Did you know in 2024, businesses in the United States were employing over 1.2 million salespeople? Sales and salespeople are the lifeblood of business. With sales being so important to your company’s bottom lines, how can your sales be improved?

At BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, we work with some of the top sales keynote speakers in the industry. These popular sales keynote speakers are bestselling authors, venture capitalists, and top storytellers who have helped transform the way people do sales. 

Here is a sampling of some of the ideas you can learn from them. 

1) Customer experience is key.

The experience customers have with your company is more important than the price they pay. According to Tiffani Bova, the former Chief Growth Evangelist at Salesforce and Research Fellow at Gartner, customers will remember the experience they had longer than the price they paid.

Think about the Uber you took or the restaurant where you had dinner a month ago. What do you remember more clearly—the price on the bill or the experience you had with the driver or server? 

If you create better experiences, people will keep coming back to buy more.

2) Know your sales pitch.

No one buys from a salesperson who can’t explain the customer problem they are solving with their company’s product or service. According to Kevin O’Leary, star of ABC’s Shark Tank, the key to selling your product is being able to articulate the opportunity in 90 seconds or less. 

People don’t buy products and services they don’t understand. If you can’t explain it, no one will pay for it.

3) Overcome your fear of rejection.

No one likes to be rejected. But successful salespeople will hear no more often than they hear yes. According to Jia Jiang, bestselling author of Rejection Proof, one of the biggest obstacles you will face in your career and in making sales is fear of rejection.

Fear of rejection will hold you back from making a sales call or closing a sale. One of the lessons Jia teaches is that rejection has a number. If you endure enough rejections, a no could turn into a yes, so keep making calls.

4) Embrace your different qualities.

You don’t have to fit the stereotype of a salesperson to be a good salesperson. If you feel you don’t belong, flip the script, says Sophia Amoruso, founder of Trust Fund and bestselling author of #GIRLBOSS. 

Instead of thinking you are wrong for sales because of your different qualities, embrace those different qualities as what will make you successful. You have something to offer that others don’t. 

5) Use your emotional intelligence.

It’s not your intelligence or gift for gab that will make the most sales. It’s your emotional intelligence. According to Bill Benjamin, a contributor to the New York Times bestseller Performing Under Pressure, emotional intelligence will be the key differentiator in the success of your career and business.

While your IQ is a fixed quantity, you can always improve your emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence will help you govern your emotions to perform under pressure and to make better connections with your clients and colleagues.

If you would like to learn more tips to improve your sales, contact BigSpeak Speakers Bureau to consult with a top sales keynote speaker.

For more on sales, read

The True Story of How One Man Used Stories to Become the Number One Salesperson

Lessons Every Sales Team Needs to Hear

6 Tips From Top Sales Motivational Speakers

Sales Tips From Pre-Suasion to Close

The 6 Most Persuasive Techniques You Can Use to Increase Your Influence