Last Updated on May 21, 2024
It doesn’t matter if you’re part of the best sales team in the world. There will come a time when you’ll find yourself in a slump. And when you do, reading sales motivational stories might help get you back on the right track.
That’s exactly what we have for you today.
We have 7 motivational sales stories that will surely inspire you to keep working on those leads and convert them into happy customers.
It doesn’t matter if you’re operating in the food service business, working as a haircare sales rep, running a personal brand or own business, selling customized pencils, building a skincare company, or creating your own ultra-successful agency — you’ll surely find motivational sales stories in this post that you’ll be able to relate to.
Motivational Sales Story 1: The Dog that Says Meow
One day, a sign appeared in an office window. It read: “Help wanted. Must type 70 words a minute. Must be computer literate. Must be bilingual. We are an equal opportunity employer.”
A dog walking down the street saw the sign, walked in, and applied for the job.
The office manager said, “I can’t hire a dog for this job.” The dog pointed to the line: “We are an equal opportunity employer.”
The manager said, “Take this letter and type it.”
The dog went off to the typewriter and returned a minute later with the finished letter entirely typed.
So the manager said, “Here’s a problem. Write a computer program for it and run it.”
Fifteen minutes later, the dog came back after successfully completing the task. The manager still wasn’t convinced. “But I can’t hire a dog for this position,” he said. “You’ve got to be bilingual.”
The dog looked up at the manager and replied, “Meow.”
Moral Lesson for a Sales Team
There’s a lesson here for both employers and employees.
As an employer, you have to realize that talent comes in all shapes and sizes. Anyone can become a highly successful sales rep given the chance. And if someone comes in looking for an opportunity and meets all requirements, you should give that person a chance.
As an employee working in sales, you want to be ready for anything. Do whatever it takes to be the best in your field. If that means reading the best sales instruction manual, attending online marketing webinars, or studying high-pressure sales tactics, then so be it.
Selling is a hard job. But with the right mindset and a ton of hard work, anyone can land a lucrative sales job.
Regardless of whether the dog was able to bag the job or not, nobody can deny that he’s one committed pooch. And you should carry that same attitude.
Motivational Sales Story 2: Excuses Are Not the Answer
After landing his invasion forces on the shores of some country, the sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes would immediately burn his boats. He was sending his army a message: “We can’t turn back. Either we succeed or we die here.”
Moral Lesson for a Sales Team
In running a successful business, excuses are not an option.
Whoever’s the top global sales representative got to that position by not making excuses. Anyone who runs a multi-billion dollar company will tell you the same thing. Most successful salespeople will feel the same way.
Let’s face it, when things don’t go our way, most of us tend to blame it on everyone or everything to make ourselves feel better. Those that are part of a sales team will even try to pin the blame on their co-workers when they fail to meet their annual sales quota.
It’s okay if things don’t pan out the way you envisioned. But putting the blame on others is a different story. The brave conquistador wasn’t not messing around — either he becomes successful or he dies trying. He is committed to turning the situation around in his favor.
Excuses are only for people who are unwilling to live up to whatever standards they have for themselves. If you’re not willing to put in the work, you simply cannot expect to accomplish great things.
Instead of spending your energy complaining and blaming everyone for your failure, look for ways to get things done. Instead of whining, find solutions. No one likes hearing excuses. In the end, results are the only things that matter.
Motivational Sales Story 3: The Minister and His Son
A son wants to play catch on a Friday evening with his dad. The dad, who is a minister, was tired and had to prepare his sermon for a church that week. To change the subject, he asked his son how school was that week. The son told him that they learned about world geography and all the fabulous places they could go to.
As they were talking, the dad notices something on the back of the newspaper. There’s a picture of the world showing the continents. To buy himself some time so that he can write his sermon, the dad suggests to his son that he cut up the picture of the world and then piece it back together to practice his world geography.
The dad says to the boy, “Son, once you are finished, we will play catch.” The dad thinks that this task will take a while and will allow him the necessary time to write his sermon.
Within ten minutes, the boy calls his dad to announce that he is finished. The dad is astonished. He asks his son “How did you do it?”
The son says, “I looked at the back of that picture of the world. I saw a picture of a person. I figured that if I could get the person right then, I could get the world right.”
The dad says to his son, “Let’s go play ball. By the way, you have given me my sermon for Sunday.”
Moral Lesson for a Sales Team
Here’s one of the harsher truths about digital marketing — a sales team can run into problematic situations. But business-savvy marketers know that getting out of these scenarios requires critical thinking.
Looking at things from a different perspective could help you resolve any problem you’re dealing with quickly and efficiently. If needed, go to others for marketing advice. Sometimes a former colleague’s inspirational words will show you the answer.
The father in the story thought that maps are so confusing, that it would take his son a while to complete the map. But the boy is so much smarter than he gave him credit for. Instead of focusing on the complex graphics on the front, he flipped the pages to reveal a picture. Hence, it was much easier to piece everything together.
Sometimes it takes a little creativity and ingenuity to deal with a problem but most of us would rather focus on the singular aspect of a dilemma to set things right. Thinking out of the box will help you simplify what looks like a complicated problem and find better solutions.
