80 Motivational Sales Quotes to Ignite Your Drive in 2021

Salespeople deal with ample amounts of negativity. For every deal you close, you likely face countless unanswered calls and emails — not to mention uninterested or even hostile prospects.

It can be hard to find enough motivation to power through all the “No’s” on the road to a “Yes.”

But you know who else has encountered rejection?

Some of the greatest thinkers, leaders, and businesspeople of our time.

And they didn’t just persevere through the hard times — failure is what made them succeed. So, the next time you feel your obstacles are overwhelming, read through this list of inspirational sales quotes.

Inspirational Sales Quotes

1. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time -Thomas Edison
2. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them yourself. -Eleanor Roosevelt
3. Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. -Og Mandino
4. You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day. –Marian Wright Edelman
5. Become the person who would attract the results you seek. -Jim Cathcart
6. Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going. -Sam Levenson
7. Growth and comfort do not coexist. -Ginni Rometty
8. What differentiates sellers today is their ability to bring fresh ideas. -Jill Konrath
9. The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. -Walt Disney
10. Either run the day or the day runs you. -Jim Rohn

Are you more of a music person? Give this motivational playlist a listen. We’ve also got an ultimate list of motivational speakers to complete your sales motivation education.

If you’re ready, let’s jump into these motivational sales quotes.

Motivational Sales Quotes

1. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” -Thomas Edison

2. “Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.” -Og Mandino

3. “Become the person who would attract the results you seek.” -Jim Cathcart

4. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” -Sam Levenson

5. “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” -George Addair

6. “Do not focus on numbers. Focus on doing what you do best.” -Cassey Ho

7. “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” -Madam C.J. Walker

8. “There’s always something to suggest that you’ll never be who you wanted to be. Your choice is to take it or keep on moving.” -Phylicia Rashad

9. “Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.” -Jennifer Lopez

10. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” -Tony Robbins

11. “The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance — and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.” –Oprah Winfrey

12. “Motivation will almost always beat mere talent.” -Norman Ralph Augustine

13. “Change before you have to.” -Jack Welch

14. “Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.” -Daniel Pink

Positive Sales Quotes

15. “I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” -Florence Nightingale

16. “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” -Zig Ziglar

17. “I got lucky because I never gave up the search. Are you quitting too soon? Or are you willing to pursue luck with a vengeance?” -Jill Konrath

18. “Quality performance starts with a positive attitude.” -Jeffrey Gitomer

19. “If you don’t give up on something you truly believe in, you will find a way.” -Roy T. Bennett

20. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” -Anais Nin

21. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” -Og Mandino

22. “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do.” -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

23. “What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle, and giving 110% all the time.” -Don Zimmer

24. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process, is its own reward.” -Amelia Earhart

25. “All great achievements require time.” -Maya Angelou

26. “You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.” –Marian Wright Edelman

Prospecting Sales Quotes

27. “It’s not about having the right opportunities. It’s about handling the opportunities right.” -Mark Hunter

28. “Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” -Rosa Parks

29. “I have stood on a mountain of no’s for one yes.” -B. Smith

30. “Just don’t give up what you’re trying to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” -Ella Fitzgerald

31. “Solve customer problems and make sure that the customer is representative of a large market and then you will have a pretty good formula.” -Melanie Perkins

32. “Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” -Michelle Obama

33. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” -Alice Walker

34. “If you want to make money, you have to help someone else make money.” –Russell Simmons

35. “If we are going to be part of the solution, we have to engage the problems.” -Majora Carter

36. “Instead of looking at the past, I put myself ahead twenty years and try to look at what I need to do now in order to get there then.” -Diana Ross

37. “If you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” -Erica Jong

38. “High expectations are the key to everything.” -Sam Walton

39. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

Closing Sales Quotes

40. “Never ever chase money. You should chase success, because with success money follows.” -Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones

41. “Don’t try to do everything by yourself, but try to connect with people and resources. Having that discipline and perseverance is really important.” -Chieu Cao

42. “Be passionate and move forward with gusto every single hour of every single day until you reach your goal.” -Ava DuVernay

43. “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are.” -Oprah Winfrey

44. “There have been so many people who have said to me, ‘You can’t do that,’ but I’ve had an innate belief that they were wrong. Be unwavering and relentless in your approach.” –Halle Berry

45. “A goal is a dream with a deadline.” -Napoleon Hill

46. “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is.” -Vince Lombardi

47. “No matter how many customers you have, each is an individual. The day you start thinking of them as this amorphous ‘collection’ and stop thinking of them as people is the day you start going out of business.” -Dharmesh Shah

48. “You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.” -Diana Ross

49. “Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.” -Wilma Rudolph

50. “Don’t settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that’s in us.” -Angela Bassett

51. “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” -Babe Ruth

52. “I thrive on obstacles. If I’m told that it can’t be done, then I push harder.” -Issa Rae

Direct Sales Quotes

53. “What differentiates sellers today is their ability to bring fresh ideas.” -Jill Konrath

54. “I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard.” -Estée Lauder

55. “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.” -Maya Angelou

56. “All business is personal… Make your friends before you need them.” -Robert L. Johnson

57. “Leadership belongs to those who take it.” -Sheryl Sandberg

58. “Beware of monotony; it’s the mother of all deadly sins.” -Edith Wharton

59. “You have to learn to keep your eyes on an ultimate goal. If you lose sight of that goal, you have to get out.” -Hamdi Ulukaya

60. “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” -Lucille Ball

61. “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them yourself.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

62. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” -Walt Disney

63. “Growth and comfort do not coexist.” -Ginni Rometty

64. “You can never leave footprints that last if you are always walking on tiptoe.” -Leymah Gbowee

Funny Sales Quotes

65. “You can’t give up! If you give up, you’re like everybody else.” -Chris Evert

66. “Confidence is 10 percent hard work and 90 percent delusion.” -Tina Fey

67. “There’s never any guarantee that anyone will like you. So if anyone likes you at all, you’ve already won.” -Chelsea Handler

68. “Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting.” -Christopher Morley

69. “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.” -Sheryl Sandberg

70. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” -Bruce Lee

71. “The harder you work, the luckier you get.’’ -Mike Adenuga

72. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” -Winston Churchill

73. “Cherish forever what makes you unique, cuz you’re really a yawn if it goes.” -Bette Midler

74. “Nothing is impossible; the word itself says ‘I’m possible!'” -Audrey Hepburn

75. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” -Abraham Lincoln

76. “The road to Easy Street goes through the sewer.” -John Madden

77. “Life is short, and it’s up to you to make it sweet.” –Sadie Delany

78. “Either run the day or the day runs you.” -Jim Rohn

79. “There’s so much creativity in brokeness. Brokeness will have you making it work.” -Issa Rae

80. “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” -Shirley Chisholm

Sales Motivation from the Greatest Voices of Our Time

Salespeople need the occasional motivational quote to push through the tough days. Whether you’re looking for inspiration as you work a difficult deal or simply wanting to rekindle your motivation as you continue prospecting, the above sales quotes will be sure to help you keep a winning attitude throughout the day.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in December 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.