Strategies for Sales Rep Success

Most salespeople hear their customers talking. But they're not actually listening. After 20+ years watching thousands of sales calls, I've discovered the 3 strategies that separate the top 1% from everyone else 👇 Strategy 1: The 10-Second Rule When a customer stops talking, count to 10 before responding. Sounds simple? Most reps can't make it past 3. But magic happens in those silent moments: • Customers elaborate on their real pain • Hidden objections surface naturally • You process what they ACTUALLY said Try it on your next call. You'll be amazed what comes out. Strategy 2: The Mirror Method Don't just repeat their words. Reflect their emotions. Customer: "We've tried 3 different solutions already." Average rep: "So you've tried 3 solutions?" Elite rep: "Sounds frustrating investing time in solutions that didn't deliver." One acknowledges facts. The other shows you GET them. Strategy 3: The Note-Taking Hack Here's where my secret weapon comes in... I used to miss crucial details trying to take notes AND listen. Now? I use Otter.ai on every call. It captures everything while I stay 100% present. I catch the subtle cues. The hesitations. The excitement. Post-call, I review the transcript and spot patterns I missed. My close rate went up 23% just from being fully present. The best part? Otter shows customers you value every word. "Are you recording this?" they ask. "Absolutely. Your insights are too valuable to miss." They love it. They open up more. Deals move faster. Because when people feel truly heard, they buy. Not convinced? Try it yourself. https://lnkd.in/ewux7QDE Your customers (and commission) will thank you. What's your secret to better listening on sales calls? 👇

Most reps are trying to close bigger deals by writing better cold emails or using the latest AI automation. That might get you meetings. But it won’t get you contracts. You want to close multi 6 and 7 figure deals consistently? You need to master the skill almost nobody is willing to talk about. ➡️Business acumen. Here’s what that actually looks like (and how I used it to close massive enterprise deals in my career). #1 Study how businesses really work. I dove into profit and loss statements, earnings transcripts, and cash flow reports. Not because it was “fun.” Because I needed to understand how my buyers thought about money, growth, and risk. Salespeople who don’t know how their prospects make decisions will always be treated like amateurs. #2 Read what your customers are reading. I’ve read over 1,000 books. Not just sales books. Business books. Leadership books. Biographies. Decision-making frameworks. If an SVP or CFO mentioned a book in passing, I bought it and read it. Most reps can’t hold a real business conversation because they’re stuck in “sales rep speak.” That’s why they get ghosted by execs. #3 Get in the rooms where decisions happen. I invited myself to cross-department meetings. Ops. CS. Finance. Product. I wanted to see how they thought and what they prioritized. Later, I sat in on executive strategy meetings. I wasn’t there to pitch. I was there to listen, learn, and think like a decision-maker. #4 Go visit clients. In person. While everyone else hid behind email, I went onsite. I watched how their teams worked. I asked real questions. I walked the floor. When it was time to pitch, I wasn’t pitching a product. I was pitching a custom solution for how they actually operated. Game changer. #5 Play the long game. I followed up with prospects for years. No “just checking in.” I added value. I solved problems. I worked with other stakeholders at no revenue to me. When they were ready to buy, I wasn’t the vendor. I was the obvious choice. #6 Demonstrate deep preparation. I carried what I called my “blue folder.” Every ENT meeting, I pulled out a thick file. Notes. Research. Earnings reports. Highlights. Workflows. Historical context. Prospects would literally pause and say, “Wow. You’ve really done your homework.” It built instant trust and credibility. Most reps are out here trying to sell like it’s 2018. Good emails. Decent social content. Basic follow up. That’s table stakes. If you want to close real deals, you need to do the unsexy work. Deep business acumen. Long term relationship building. Creativity. Critical thinking. That’s how you go from sales rep to trusted advisor. And why buyers choose you when it’s time to sign. Want to go even deeper? Check this out, the REAL reason $500k sales rep outperform everyone else: https://lnkd.in/gDn-UHd4

