Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s Only Common Sense: 50 Holiday Wishes for Salespeople

As the season of joy is upon us, here are my 50 holiday wishes for all of you salespeople out there.

1. May your products be great and on time.
2. May your operations people understand and appreciate what you do to bring them business to work on.
3. May your customers like you because, frankly, that is the first step to a great sale.
4. May you, in turn, be likable.
5. May you have the courage to pick up the phone, call someone you don’t know, and try to sell them something.
6. May you have the wherewithal to find a way to win the sale.
7. May you have the courage to ask for that order. You won’t get it until you ask.
8. May you have the fortitude and strength to absorb rejection. Rejection is part of the sales game.
9. May you have the resiliency to bounce back when rejected and find another way to make that sale.
10. May you never give up.
11. May you know when to talk and when to listen.
12. May you listen much more than you talk.
13. May you be helpful.
14. May you make your customers’ challenges and issues your own and solve them.
15. May you have the ability to get your own teammates excited about your target accounts. Great salespeople know they have to sell twice: once to the customer, and once to their own company.
16. May you have the creativity to find ways to approach and win accounts. Creativity is the most underrated quality when it comes to being a successful salesperson.
17. May you know how to generate leads.
18. May you know how to find the right decision-makers at your target companies.
19. May you know when to hold them and when to fold them when it comes to fighting your battles with your sales manager.
20. May you be smart enough to produce strategic account plans.
21. May you use your account plans to develop the right tactical plan to win over clients.
22. May you have the courage to get the best deal for your customers.
23. May you have the loyalty to get the best deal for your company.
24. May you consider all your days as opportunities for success.
25. May you have the attitude that when you get up in the morning, you are going to make the world a better place.
26. May you have the sense to do your own marketing. Even if your company is doing some marketing, do your own as well.
27. May you have the courage to deliver bad news immediately, no matter how bad. The worse it is, the sooner your team needs to know it.
28. May your mind be open enough to follow a lead when someone in your company gives you one.
29. May you find a way to win the account.
30. May you be fearless at all times. Fear is a great inhibitor of success.
31. May you know enough when someone is lying to you.
32. May you have the courage to politely disagree when disagreement is warranted.
33. May you have the ambition to make your numbers, no matter what.
34. May you have the creativity to find a replacement when you lose a huge customer, putting a huge hole in your forecast.
35. May you take responsibility and refuse to throw the blame on someone else when something goes wrong.
36. May you never use excuses, even when they are warranted.
37. May you realize that success or failure is entirely up to you.
38. May you look in the mirror and ask yourself for a raise when you want to make more money.
39. May you treat your territory and customer base as your personal business. Keep your own records on what you need to do to run your business without your boss having to tell you.
40. May you be professional, even when you don’t feel like it.
41. May you keep your wits about your while everyone else is panicking. That is what is called “grace under pressure.”
42. May you put your family first, no matter what.
43. May you be a good person, no matter the temptations the road might send you.
44. May you be honest with everyone.
45. May you never stretch your expenses.
46. May you, after your family, put your company next and you third. Do things for the good of your company before you think of yourself.
47.  May you be truthful with your customers, even if it could hurt the sale in the end.
48. May you be there for your customers in both good times and bad, and especially in bad times when they need to vent. Give them a live person to vent at.
49. May you respect everyone you meet and treat them accordingly.
50. May you treat everyone as you want to be treated, even your competitors.

And one more, in the spirit of under-promising and over-delivering: May you all have a happy holiday season and a safe and prosperous 2020.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.