What Makes Good Salespeople Different From Great Ones

What Makes Good Salespeople Different From Great Ones

Introduction

In more than 10 years working in sales, I’ve seen why some people succeed again and again, while others struggle. Sales is not just about talent or luck. It’s about habits, choices, and showing up every single day.

There is a clear difference between good salespeople and great ones. Both can succeed, but great salespeople stand out because they understand their customers deeply, connect value to real outcomes, and stay consistent in how they work.

Let’s break down the difference.

What Good Salespeople Do Well

Good salespeople usually share three important habits:

1. They choose the right product. Selling is much easier when you believe in what you sell. A good salesperson chooses a solution that truly solves customer problems.

For example, if you sell a tool that cuts admin time in half, you are not just selling “software,” you are giving the customer’s team more hours in the day.

2. They stay focused. It’s easy to get lost in reports, tools, or endless meetings. But good salespeople avoid wasting time on distractions. They keep their eyes on the customer, the next meeting, and the pipeline. This focus means they get more done with less.

A good salesperson might spend that extra hour following up with warm leads instead of adjusting the colour of a slide. Those follow-ups often turn into real opportunities.

3. They do strong discovery. From the very beginning, they ask the right questions. They don’t just pitch, they listen. They want to know the customer’s goals, pain points, and how success is measured. Without this discovery, ROI will always feel weak.

Example questions:

• “What’s the biggest challenge your team is facing right now?”
• “If this problem was solved, how would it impact your business?”
• “How do you measure success at the end of the quarter?”

These three habits help salespeople do their job well. But they are not enough to become great.

What Great Salespeople Do Differently

Great salespeople go further. They master two skills that separate them from the rest.

1. They show ROI clearly. Great salespeople don’t just say, “this will save you time.” They translate value into simple numbers the customer can see.

For example: “This tool will save your team 10 hours a week. That’s 40 hours a month, worth about $2,000 to your business.”

When value is shown in numbers, it feels real. It’s no longer just a nice idea, it’s a business case.

2. They tell a story that connects. Numbers are important, but people remember stories. A great salesperson makes the facts easy to imagine.

Instead of only saying, “this saves 10 hours,” they tell a story: “Right now, your reps spend Fridays buried in manual reports. With this tool, they’d be done by lunch and could spend the afternoon meeting customers instead.”

Now the customer sees the value in their own daily life.

Tip: Combine numbers with a clear story. The numbers convince the head, the story makes it stick.

A Simple 3-Step Way to Show ROI

1. Ask about success. Start with simple questions:

• “What does success look like for you this year?”
• “How do you measure the cost of this problem today?”

This gives you their numbers.

2. Connect to those numbers.

• If they care about saving time, show how your solution saves hours.
• If they care about revenue, show how your solution helps them win more deals.
• If they care about risk, show how your solution prevents costly mistakes.

3. Show simple math. Keep it short and clear. Example:

• “This saves 10 hours a week, 40 hours a month.”
• “This improves win rates by 20%, that’s $X more per quarter.”

You don’t need perfect math, just perspective.

Example: ROI in Action

Imagine you sell a tool that automates emails.

• Now: A team spends 50 hours a week on manual outreach.
• Cost: At $50 an hour, that’s $2,500 a week.
• With automation: 80% of that time is saved, $2,000 a week, about $100,000 a year.

And that’s before counting the extra revenue from more pipeline. Suddenly, the tool looks like an investment, not just a cost.

Real-world application: This same thinking works for almost any product, whether software, insurance, services, or even physical tools. The goal is always to connect what you sell to the customer’s time, money, or risk in clear terms.

Skills and experience matter, but success in sales also comes down to showing up every day.

Great salespeople don’t wait until the end of the quarter to push harder. They build trust and pipeline by being consistent in their daily activities. That means generating new leads, qualifying prospects, identifying the best opportunities, and knowing their top customers, and quick wins very well. They also know what works, what doesn’t, and collect customer stories and industry knowledge along the way.

One call or one meeting may not change much on its own, but steady activity builds momentum. Over time, this discipline creates stronger pipelines, better-qualified opportunities, and long-term customer relationships.

If you want to grow from good to great in sales, focus on a few basics:

• Choose a strong product. Believe in what you sell.
• Understand your customer deeply. Ask better questions and listen carefully.
• Show real ROI. Put value in numbers they can see.
• Tell a clear story. Link facts to outcomes in a way they’ll remember.
• Be consistent. Show up every day, even when results take time.

I’ve seen that when people focus on these habits, the results compound over time. Every good discovery call, every clear ROI story, and every consistent follow-up becomes part of a bigger picture. Step by step, they not only grow their pipeline, they also build trust, credibility, and long-term success.

Closing

Good salespeople can succeed. But great salespeople succeed again and again, because they combine strong product choice, deep customer understanding, ROI, storytelling, and daily discipline.

At the end of the day, sales is not just about closing deals. It’s about creating value that customers can see, measure, and benefit from.