We know you’re probably reading this because you’re having a tough time with your business or just don’t feel fantastic right now. Tough days are inevitable, but we have all the motivation you need to tackle those feelings and operate at your best.
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar
Here are 68 essential quotes you should know to stay on top of your game in sales, business and life, from some of the most influential business and sales people. Whether you don’t have it in you to make another sales call in fear of getting rejected again, or feeling inadequate about your abilities, there’s a quote for you.
Sales
“If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.” – Bob Hooey
- "Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is." – Vince Lombardi
- “Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh
- “Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’ Not only will you succeed in sales, you will succeed in life.” – Mary Kay Ash
- "Ninety percent of selling is conviction and 10 percent is persuasion." – Shiv Khera
- “I like to think of sales as the ability to gracefully persuade, not manipulate, a person or persons into a win-win situation.” – Bo Bennett
- “Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.” – Seth Godin
- “Make a customer, not a sale.” – Katherine Barchetti
- “In sales, a referral is the key to the door of resistance.” – Bo Bennett
- “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates
- “If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.” – Bob Hooey
- “A-B-C. Always Be Closing.” – Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross
- “You're only as good as your last sale, so you put your all into something and just hope that from that you can get your next job." – Josh Peck
- “Turn up the volume of your computer speakers before making calls. You may hear money talk.” – Pipedrive
Business
“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
- “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.” – Christopher McDougall
- “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers
- “Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.” – Henry J. Kaiser
- “80% of success is showing up.” – Woody Allen
- “You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.” – Wayne Gretzky
- “Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn
- “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin
- “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napoleon Hill
- “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
- “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” – Ann Landers
- “Focus on being productive instead of being busy.” – Tim Ferriss
- "We're not here to take part, we're here to take over." – Conor McGregor
- “By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” – Robert Frost
- “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.” – Warren Buffett
- “Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
- “Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
- “Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” – Biz Stone
- “Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favour.” – Brian Tracy
- "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." – John D. Rockefeller
- “If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on.” – Sheryl Sandberg
- “The expert in anything was once a beginner.” – Helen Hayes
- “Be so good, they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin
General
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert Schuller
- “The best revenge is massive success.” – Frank Sinatra
- "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." – John R. Wooden
- "The secret of getting ahead is getting started." – Mark Twain
- “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” – Napoleon Hill
- "Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." – Tony Robbins
- "Well done is better than well said." – Benjamin Franklin
- “Some men see things as they are and ask why … I dream of things that never were and ask why not?” – Robert Kennedy
- "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." – Bruce Lee
- “If you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn't be human, you'd be a game show host.” – Gabriel Heather
- “If you're going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
- “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert Schuller
- “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost
- “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
- “Success is the culmination of failures, mistakes, false starts, confusion, and the determination to keep going anyway.” – Nick Gleason
- “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and falling over.” – Richard Branson
- “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
- “You just can't beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
- “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi
- “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth
- “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley
- “Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts.” – John Wooden
- “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
- “Today is always the most productive day of your week.” – Mark Hunter
Top 10 from Zig Ziglar, the king of sales quotes
You’ve probably heard of a lot of these quotes already – they’re just that good, and they come from Zig Ziglar, who was an American author, salesman and motivational speaker.
"If people like you, they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.” – Zig Ziglar
- “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”
- “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”
- “For every sale you miss because you're too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you're not enthusiastic enough.”
- “Every choice you make has an end result.”
- "Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."
- “It’s easier to explain price once than to apologize for quality forever.”
- “Remember that failure is an event, not a person. Yesterday ended last night.”
- “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”
- “If people like you, they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”
- “If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”
You’ve got this
Whether you place a sticky note at your desk, pin a tweet on your Twitter profile, or post it in some other prominent place, find a way to memorize your favorite quotes to encourage you throughout the day.
If these help you, they’ll likely help someone else! Feel free to pass these along to a friend who may need a little pick-me-up, or leave your favorite motivational quote in the comments below.
And remember, confidence is half the battle.
