To identify the best practices of America’s top sales professionals, Selling Power studied a cross section of sales executives in 15 of America’s leading companies. Our editors discovered that top performers don’t reach great heights by accident, but by following a professional plan for achievement and service. Here are the secrets that helped these top performers win awards, achieve six-figure earnings, garner praise from their customers and earn the respect and admiration of their peers:

1. Create a Positive Attitude
Remind yourself that setbacks present an opportunity for growth: Failures are essential for learning and success. Keep your sense of humor by not taking work too seriously. Remember what’s important in life: Health and family come before work.

The founder of IBM, Thomas J. Watson Sr., once said, “The basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources.” A number of studies suggest that attitudes have a significant impact on job performance as well as on people’s health and success in business. A well-publicized Harvard study focused on the influence of attitudes on job security. When researchers measured the careers of 4,375 people who had lost their jobs, they found that only one third failed because of a lack of knowledge or skills, while a staggering two thirds failed because of attitude problems.

At IBM, Watson’s healthy attitude lives on. Lashonda Anderson, who works as an inside sales representative in IBM’s Small and Medium Business sales division and who earned IBM’s Golden Circle Award, displays an infectious enthusiasm. “She doesn’t go into a sale with the attitude ‘I’ve got to sell something today.’ She goes in with the attitude ‘How can I help my customer?’” says her boss, Dale Veno, VP of the division.

Lashonda describes how her attitude helped land a major account. “I called on a customer who had recently acquired another company, and all their technology was non-IBM. I learned about their environment and their plans. They were planning to grow 250 percent over the next 24 months. The director of IT said that although he’d like to standardize he wasn’t considering IBM because he thought we’d be far too expensive. I asked for the opportunity to bid on a desktop. He was skeptical, but called back very surprised after I submitted a quote. It was Friday afternoon, and he said he’d give us a shot if we could have someone there Monday morning. I engaged the local IBM resources to do a presentation that Monday on our systems, ’Net systems, management tools and desktop technology.’ Over the next three months, we replaced all competing technologies with IBM servers. It was a $300,000 sale. The customer was so pleased with our efforts and attitude, he wrote a letter to Lou Gerstner (IBM’s CEO) on our behalf.”

2. Develop Self-Confidence
Guard against complacency: Try new ways to do things. Look for more than one answer to any challenge. Find your most creative time of day and use it for brainstorming solutions to challenges. Self-confidence comes from flexible thinking.

A leading speaker on the subject of motivation, Art Mortell, once said of his struggles as a young IBM salesman, “I learned a valuable lesson early on – not to let rejection overwhelm me. I began to say, ‘Okay, you’re oversensitive. You’re taking rejection too much to heart. You have to disengage your ego.’ Be like ducks and geese that never get wet because water just rolls off their feathers.” The big secret about confidence? Your customers will respond positively to your high level of confidence and, conversely, will respond negatively if you lack self-confidence.

Stan Birckhead, an account executive with Siemens Medical Systems, describes a situation where he felt confident enough to pursue an account long after the sale was lost. “Five years ago, I tried very hard to get an order from a large prospect who had two hospitals in town. We lost the sale for an MRI unit (Magnetic Resonance Imaging System). I chose to maintain the relationship and I learned that the customer was not always happy with the competitor’s product or service. When I learned that the customer was building a new hospital, I was confident that we had a chance. We went in there early, worked hard and won the sale. Now, with all the Siemens equipment in the new hospital, we use it as our show site.”

Birckhead believes that “even in losing, sometimes you win. When you don’t get an order, don’t just turn your back on the relationship you’ve already developed. Stay with those prospects and stay confident.”

3. Stay Motivated
Define professional and personal goals and develop a plan to achieve them, with definite deadlines. Review your goals daily. When given a goal, stretch it just beyond what you believe possible and make that your new goal. Goals create motivation.

Top performing salespeople know that all motivation comes from within, and the likelihood of motivating yourself increases with positive relationships. For Laura Loughner, national accounts manager at UPS and the Chairman’s Gold Eagle Club Award winner in 1998, motivation is a matter of making relationships work. She says, “I love working for UPS and care about doing the best job I can for my customer and the company.” What’s exciting for her is that clients look to UPS as a partner, and her team members are eager to act as a single unit to help their partner win.