Motivational Sales Story 4: The Old Fire Truck With Broken Brakes
There was an Ohio gentleman whose oil well caught fire. He put out an all-points bulletin for assistance. To ensure a heavy response, the oil baron also offered a $30,000 reward to whoever could quench the flames. All the large firehouses from Newell, Chester, East Liverpool, Wellsville, Salineville, and Dillonville sent help. They dispatched their best companies, accompanied by their most modern fire-fighting equipment. However, not one of their trucks could get within 200 yards of the blaze. The heat was just too intense.
Finally, the Calcutta Township Volunteer Fire Department appeared on the scene. They had only one rickety truck equipped with a single ladder, two buckets of water, three buckets of sand, and a blanket. It didn’t even come with a hose.
When that old truck reached the point where all those other fire companies had stopped, its driver didn’t hesitate. He kept barreling ahead until he and his crew were on top of the blaze. Calcutta’s volunteers leaped out of the truck and then threw the two buckets of water and three buckets of sand into the inferno. Then beat the fire out with the blanket.
The oilman was impressed by this display of courage. So he gave the driver $30,000 in cash on the spot and asked, “What are you and your men going to do with all that money?”
The driver didn’t hesitate, replying, “The first thing we’re going to do is get those gosh darn brakes on that truck fixed!”
Moral Lesson for a Sales Team
Sometimes you just have to make the most out of the predicament you find yourself in. While the driver of the broken fire truck didn’t intentionally set out to storm the blazing flames, they found themselves in the thick of things and made the best of the situation.
A sales training company will teach you the same thing. To achieve sales success, you’ll have to get out of your comfort zone and tackle problems head-on.
Fortune befriends the bold. If you want to be a successful sales leader, you’ll have to learn how to adapt to any adversity and develop a tough skin.
Motivational Sales Story 5: Think Outside the Box
A golfer stood at a beautiful par five hole at the St. Simon Island Golf Club. He landed a perfect approach. But as the golfer walked up over a knoll in front of the green, he couldn’t find the ball. After further searching, he saw that the ball rolled into a paper bag on the side of the green. So what did he do?
Did he take a stroke and remove the ball from the bag? Give it a good, old-fashioned whack? Waited to see if the wind would blow the bag away from the ball?
None of the above!
Instead, he took out a match and burned the bag.
He’s an outside-the-box thinker.
Moral Lesson for a Sales Team
There are plenty of ways that your sales team could improve your yearly revenue. You just have to think outside the box.
A sales manager will develop a better sales acumen as that person experiences personal growth — and so will you. With personal development comes all the knowledge you’ll need to make better decisions. Once you have more options, you’ll quickly realize that there’s more than one way to do things.
The golfer knew that there are more sensible options to deal with the paper bag. So he went with the option that made the most sense to him. And it paid off.
Learn to experiment. Don’t go for the first few doors you see. Look at all the possibilities. Study digital marketing strategies to find tips and tricks you could use down the line.
Learn to experiment. Don’t go for the first few doors you see. Look at all the possibilities. Study digital marketing strategies to find tips and tricks you could use down the line.
Motivational Sales Story 6: Taking Time Off
This one is less like the other inspirational short stories on this list and more of a straight-up lesson.
All sea-going vessels accumulate barnacles over time. Barnacles are marine organism that forms a hard shell attached to a ship’s surface, fouling the ship’s bottom.
The accumulation of small individual barnacles on a ship’s bottom can add tons to the ship’s weight creating a tremendous drag. This reduces the ship’s efficiency and adds huge costs to the ship’s operation. At regular intervals, the ship must be drydocked to have the barnacles scraped off its bottom.
There is a species of barnacle, which requires no saltwater for its growth and multiplication. It attaches itself to the bottom of salespeople creating a tremendous drag on sales. Sales then are dragged to a screeching halt. If they increase at all, it is with glacier-like slowness.
Professional salespeople, just like ships, must go into the dry dock from time to time to have the barnacles removed.
Moral Lesson for a Sales Team
In online marketing, most live a fast-paced life. We do everything on a schedule, and we try to cram every possible activity into a single day. You can also say the same thing about those who are running a production company, conducting marketing coaching, starting a writing career, and working odd jobs.
By the day’s end, we feel tired, restless, and miserable. And the work keeps coming! We prioritize our business life and forget about our personal health.
So take some time off to get better results.
Just like anything in life, we need to step back, take some time off, and recharge to get things done. If you don’t take time out, you’ll become miserable at work. Then your unhappiness will spread to other facets of your life — and this will affect the people around you.
A breather is not only beneficial to the mind but to the body as well. We all need a little break to come back stronger, better than ever before. Try it. If you don’t, you’ll end up burning out.
Motivational Sales Story 7: Know Your Objective
Here’s another motivational story lesson fit for any sales team or for anyone running a few businesses.
In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy had an objective. It was to get back home to Kansas. That’s what she told the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and finally the Wizard himself. She knew what she wanted. The First Basic Principle of the 30-Second message is to have a clear-cut objective.
Moral Lesson for a Sales Team
What’s the motivational sales story lesson here?
Never lose sight of your objectives. Why is your sales team working so hard? Why are you trying to do everything you can to succeed? Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, you should have your priorities sorted out to accomplish your goal.
Some people spend all their lives working for something, but they never accomplish anything. These people live the rest of their lives in regret. They’re like lost sheep, unable to find their way home. Your objectives will serve as stepping stones to your success. By not losing sight of the reason why you’re working so hard, to begin with, you will achieve your life goals.
Stories were taken from The Next Level Consulting.
BONUS: More Resources to Help You Succeed in Sales
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