Good ones fit the moment your sales team is in. Jack Welch's line that a leader's success "is all about growing others" works for a new sales manager, and the line credited to Tom Landry about telling people what they don't want to hear fits a coaching session.
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Sales Leadership Quotes for Managers and Their Sales Teams
These sales leadership quotes are for sales managers who coach a team toward a production goal every month, whether that's a branch team cross-selling to existing customers or an outside sales team building a new territory.
A good quote gives your people a clearer picture of the message you're sharing, and it helps the team stay focused on the customer while they work toward the goal.
A sales leadership quote works best when the leader connects it to the activity behind the numbers, like the calls made or the follow-ups scheduled. Use one to open a sales meeting or a coaching session, then ask the team one question about what they'll do differently this week.
The quotes below are grouped by the situations a sales leader runs into most, from coaching a rep one-on-one to running the weekly sales meeting. Each card has a Copy quote button, so you can paste a quote and the name straight into a slide or an email.
Jump To: Leading a Sales Team | Coaching | Training | Sales Meetings | Customers | Using a Quote | FAQ
Sales Leader Quotes for Leading a Sales Team
Many sales leaders were top producers before they were promoted, and the job changes from making their own number to helping every rep on the team make theirs. These sales leader quotes help the leader set expectations for the team and show what they'll focus on as the leader. A few places they work include:
- A top rep's first meeting as the team's new sales manager.
- Setting the team's sales goals for the new year.
- A team that relies on two or three reps for most of its results.
- A sales contest or incentive kickoff.
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"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."
Jack Welch
Former CEO of General Electric
"High expectations are the key to everything."
Attributed to Sam Walton
Founder of Walmart
"Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman, not the attitude of the prospect."
Attributed to W. Clement Stone
Businessman and author
"Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing."
Attributed to Tom Peters
Co-author of In Search of Excellence
"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care."
Attributed to Theodore Roosevelt
26th President of the United States
Welch's line fits the top rep's first meeting as sales manager, because it tells the team the new leader's success now depends on theirs. Sam Walton's quote works when the team sets its goals for the new year, since it gives the leader a short way to say the bar will be high and the team will get the support to reach it.
Sales Coaching Quotes for One-on-Ones
Sales skills are developed one conversation at a time, and the sales leader's coaching sessions are where a rep learns what to keep doing and what to change. These sales coaching quotes help the leader open that conversation on a positive note. A few places they work include:
- A rep who makes plenty of calls but closes few of them.
- A ride-along or call review with a newer rep.
- A top performer whose numbers have leveled off.
- A rep who avoids asking for the business.
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"A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be."
Attributed to Tom Landry
Hall of Fame football coach
"We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve."
Bill Gates
Co-founder of Microsoft
"Coaching is unlocking people's potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them."
John Whitmore
Author of Coaching for Performance
"Coaching isn't an addition to a leader's job, it's an integral part of it."
Attributed to Bob Nardelli
Former CEO of Home Depot
"The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better."
Attributed to Tony Dungy
Hall of Fame football coach
Landry's line fits the rep who avoids asking for the business, because it gives the leader a respectful way to name the habit that's holding them back from meeting their goals. Bill Gates's line about everyone needing people who give them feedback works for the top performer whose numbers have leveled off, since it treats coaching as something every strong performer needs.
Sales Training Quotes for New Reps
A new salesperson's first ninety days are key to forming good sales habits, and the sales leader decides how much time is invested in creating habits that will position the new employee for success. These sales training quotes help the leader explain why the practice matters. They fit times like these:
- A new rep's first week on the team.
- Role-playing a product presentation before it goes to customers.
- Rolling out a new product or pricing change to the whole team.
- A rep who wants to skip training and start selling.
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"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
Founding Father and author
"Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to."
Attributed to Richard Branson
Founder of the Virgin Group
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young."
Attributed to Henry Ford
Founder of Ford Motor Company
"The expert in anything was once a beginner."
Attributed to Helen Hayes
Actress
"Repetition is the mother of learning."
Latin proverb
Traditional saying
The line credited to Franklin fits the role-play before a new presentation, because it reminds the team they'll remember what they practice more than what they hear. Helen Hayes's quote works for the new rep's first week, when the leader wants to say it's fine to be new at this.
Top Sales Quotes for the Weekly Sales Meeting
The weekly sales meeting sets the tone for the week's calls, and a short quote at the start gives the leader a way to focus the team before the numbers are reviewed. These top sales quotes work well in moments like these:
- The first meeting of a new month or quarter.
- A week when the team is behind its pipeline goal.
- The last week of a sales contest.
- A meeting after the team has lost a big deal.
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"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
Napoleon Hill
Author of Think and Grow Rich
"I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."