Laura remembers a case in point: “A number of years ago I went into a highly visible sports industry company and recognized an opportunity for UPS. At the time, it was a few million dollars with lots of room to grow. It was the first time I dealt with a complex situation in terms of leveraging not just our pricing, but our logistics, technology, systems and other UPS added value. My team worked on a creative solution and we won the account by forming a partnership with the customer that still exists today. It was my first big sale and it gave me a great boost in confidence.”

Klaus Huber sells GE aircraft engines in Europe. As the sales director, he knows that his motivation becomes a key ingredient in persuading a customer to write a check for a $14 million aircraft engine. Huber wins sales by motivating all stakeholders. “I walk the halls and talk with people at all levels because I’ve found you have to sell jet engines from the bottom up, not from the top down.” Huber thinks that motivation comes from believing in yourself and your product. He remembers selling to the CEO of Austria-based Lauda Air, Nikki Lauda, who was also a three-time World Champion Formula I race car driver. “Nikki Lauda said to me, ‘Klaus, your faith in your engines and your company gives me faith in your engine and your company,’” says Huber.

4. Be Persistent
When faced with a lost sale, continue to build a relationship with the prospect for the future. At the same time, if a prospect makes it clear that they do not want to hear from you again, honor those wishes and move on. When you believe you’re on the right track, pursue it and ignore the bystanders saying, “It can’t be done.”

Top performers never give up. Thomas Pierce, executive account manager with Standard Register, was the company’s top salesperson in 1998. Tom’s keys to success include tenacity, perseverance and patience with customers, says his boss, Scott Svehlak. “He has the unique ability to put a customer at ease, build strong rapport and establish the feeling that he’s collaborating as opposed to selling.” Tom’s product is a secured microprinter that prints on demand such items as cashier’s checks or money orders to eliminate the need for preprinted forms.

Tom describes a recent sale: “I worked with Washington Mutual Bank to put approximately 1,500 printers in 1,100 branches. In our initial presentation, the customers told us what they wanted to do and asked for help in selling it internally.” With an average sales cycle of 12–18 months, Tom must typically present and win approval from up to 10 different divisions within a bank before closing a sale. Tom says, “We wanted to win and worked hand-in-hand to present our solution to each of the bank’s internal divisions.” Tom and his team won the account and he concluded philosophically, “Never listen to anybody who says you can’t do something. Good salespeople are driven. They don’t wait for someone to tell them what to do – they go out and chase down what they need to win.”

Don Bullard, State Farm agent and agency owner and 11-time consecutive winner of the President’s Club Trophy, says, “Remember, sales is a marathon, not a sprint. You can go out just to make a sale, but if you’re not building relationships, all you’re doing is selling products. If you do what’s right for the customer and build the relationship slowly over a period of years, you’ll do so much better.”

5. Manage Negatives
Remember that reality is always neutral and unbiased. The moment we put a negative label on an event, we’re creating our own misery. We have the choice to think positive, and the best salespeople harness the power of positive thinking.

Top performers know how to deal with negative emotions on their way to success. While average performers often suffer from self-generated negative emotions, top performers refuse to let their minds drift to unpleasant events of the past. They don’t let little things bother them. If they can’t do anything about a negative situation, they don’t worry about it – they move on with their lives. By learning what they can from their mistakes and not dwelling on them, sales stars continue on course with a renewed sense of purpose.

When an unpleasant experience with a customer generates a negative emotion, top performers isolate the experience and don’t over-generalize about all the things that are wrong in their lives. Average performers tend to complain about the stress created by increased competition, while top performers thrive on it. They think in ways that make them far less sensitive to negative events.

Larry Landry, director of strategic accounts with DukeSolutions, remembers pursuing a large opportunity within a Fortune 25 company. He says, “Over eight months, I faced fierce competition – especially from my former company, the incumbent to the account – and ended up winning the opportunity. The account will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”

6. Have Integrity
Always tell the truth and maintain your ethical standards. If something doesn’t feel right, walk away. Face up to mistakes right away and take immediate steps to correct them.

