shanto. Similar to always finding a positive in every situation, by taking this attitude into calls and meetings with prospects and clients, it’s a great way to set your team up for maximum success. It also helps with closing deals and winning more deals when crucial sales calls do not go to plan.
“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman, not the attitude of the prospect.” -– W. Clement Stone. You cannot control if a buyer is having a bad day, but you control your own preparation, tone, and persistence. Do not assume a prospect is not interested before you at least try.
Ways To Use Motivational Sales Quotes
The key to using motivational quotes is timing them to ensure that they have the biggest impact. Well-timed sales motivation quotes can boost a sales team morale. Nobody wants or needs to have motivational quotes shouted at them across the room every time they get up to make a cup of tea or hang their head as another phone is put down on them, and they’re not much use in an email sent late at night either.
Instead, you should try these 5 simple ways that you can use the best motivational sales quotes to reach your team when they need them, because inspirational quotes work best when they reinforce a positive mindset, without going overboard.
5 Ways To Share Quotes With Your Sales Team
Here are a few simple ways to share sales team motivational quotes in everyday workflows:
Send in a daily or weekly email – this is best timed first thing in the morning or at the beginning of the week to set your team up with the right frame of mind for the day or week ahead and help sales professionals start with laser-like focus.
Post on a sales screen – In high-volume sales teams, it’s often the case that sales are recorded on a screen or board in the office that shows the whole team and the individual’s within its performance. Adding your motivational quotes to this can keep the top-performing going and give a boost to those needing to pick things up when checking the stats for the week or month. It also helps connect effort to the sales pipeline, so visible progress can motivate reps who are moving forward toward closing sales.
Post on company intranet – if your team logs into an intranet first thing every day, then make the first thing they see an inspiring sales quote that will get their fires burning. This is especially useful for any sales agent and other team members who start the day in a shared system.
Use posters in break rooms – Employees have the most time to reflect and give themselves a pep talk when they step away from their desks. Give them something positive to shape their thoughts and impact their performance in the right way by sharing motivational quotes in break rooms, toilets or refreshment areas. Personalized quote calendars are another low-effort way to provide daily motivation for sales reps and strengthen team spirit.
Share in a daily meeting – If you meet with your sales team regularly, ending the meeting with a quote that will motivate them to think differently or to do well today is a great way to send them on their way with positivity in their minds. It can also encourage salespeople before crucial sales calls and keep everyone moving forward with a positive attitude.
Summary
Sales is a numbers game. For every 100 calls the team makes or emails your team sends, only a handful will result in prospects being converted to leads, opportunities progressing and closing sales consistently through rejection, not just volume. This is why salespeople need the occasional motivational quote to help them to push through the tough days.
If it’s been a while since their last successful meeting, call or email, or you simply like to share regular motivational boosts, it’s your job as a sales team manager to motivate your team to do well and to keep going throughout the day.
Because sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesperson, not the attitude of the prospect, keeping that energy up can make all the difference and result in greater sales success.
On a working day where your team is more likely to hear ‘no’ than ‘yes’, a motivational quote or two can go some way to providing a pick-me-up just when they need it. If it’s your job to rally a sales team to get the results they need, then these motivational quotes could just be the inspiration they need.
From the leaders, thinkers, business greats and icons of our time, these are some of the best motivational quotes from the people who have been there and got the t-shirt and can now share their wise words with the next generation of people to follow in their footsteps.
Whilst most of these can be applicable for a variety of situations, read on to see why we think they’re perfectly suited for motivating sales teams, and the best ways to use them so you can take them away to use this week to power up your team when the going gets tough.
The key to using motivational quotes is timing them to ensure that they have the biggest impact. Well-timed sales motivation quotes can boost a sales team morale. Nobody wants or needs to have motivational quotes shouted at them across the room every time they get up to make a cup of tea or hang their head as another phone is put down on them, and they’re not much use in an email sent late at night either.
