50 Motivational Sales Quotes You Haven’t Heard Yet

Being a sales rep is a tough job. From dealing with difficult prospects and stiff competition to the pressures of hitting quota, the profession can chip away at your motivation – but only if you let it.

The road to success isn’t easy, either. In fact, you’ve probably already read a few quotes sharing the same message.

There’s a reason motivational quotes are so popular: the best ones are simple and powerful. However, it’s likely that your (or your sales reps) have already heard or read the quotes that usually appear on these kinds of lists. And by repeating a message too often, you risk letting it grow stale.

It’s with that in mind that we compiled 50 inspirational sales quotes that your sellers might not have heard already. Some are lesser-known sayings of famous historical figures, while others are astute observations from accomplished sales experts and leaders. All of them can help your salespeople stay engaged and focused throughout the year.

So, what are we waiting for? Let’s get motivated!

Related: 12 Motivational Videos to Fire Up Your Sales Team

Motivational Sales Quotes from the Icons

1. “I never lose. I either win or learn.” – Nelson Mandela

2. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

3. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

4. “True nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway

5. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson

6. “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” – William Shakespeare

7. “Don’t bother telling the world you are ready. Show it. Do it.” – Peter Dinklage

8. “You need to let the little things that would ordinarily bore you suddenly thrill you.” – Andy Warhol

9. “If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it.” – Chester A. Arthur

10. “I am hitting my head against the walls, but the walls are giving way.” – Gustav Mahler

11. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

12. “Missing a train is only painful if you run after it! Likewise, not matching the idea of success others expect from you is only painful if that’s what you are seeking.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

13. “Humor is the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life.” – Alan Simpson

14. “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee

15. “When you’re good at something, you’ll tell everyone. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.” – Walter Payton

16. “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find it was in vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” – T.E. Lawrence

17. “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” – Abraham Lincoln

18. “And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.” – Kurt Vonnegut

19. “There are three choices in life: be good, get good, or give up.” – Hugh Laurie (as House)

20. “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” – Walt Disney

21. “You’ve got enemies? Good, that means you stood up for something in your life.” – Eminem

22. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie

23. “Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.” – John Wooden

24. “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” – Steve Jobs

25. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

Motivational Sales Quotes from the Experts

26. “Don’t become a wandering generality. Be a meaningful specific.” – Zig Ziglar, legendary sales author and speaker

27. “Success looks a lot like failure up until the moment you break through the finish line.” – Dan Waldschmidt, Co-CEO, Edgy Inc.

28. “Please think about your legacy, because you’re writing it every day.” – Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO, VaynerMedia

29. “Establishing trust is better than any sales technique.” – Mike Puglia, Chief Marketing Officer, Kaseya

30. “Refuse to attach a negative meaning to the word ‘no.’ View it as feedback. ‘No’ tells you to change your approach, create more value or try again later.” – Anthony Iannarino, best-selling author and keynote speaker

31. “The best salespeople know that their expertise can become their enemy in selling.” – Mike Bosworth, author, speaker and sales trainer, Mike Bosworth Leadership

32. “Today, the salesperson isn’t the sole conduit of information to the firms.  If the buyer has a poor experience with a seller, they’ll simply move onto the next channel.” – Mary Shea, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research

33. “Having the aspiration to be memorable is easy. The hard part is creating a crisp message you want others to articulate when you’re no longer in the room.” – Dr. Carmen Simon, Cognitive Neuroscientist, Memzy

34. “Willpower is a finite resource in every person’s day – if a work environment contains elements that further promote distraction, rep productivity could be drained even faster.” – Peter Zink, Director, Sales Training and Enablement, Forrester Research

35. “To be seen as a credible and trusted advisor, every touch you have with a customer should provide added value.” – Sharon Gillenwater, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Boardroom Insiders

36. “How you sell is more important than what you sell.” – Andy Paul, author, speaker and strategist, Zero-Time Selling

37. “You don’t have to be liked to be trusted.” – Keenan, CEO/President, A Sales Guy

38. “You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. You don’t have to rely on luck or getting a better territory. You just have to plan your work and work your plan. It works every time it’s tried.” – Kelly Riggs, Founder & President, The Business LockerRoom

39. “The greatest only become the greatest because they are willing to expose themselves to people who can help them become better. Your goal is to find those around who can and will do just that for you.” – Mark Hunter, sales speaker and trainer, The Sales Hunter

40. “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, Chief Sales Officer, Renbor Sales Solutions

41. “The focus from years of negative conditioning is to look at weaknesses or talents ranked lower instead of focusing on those strengths or talents ranked higher. To increase sales leadership we must begin with knowing one’s talents not one’s weaknesses.” – Leanne Hoagland-Smith, Chief Results Officer, Advanced Systems

42. “True productivity comes from allowing yourself to make mistakes. Do so, and you’ll succeed more often than any ten perfectionists.” – Laura Stack, CEO, The Productivity Pro

43. “Sales enablement can’t be reactive. It has to be a full-blown strategy that’s woven into the fabric of the company.” – Roderick Jefferson, CEO, Roderick Jefferson & Associates

44. “The top salespeople are usually the ones with the most activity; it doesn’t guarantee you will close more deals, but if you have no activity, you won’t be closing any deals.” – Colleen Honan, Chief Sales Officer, Brainshark

45. “If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.” – Seth Godin, Founder and CEO, Seth Godin Productions

Motivational Sales Quotes from… Someone

46. “Past performance is not indicative of future results.” – Stock exchange risk disclaimer

47. “The ordinary focus on what they’re getting. The extraordinary think about who they’re becoming.” – Unknown

48. “‘I can’ is 100 times more important than IQ.” – Unknown

49. “Never sacrifice who you are, just because someone has a problem with it.” – Unknown

50. “I will never quit. I persevere and thrive on adversity. My Nation expects me to be physically and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down, I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.” – U.S. Navy SEALs credo

Salespeople need inspiration, but to deliver results, they also need to be well-prepared. Read this short-ebook to learn how video coaching supports continuous sales team readiness.