5 Powerful Habits of the Wealthiest Salespeople Focus on money-making tasks only.
By Marc Wayshak Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There are good salespeople, and then there are the wealthiest salespeople in the world.
Take Phil for example. Phil is a salesperson at an insurance company. He earns $700,000 per year in commissions. He does this in an organization where the average salesperson earns $75,000 per year. Phil not only out-earned every other salesperson in his company last year; he also out-earned the CEO. That's what I call a wealthy salesperson.
Related: 6 Ways to Build a Billion-Dollar Sales Machine
Super-rich salespeople who earn six or seven figures a year are hard to come by. So how can you become one of them, and start to crush your sales goals? Although they span industry and region, the wealthiest salespeople all share several key practices. Check out these five habits of the most successful people in sales:
1. They sell to the top.
Rich salespeople never waste their time with non-decision makers who don't have the power or budget to invest in their solutions. Think about it this way. The hourly rate of wealthy salespeople is several hundred dollars per hour, which is more than that of the top lawyers at a big NYC law firm. These salespeople understand that meeting with a low-level prospect only costs them money. If you want to achieve the income levels of truly rich salespeople, then you have to stop pitching to mid-level management and only sell to high-level prospects.
2. They make bigger sales, not more sales.
This is, in general, one of the biggest misconceptions about successful salespeople. Most people think that rich salespeople are closing more sales than their competitors, but that's simply not true. Instead, they're closing much bigger sales. In fact, top salespeople only go after massive sales at larger companies. Shift your focus to those big deals, and you'll quickly find that while they take the same amount of work as an average sale, the payoff is exponentially higher.
Related: 7 Closing Strategies to Double Your Average Sale Size
3. They only focus on money-making tasks.
There are two types of tasks you do each day -- those that make money and those that do not. Rich salespeople are crystal clear on which tasks make money, and they only do those things. They outsource absolutely everything else, such as paperwork, order fulfillment and customer service. Top salespeople focus on prospecting, sales meetings, key customer meetings and the occasional ballgame with critical clients.
4. They know how to get leverage.
When most salespeople make a sale, they pat themselves on the back and go after the next opportunity. Rich salespeople, on the other hand, see today's sale as a stepping stone to a much bigger opportunity tomorrow. Your new and existing customers can be powerful resources for new business. Rich salespeople understand this and rely heavily on personal introductions to valuable leads.
Related: You Have 3 Goals the First Time You Meet a Potential Client. Popularity Is Not One of Them.
5. They prioritize outcomes over to-dos.
You probably have 25 to-dos to complete today -- and if you get through all of those tasks, you probably aren't going to be any richer than you were when you woke up this morning. You also have some key outcomes that you'd like to achieve, such as developing new relationships with ideal prospects, closing large sales and renewing existing accounts. However, you keep letting to-dos you view as "urgent" distract you from those outcomes that matter most. Rich salespeople don't make that mistake. Toss out your to-do list, and focus on the outcomes that make you money.
Do you have the habits of a rich salesperson or an average salesperson? What changes will you make to model your approach after six-figure earners like Phil? For even more great sales advice, check out this free report, 3 Closing Questions You MUST Ask.