Last week I spoke with an enterprise AE at F100 company who closed over $5M in 2023 (3x his quota). The surprising part? He generated 90% from Linkedin. Here’s what the enterprise social selling playbook looks like: 1. Community: Successful sales reps are constantly enhancing their community on Linkedin. They invite key prospects, customers and other stakeholders to their network. As an AE or Exec, it helps to stay in the same domain over time so you can engage with the same community but across different employers. The compounding effect of your network is exponential. 2. Content: Engage frequently with your community. Stay ahead of the curve and ensure your content reflects that. Not all content has to be original and unique. Most Linkedin users are looking to consume content that will help them be better at their job today. Share best practices, success stories and recommendations. If you stay in the same domain, the quality of your content will grow as you build trust within your community. 3. Signals: Get a good understanding of the triggers and signals that impact demand in your target segment. Use these signals to focus your attention on select individuals as they become active. 4. Offer Help: Be mindful of any request for assistance within your community. If you are going to stay in the same domain for long, expect your community to do the same. Offer to assist even if it does not directly help your business. Chances are these interactions will lead to deep relationships in the long run. 5. LinkedinOps: This is often an ignored part of social selling. For the same reason that Inbound leads perform so well (because they are warm), somebody that visited your profile also has a relatively high probability to respond in the first 24hr. It’s the job of LinkedinOps to run all active engagers through an ICP filter and then follow up on good fit candidates. 6. Outreach: I have seen some successful reps use personalization tools to find the right messaging or conversation opener for Linkedin outreach. It makes sense to do an outreach with the good-fit engaged audience within 24-48 hrs of the engagement. Don’t hesitate to ask for referrals. 7. Tracking: Track engagements and metrics. Score and rank your audience every week for good fit top engagers. Your top engagers are the ones who will likely take your call. Your LinkedinOps can help you with analytics. 8. Convert: Know when and how to move your conversation outside Linkedin. Linkedin is great for capturing demand signals or for generating trust. Look for the right moment to share a calendar link or an email to move the conversation to a different platform. TAKEAWAY: Your buyers are already on Linkedin. With a little discipline and LinkedinOps, you can close revenues while enhancing your brand and handling objections at scale. I've been helping GTM teams for 15+ years. Never before have they had access to such a powerful platform. Take advantage.

It took me 6 years as a commission-only sales rep to make my first $1M in commissions in a single year. If I could go back in time and help my younger self get there faster… I’d tell him to NEVER do these 7 mistakes: 1. Stop being a product pusher You’re not selling the thing You’re selling the results of what your thing does Don’t focus on your product’s features and benefits Focus on the person’s/company's problems and where they want to be. That’s what prospects care about. 2. Sounding needy Sounding desperate will just drive prospects away You don’t want to say things like: “Just tell me what it’s gonna take for you to buy today” (Lowers your status) “If you buy today, we can offer a 20% discount” Etc… 3. Being assumptive too early You don’t want to say things like this too early in a conversation: “When we onboard you, we’ll do XYZ” It will trigger sales resistance with many prospects and cause them to emotionally shut down and throw objections at you. 4. Lowering your status Most salespeople lower their status to “please” the prospect. They build “fake rapport”, say “yes” to everything, and let the prospect have all the “power” You want to do the opposite to come across as the trusted authority, the expert who can solve their problems and get them the results they want. 5. Sounding overly-excited Ever heard “If you’re not excited about what you’re selling, your prospect won’t buy”? That’s a big myth. In fact, there's no data that supports this assertion at all. If you come across as overly-excited and biased, you’ll just trigger sales resistance with many prospects. You want to come across as more neutral, unbiased, collective and detached. 6. Sounding scripted Great salespeople are like great actors/actresses. They know their lines, but they sound natural. You should 100% have a framework/script so you don’t wing it. But you want to understand it so well that everything you say sounds natural. 7. Asking surface-level questions Surface level questions aren’t enough to get your prospect to emotionally open up to you. Don’t ask: “What are your top 3 challenges right now?” Ask: “Off the record, what’s really going on over here that’s caused you to look at possibly changing companies/vendors?” (curious tone)

