I received a call from John. I could tell by the tone of his voice he was upset about something. The conversation went like this.

“Al I am really upset with my company. They are never satisfied. No matter what I do it is never enough.”

I replied, “John, slow down you sound like you are going to have a heart attack!”  

“Yeh, they are raising my sales quota again this year. Every time I hit it they raise it again. I am getting tired of this.”

Here is what John missed:

Sales people sometimes get upset when quotas are raised. This is an indication of a weak sales person. A strong sales person knows they need and want to hit sales quotas.

Stronger sales people working on commission are not necessarily driven by the company quota but their own quota which is usually higher than the companies.

These stronger sales people are not upset when sales quotas are raised because they are driven by the quality of life they want to create for themselves and their loved ones.

They know the more they sell the more they earn and the better the quality of life they have.

As we move toward the end of the year it is a good time to look at our successes and failures. If you have been in a sales rut or not hitting your quota.

You may want to measure yourself against some of the characteristics of Top Performers. The list below represents some of the more common characteristics of Top Performers. See how you measure up. If you are not doing some of them it is time to put a plan in place for 2012.

1. Strong desire to be successful
2. Committed no matter what
3. Has a positive outlook in the face of adversity
4. Have personal goals in writing that are tracked and monitored
5. Prospects consistently
6. Gets to the decision maker
7. Gets appointments
8. Is rejection proof?
9. Is in control of emotions
10. Attempts to close
11. Upholds margins
12. Takes responsibility
13. Has a positive attitude
14. Doesn’t need approval
15. Comfortable talking about money
16. Has a supportive buying cycle
17. Bonds early in the sales process
18. Discovers buyers budgets
19. Discovers why prospects buy
20. Discovers how prospects buy
21. Have strong hunter skills
22. Have strong qualifying skill
23. Has a strong sales process
24. Is open to coaching
25. Recognizes that there is always room for improvement of sales skills and sales strengths
26. Maintains a full pipeline
27. Has a good model to measure prospect against
28. Has set criteria for cold, warm and hot prospects
29. Joins trade associations and participates on committees
30. Is committed to prospects and customers success
31. Provides solutions to customers and prospects while maintaining profitability
32. Cross sells and up sells
33. Has high retention levels
34. Doesn’t accept put offs
35. Attends networking events
36. Prospects by phone or walk-ins
37. Gets referrals
38. Doesn’t quote inappropriately
39. Schedules appointments that are not broken
40. Doesn’t make assumptions
41. Quickly develops and maintain relationships
42. Keeps good records in a contact manager
43. Has a high dollar tolerance
44. Recognizes a non opportunity and is willing to walk away
45. Asks good questions
46. Knows how to handle people
47. Has a presidential mentality
48. Manages time effectively
49. Makes appropriate follow up calls
50. Is highly motivated.