What took you from being decent to being good to being great at sales? I'm always hovering right around my targets, sometimes a little over sometimes a little under, but feel like there's something else I need to be doing if I'm ever going to blow my number out of the water. Was there something that made a big difference for any of you?
I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but for me it was realizing that I had the potential to make WAY more money if I blew out my number in a particular quarter. We all want to make money in sales, but for a lot of people the quota serves as a target that you're shooting for - and if/when you hit it you take your foot off the gas. DON"T DO THAT. The real money is when you're at 2-3X of target - if you're at an org that is really willing to pay big $$$ to top performers. That's motivating to me.
1)baseline curiosity needs to be there 2)baseline intelligence needs to be there 3)natural hard worker and self motivated 4)cant be nasty to ppl I believe you can't be good at sales without those. But then, going from good to great is when you start to really click with how your industry works, what your company does to truly releive pain, and what your competitors do too. Because your curious and motivated and intelligent, you'll become an expert consultant on this stuff. Then you'll have the confidence to challenge with valuable opinions and stories. Then you'll work better deals, with more steakholders, and your curiosity and critical thinking will lead to multi threading which will earn you strong senior relationships. Then you'll learn about meddpicc, but I mean really learn about it and you'll listen to podcasts like revenue builders and you'll become a student of the game. You'll be juggling so many great qualified opps at this point that you'll value being well organized and having a process for everything. You'll start enjoying what you do and it will show to clients and others around you. You'll be happy, life will be good bc you are now getting paid great, and that's the cherry on top that motivates you to continue learning and become a legend.
What took me from decent to great? Ownership. Everything changed when I stopped thinking like a rep and started thinking like the CEO of my own book of business. I stopped waiting for marketing to deliver leads or enablement to give me content. I built my outbound motion, created value-first messaging, and treated every meeting like a boardroom pitch, not a demo. In my early days, I learned how to cold-call and sell capital equipment door to door—real “eat what you kill” stuff. Later, I sold application security (SAST, SCA, DAST, you name it) into some of the toughest Fortune 500 accounts in the country. Deals with Equifax, Brown & Brown, and others didn’t happen accidentally. They came from relentless follow-up, deep discovery, and knowing how to challenge the status quo without being a jerk. The most significant leap came when I stopped chasing quota and started solving problems. That mindset and W2-validated top performance got me named Fortify Seller of the Year. So, if you're hovering near your target, ask yourself this: Are you an order taker or a deal maker? There’s a huge difference.