If you're a sales rep sitting at the negotiation table in 2026, don't try these things. You'll be out of the game before you even start. 1. Don't ignore the "risk of inaction." Your biggest competitor usually is not another tool. It is the buyer doing nothing. If you cannot quantify what staying broken costs them for the next 3–6 months, you walk into the negotiation with zero leverage. 2. Don't negotiate on price without re-anchoring to impact. If you are debating $10k while the buyer loses $50k a month by waiting, you are letting the deal turn into a price conversation. Pull it back to impact, timing, and why this matters now. 3. Don't start trading until every request is on the table. Procurement loves the drip feed: one ask now, another later, then "one last thing" after Legal. Stop the slow bleed. Get every request out in one shot and confirm there is nothing else coming later. 4. Don't discount before you're the chosen vendor. Get this sentence first: "You are the vendor we want to move forward with" And use your relationship with the champion to read the room. You'll know if you're selected or still being compared. If you're still being compared, any discount becomes leverage they use with another vendor. 5. Don't blink when they ask for your floor. Buyers already have pricing context from peers, Slack groups, and internal benchmark decks. If you look unsure, trust collapses. Conviction in price is conviction in the value behind it. 6. Don't fear silence after you say the number. Give the price, then stop talking. If you rush to explain the number, you weaken it. Give them space to process the investment. 7. Don't accept concessions without tying them to signature. Once all requests are listed, ask the question most reps avoid: "If we meet these terms, does that get the deal signed?" If the answer is vague, you are negotiating without a real end point. 8. Don't drop price without taking something back. If the number moves, something else moves too: term length, payment structure, scope, rollout timeline, a case study, an expansion clause. Discounts without trade-offs signal your original price was flexible. 9. Don't let procurement run the conversation without your champion. Bring your champion into every procurement call. Procurement will press on cost. Your champion must defend the business case, the internal urgency, and why you're the safest path forward. Without them, it turns into pure price cutting. 10. Don't treat procurement as the enemy. Give them the "internal memo." Make it easy for them to justify the spend upward. A crisp ROI narrative, risk framing, implementation plan, and the "why now." If you help procurement look smart internally, they'll stop trying to win by cutting you down. A well-run negotiation is about retesting your conviction that your solution is the safest path forward. Play it well.

I'm 32 & I've spent 10+ years in enterprise tech sales at Oracle, Google, an AWS partner & if I had to start over I'd tell my 23 year old self these 5 lessons. 1. Start in a winning position You only grow as fast as your company so pick a front runner in a massive market - cloud, data & AI, cybersecurity - & navigate to mid-market and enterprise as fast as possible. Bigger deals, bigger career. 2. Model after the best & never stop growing Don't try to be creative early on & steal from the top performers at your company. Listen to their calls. Study their strategy. The best blueprint to success is already inside your org. But don't stop with what your company gives you. Work hard on yourself outside your 9-5. Read more, get coached, attend seminars. 3. Prepare like a pro & protect your time Preparation is the #1 driver of high performance. Reverse engineer your quota to daily activity. Map out every call before you make it. Then ruthlessly protect your hours for money-making activities. Say no to small deals. Treat yourself like a corporate athlete. 4. Invest in relationships (external & internal) Your biggest deals AND your biggest promotions come from relationships. Bring genuine curiosity & care to every customer interaction & follow through. But don't stop with the relationships tied to your quota because hitting quota isn't enough to get promoted. Manage up & invest time & effort into building influence with the people tied to your next role. 5. Be consistent & never quit Don't jump ship early. Show staying power at your company to increase your longterm earnings. If you have a down year, don't quit. Breakthrough success is around the corner. And in prospecting, keep going. I once reached out to a prospect for 9 months with zero response. When the prospect finally responded the deal became the rocket fuel that changed my career. The reps who win in the long-run aren't the ones who never face failure. They're the ones who embrace it & use it to fuel their success. ♻️ Repost if this resonates to encourage others on their journey 🎯 Tech Sales Accelerator's mission is to help 100,000 people use tech sales to create personal transformation & a life they love. Link in bio to book a free strategy session.

Sales reps are losing a critical skill: the ability to run a deal. "Running a deal" means actively managing and driving a sales opportunity from initial contact through to close. It's about being the quarterback who orchestrates all the moving pieces to move the deal forward. Over the last several years, I've watched this capability erode—and it's showing up in longer sales cycles, lower win rates, and weaker pricing. Here's what strong deal management actually entails: Owning the process - Knowing where the deal stands at any moment, what needs to happen next, and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. You're not passively waiting for the customer to get back to you; you're proactively creating momentum. Assessing deal quality - All deals are not created equal. Moving a deal forward represents a high cost in both time and resources. It's the rep's job to continuously assess deal quality and efficiently allocate the appropriate resources. Managing the buying journey - Mapping out the customer's decision-making process and guiding them through it. This includes understanding who needs to be involved (economic buyer, technical evaluator, end users, legal, procurement), what approvals are required, and what concerns each stakeholder has. Coordinating resources - Pulling in the right people from your organization at the right times: pre-sales engineers for technical demos, executives for C-level meetings, legal for contract negotiations, customer success for implementation planning. You're the conductor ensuring everyone plays their part. Controlling the timeline - Establishing mutual action plans with clear next steps and deadlines. Effective deal runners create urgency appropriately and prevent deals from stalling or slipping indefinitely. Navigating obstacles - When objections arise, budget concerns surface, or a competitor appears, you're developing strategies to address these challenges rather than hoping they resolve themselves. The difference between passive participation and active deal management shows up immediately in results. Struggling sellers let deals happen to them; top performers make deals happen through deliberate action and strategic thinking. Which of these six areas do you see reps struggling with most? What would you add to this framework?