Without honesty, it is impossible to earn the customer’s trust. Don Christian, a 35-year sales veteran with PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay Company and recent recipient of the company’s prestigious Leadership with Integrity Award, believes that honesty is the most important characteristic for sales success. Roy Beversdorf, one of Dow Chemical’s top relationship managers, agrees. “Credibility is the only thing a salesperson has,” he says. While it takes years to establish trust, sometimes one careless mistake can cause trust to erode. If mistakes are made, top performers admit to them quickly and correct the situation for the customer. If the mistake was made on purpose, trust will be lost forever.

The late Senator Sam Ervin Jr. once said, “We all find occasions where we have to choose between what we believe is right and what we suspect is advantageous.” Top salespeople do what’s right and they don’t overpromise or underdeliver. They know that their honesty in all dealings translates into a strong bond of trust with their customers.

7. Be Consistent
Define a schedule and stick to it. Prioritize each day. Know your strengths and weaknesses and focus on tasks that you do well; delegate those tasks that you don’t do well. Stay on track.

While amateur salespeople score an occasional win, top performers deliver consistent results over a long period of time. Xerox key account manager Richard Williams’ performance earned him 17 annual Xerox President’s Club awards for sales excellence. Williams says, “Technology changes, competition changes, everything changes. But if you consistently put the customer first, you’ll do well year to year.”

In today’s fast paced world, customers look for consistency. Klaus Huber with GE Aircraft Engines told Selling Power about a sale to Lufthansa Airlines. “We’d sold a number of lower-thrust versions of an engine to Lufthansa, and I tried to convince them that they would not be happy. I thought that they should take the higher-thrust version so they could fly full loads on hot days.” Even after the sale closed, Huber continued to remind his client of the advantages of a higher-thrust engine, he says. “Four years later, they came back and said, ‘You’re right. We need more thrust.’ So I arranged what we call ‘name plates’ – rights to operate engines at higher thrust. In the process, we made a deal with Lufthansa for $25 million. I structured the deal so they didn’t have to pay cash. Ultimately, they could carry more passengers on hot days out of short airports, and we enhanced GE’s revenues as well. Not only did I get a letter from Lufthansa thanking me, but also Jack Welch gave me a CEO award. That was one of the best win-win’s I can think of.”

One of the most important characteristics of successful people is that they know where they are going, even if other people may believe that they’re lost. Like Huber, they are persistent in their aim and consistent in their methodology.

8. Expect Success
We define our expectations and our expectations determine our results. If we expect less for ourselves than our competitor, we will lose. The top challenges in life are to manage our expectations and to manage the unexpected.

High performers have high expectations for success. At ADP, Ed Flynn, national VP of sales in the EBS division, says about his company, “We are in the business of setting records and always trying to do better, quarter to quarter, year to year. All associates – from the day they join our company – learn that our expectation is to consistently overachieve our prior results.” Every year, ADP has broken new records in sales and profits.

Todd Maffucci, ADP’s area district manager in Manhattan, cites his ever-increasing quota as a challenge that he embraces and meets by raising the bar for himself. Maffucci sells services that allow small businesses to manage payroll and benefits as well as screen and hire applicants. He believes that if he serves his customers’ expectations well he has a chance at getting more and more business. “If prospects feel comfortable with you and know that you’re doing a great job, you have a good shot at earning their business. If you meet their expectations, you will earn their trust. Once you’ve earned someone’s trust, you have the potential for an endless chain of referrals.” Maffucci is a two-time Board of Director’s winner and a six-time President’s Club qualifier.

Chad Hayworth, account executive with Gateway 2000, has high expectations of himself. He says, “We all have a choice to be either a winner or a loser in life, and we take small steps toward one of these two destinations with our daily actions.” Hayworth is a member of the Chairman’s Club, an honor reserved for the top 5 percent of Gateway’s sales force.

9. Manage Relationships
Get to know all levels of your accounts’ personnel by taking a genuine interest in them. Schedule customer calls around the time of day when you’re most energetic. Allow your spontaneity, energy and excitement to show – people are drawn to others who are positive and upbeat.

