"Jeffrey, I’m new to sales. How do I get better?"

"Jeffrey, I’ve been in sales two years. How do I get better?"

"Jeffrey, I’ve been in sales 20 years. How do I get better?"

It’s the same 3.5 answers for all three questions:

1. Big picture

Put your "big picture guidelines" in front of your face and keep them there. Salespeople can become fixed on making one sale at the end of the week, end of the month, end of the quarter, or meeting a quota. That fixes your mind on the small picture. One more sale is not the answer.

Why aren’t you focusing on bigger issues so sales come to you from prospects and customers who want to buy? The bigger issues are:

• Value messages – that can impact your worth to the customer. Worth is more powerful than price.

• Impact speeches – at trade associations, establish your reputation as a knowledgeable leader and thinker.

• Top-tier networking – to get to know the people that count in your customer base, industry, and your career.

• Industry positioning – to become better known. Get involved in the associations and impact organizations of your marketplace.

• Consistent writing and publishing – a monthly article in your trade publication will raise everyone’s awareness of your ideas and capabilities.

• Personal branding – combining your words and deeds with your reputation to create the law of attraction.

2. Principles for success

Identify your principles for success and master them.

• Honesty, ethics, gratefulness, and being a servant are the core elements. They make you a better person, not just a better salesperson.

• Hard work. Nothing takes the place of or is more powerful than hard work when it comes to impacting your results. Hard work makes luck.

• Stay a student by dedicating time to read and study. The more you learn, the more you earn.

3. Passion

Make certain you have a passion for what you’re doing.

• Your belief system drives your success results. Believe in your company, your products and services, yourself, and most important, believe the customer is better off having purchased from you.

• Attitude and enthusiasm are at the core of your thought process. Your attitude either attracts or repels – and the best part is: you control it.

• Identify your tolerance for risk and go to that edge. Once you identify risk, reward becomes much more predictable, and much more frequent.

• Love what you do. If you’re in sales for the money, you’ll never find it.

• Love who you are. Loving yourself makes your self-confidence shine – and become a dominant factor in the decision-making process.

3.5 Commitment

Make commitments to yourself and keep them.

• Small sales are scrutinized and micromanaged. This is why sales reports are hated and falsified. Not by you, of course.

• Big picture achievements are up to you. No one else is watching or cares, so your private dedication and self-commitment are the winning attributes.

• Dedicate yourself to being the best at anything you do. There’s no second place in sales. It’s best or lost to the best.

I recommend you take 30 minutes and read something about The Crusades. They were more than a religious war. The Crusades were about people going after what they believed in passionately. They did it regardless of the hardship and risk. Are you a sales crusader?

Sales is not a religion; it’s a way of life. It should not consume your life; rather, it should be incorporated into your life. Doubling your income isn’t pie in the sky, if you are determined and committed, and if you see the big picture. This means career objectives and achievements, not just a quota or sales plan achievements.

Can you see the big picture?

Are you dedicated to your big picture of success?

Contact Jeffrey Gitomer at salesman@gitomer.com or (704) 333-1112. Gitomer is president of Buy Gitomer in Charlotte, N.C., and the author of "The Little Red Book of Selling." He gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.trainone.com. Sales Moves appears weekly.