When I started in sales, I thought success came down to the perfect pitch. Say the right words. Handle objections. Close the deal. But over time, I realized that’s not what separates the top reps from the rest. The real difference? Discipline. It’s not flashy. It’s not exciting. But it’s everything. And it can feel very lonely Here are 7 daily sales disciplines that compound: 1. Pipeline Hygiene, not just updates  → Scrubbing out dead deals weekly, re-scoring leads, and keeping the pipeline realistic, because false hope kills forecasting. 2. Pre-call intel  → Spending 10 –15 mins before every prospecting block digging into trigger events, recent news, and mutual connections. The difference between “generic pitch” and “you clearly did your homework.” 3. Post-meeting debriefs  → Writing down objections, exact phrasing prospects used, and tone shifts. Not just for memory, but to sharpen the next conversation. 4. Micro-touches that don’t sell  → Sending a relevant article, a quick voice note, or engaging with their LinkedIn post. Building context, not just chasing contracts. 5. Opportunity time-blocking  → Structuring the day so you touch every deal in mid-stage daily, even for 2 minutes. Deals die from neglect, not competition. 6. Daily deal strategy check  → Asking: “What’s the next step I own to move this deal forward?” If you don’t know, the deal is already slipping. 7. Self-review like a coach  → Replaying a call, listening not for the prospect but for your own filler words, missed buying signals, and talk/listen ratio. That’s how average reps become closers. These aren’t “big moments.” They’re small, routine actions. But when you do them consistently, they add up to something huge. The sales reps who hit quota month after month aren’t superheroes. They’re just the ones who treat the little things like they matter. Discipline doesn’t feel good in the moment. Discipline is often the loneliest part of the sales process and mindset But it’s what makes you great in the long run. 👉 What’s one small thing you do every day to stay disciplined as a sales guy?

Building Seamless to 9 figures taught me that most sales advice is theater. The real lessons sound boring. No hacks. No theatrics. Just ruthless execution. Here are the 5 systems most teams ignore (and why they print pipeline): 1.) Fix The Funnel, Not The Close Teams obsess over closing skills when deals die 3 steps earlier. Track where prospects drop off: getting their info, connecting with them, getting replies, booking meetings, them showing up, creating opportunities, winning deals. Fix the weakest step first. If only 2% of your outreach gets replies but 40% of replies turn into meetings, the problem isn't discovery skills - it's your targeting or messaging. Fix the weak link first. Set daily minimums per rep - add 25-50 new verified contacts, make 60-90 calls from your working list. Don't let anyone reach out to unverified contacts. 2.) List Quality Beats Copy Creativity Your best subject line can't save a bad list. But the right list makes average copy work. Teams waste weeks testing subject lines when they're emailing people who aren't buying. Best results come when one of these is true: the buyer is actively looking, changed jobs in the last 90 days, or something just happened you can reference. Track reply rates by list source, not by copy. Signal-based lists outperform cold by 3-5x. 3.) Your Best Rep Is Your Ceiling Stop letting reps wing it and wonder why they underperform. Standardizing your best rep's process does scale. One email sequence, one call script, one objection response per customer type. Lock it for 30 days. In your CRM, reps choose from approved templates - no custom emails (allowing wiggle room for personalization). 90% of touches must follow “the playbook.” Even if it’s not perfect, once you have systems, you can improve them. 4.) Make Intelligence Unavoidable If reps can choose to use buyer data, they won't. Put recent activity, job changes, and verified contact info right in their calling screen. Update it automatically. Block emails if the address isn't verified. Build it into the workflow so they can't skip it. If intelligence is optional, it becomes theater. 5.) Coach The Gap Generic sales training doesn't move numbers. Pick one weak spot per rep - connecting to replies, replies to meetings - and fix it in 7 days using their actual calls. Measure the improvement. Micro-fixes beat workshops. Meet weekly for 45 minutes. Each rep brings 3 specific moments from their calls. Use data to drive the conversation, not war stories. KEY LESSON: When everyone does it differently, you can't diagnose what's failing. Remove the chaos, find the gap, fix it. Most teams have “best practice”s reps *should* follow. Winners have heavily-tested, extremely data-driven systems reps CAN’T skip. That's the gap.