Attributed to Estée Lauder
Founder of Estée Lauder Companies
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
Attributed to Will Rogers
Humorist and actor
"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."
Attributed to Milton Berle
Comedian
"If things seem under control, you are just not going fast enough."
Attributed to Mario Andretti
Racing champion
Napoleon Hill's quote fits the first meeting of a new quarter, because it ties the team's goal to their belief that they can reach it. Will Rogers's quote works for the week the team is behind its pipeline goal, when the leader wants more calls on the calendar before the next meeting. Think and Grow Rich is one of the free classic books in the Classic Self Growth Library.
Sales Manager Quotes About Customers and the Long Game
Pressure to make the monthly number can pull a sales team toward quantity, and the sales manager is the one who keeps the focus on quality and long-term customer relationships. Customers who are well served today are the ones who refer their friends tomorrow. These sales manager quotes fit times like these:
- A rep pushing a product the customer doesn't need to close out the month.
- A team review of customer complaints or cancellations.
- Coaching a rep to hear a customer's first no.
- A long-time customer who brought in a referral.
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"People don't like to be sold, but they love to buy."
Attributed to Jeffrey Gitomer
Author of The Sales Bible
"Approach each customer with the idea of helping him or her solve a problem or achieve a goal, not of selling a product or service."
Attributed to Brian Tracy
Author and sales trainer
"You don't close a sale; you open a relationship if you want to build a long-term, successful enterprise."
Attributed to Patricia Fripp
Speaker and sales presentation coach
"You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do."
Attributed to Henry Ford
Founder of Ford Motor Company
"Don't find customers for your products, find products for your customers."
Attributed to Seth Godin
Author and marketer
Brian Tracy's line fits the rep pushing a product to close out the month, because it brings the conversation back to the customer's problem. Patricia Fripp's quote works for the long-time customer who sent a referral, since it shows the team what a relationship built over years is worth.
A customer's first no often means they don't know enough yet to say yes, because they're busy and haven't had time to consider the offer. A sales leader who teaches the team to hear that first no as "I don't know yet" gives them a reason to ask one more question about what the customer needs.
How to Use a Sales Leadership Quote with Your Team
Sales leadership quotes are received best when the leader pairs the quote with the rep's own numbers and one question about the moment that's getting in the way.
CARLA'S COACHING SESSION WITH JASON
Carla manages a seven-person team of business bankers. Jason was making about 40 calls a week but booking only 3 appointments. In their one-on-one she read Tom Landry's line about a coach, put "40 calls, 3 appointments" on the table and asked one question: what happens right before you would ask for the appointment?
Jason said he worried about sounding pushy, so he usually ended the call with an offer to send information. They wrote one sentence he could use to ask for a 20-minute meeting and role-played it twice before he went back to his desk.
Three weeks later Jason booked 8 appointments from the same 40 calls a week.
Carla used the quote to name the habit, then gave Jason the words and the practice to change it. The number moved because the coaching focused on one moment in the call.
For more quotes sorted by topic, see the leadership quotes for managers, and for picking a quote that fits your message, see Famous Leadership Quotes.
More for Leaders
For coaching and development tools to use with each rep, see the Leading People tools. When your sales team needs to work together on a shared goal, the team building quotes help you make the point.
Sales Leadership Quotes FAQ
The questions below address what leaders most commonly ask about sales leadership quotes.
Click on the (+) sign below to expand each question. Click the (-) sign to collapse it again.
What are good sales leadership quotes?
What are some sales coaching quotes?
Bill Gates said in a 2013 TED talk, "We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve." John Whitmore wrote in Coaching for Performance (1992) that coaching is "unlocking people's potential to maximize their own performance."
What are good sales training quotes for new reps?
The line credited to Benjamin Franklin, "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn," fits a training plan built on practice and role play. "The expert in anything was once a beginner," credited to Helen Hayes, works for a new rep's first tough week.
What are some top sales quotes for a sales meeting?
Napoleon Hill wrote in Think and Grow Rich (1937), "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." Shorter lines like "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door," credited to Milton Berle, work well on the opening slide.
What does "Attributed to" mean on these quotes?
It means the quote is widely credited to that person, but there's no dated source behind it, like a book or an interview. Every quote without it traces back to a source you can cite.
How should a sales team respond when a customer says no?
Teach the team to hear a first no as "I don't know yet." Many customers are busy and haven't had time to consider the offer, so one more question about what they need often opens the conversation back up.
More Leadership Quotes
Richard Gorham has led teams in financial services for more than 30 years, from retail branches and operations to investments and insurance, and he still leads a team today.
He founded Leadership-Tools.com in 2002 to give managers free, practical tools like the ones he used in his various leadership roles. Every tool here has been used in a real workplace and comes with a filled-in example you can follow.
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