Top performers appear to possess the kind of interpersonal skills that everyone else is looking for. Since they are good at listening, they exceed others in popularity. Top performing salespeople speaking in a group setting will have far more influence on the group than average salespeople. They tend to have a greater ability to make friends and feel more comfortable with the friends they’ve made.

For example, Klaus Huber says, “I am the chief relationship guy. The sales process does not start with a customer’s request, it starts many years before. You have to go in there and start building a relationship. I’ve been in this job for 20 years and I typically visit the customer every four to six weeks.” When it comes to separating work from family, the lines get blurred. When Huber worked with Air France, he learned that the airline’s chief negotiator’s daughter had lost an opportunity to spend the summer in the United States to learn English. Huber and his wife invited her to stay with them and their two children. Huber says, “She arrived hardly speaking a word of English, but she spent three or four months with us and when she left, she was fluent. We all had a great time, and when I went to visit Air France after that, I could do no wrong.”

10. Use Team Skills
A healthy tem attitude begins with a solid commitment to help other team members win. There is no “I” in the word team. There is no room for prima donnas within the team. The only person who is allowed to be a prima donna is the customer.

“You have to sell what the customer wants,” says Huber, “and that’s very challenging because we have internal financial targets.” Like many top achievers, Huber learned how to reconcile the differences between the challenges that come from his company’s mission and the demands that come from his customers’ needs. Every top performer knows that in order to sell an idea to a customer the salesperson has to sell the same idea to his or her own company. Huber says, “What I had to learn as a salesman years ago is how to develop influence. You can’t jump up and down and scream – you have to convince people rationally why we want to do certain things for a customer. To sell internally, you have to structure the deal so that it’s a win-win.”

IBM’s Lashonda Anderson says, “I had to learn how to engage the right resource at the right time,” likening her role to that of a quarterback. Often, the solution involves turning the customer over to an IBM field representative or an external business partner. In that case, she continues to follow through with the customer to ensure they’re receiving consistent service.

Laura Loughner with UPS agrees, saying, “Develop teamwork with your customers and also with your partners within your company by listening carefully to both.”

11. Have Vision
Images move the world. Customers are driven by visions of improvement. Salespeople can lead customers to better solutions by offering a clearer vision. Confusion and clutter are the enemies of progress. People with clear vision will always rise to the top.

While many average performers feel lost in corporate America, top performers recognize their place in the world and are excited about where their vision will lead them. AOL super sales star Neil Davis earns a jaw-dropping income, but there’s more driving his performance. “It’s not about money anymore. Instead it is the challenge of shaping what will be the most important new media. It’s about following that vision. This environment is so exciting. This must be what people in television felt in the late ’50s,” he says.

“At Consolidated Freightways,” says Gary Murphy, VP of national sales, “everyone is a salesperson, starting with our CEO, Roger Curry. Our entire corporate culture revolves around meeting customers’ needs.” Success experts believe that top performers define their own vision and are relentless in pursuing it. Murphy has no trouble aligning the corporate vision with his own personal vision, saying, “My goal is to be of maximum service to others. If you try to be of maximum service, that comes back to you.”

Gene Lamb, winner of Physician Sales & Service’ top Eagle Award, translates his company’s vision into action by saying, “Anytime there is a problem with an account, we address it immediately and use it to solidify the relationship.” Lamb translates the corporate vision of giving the best service into realistic goals. He knows that goals should stand for something worth working for, and he feels proud when he accomplishes them. He explains, “I try to maximize the time I spend in front of each customer. That involves hitting the ground running each day. If the first appointment is two hours away, I’ll drive the two hours in order to arrive just as their offices open, rather than waste that time in my car.” Lamb says that his customers can just about set their clocks by his arrival, and he calls on 15 to 18 customers a day.

12. Follow Up
Listen carefully to what your customers are asking. Repeat their needs back to them and explain how you will solve them. Remind your customers that as their advocate within your company you will always be there.

Top performing salespeople know that most average performers drop the ball when it comes to follow-up. There are two types of follow-up: the follow-up on a customer request and the follow-up on a close. “Quick follow-up on your customer’s needs develops a relationship built on reliability,” says Consolidated Freightways’ Gary Murphy. “When needs arise, to be able to respond quickly and decisively is of the utmost importance.”

Selling Power found that top performers see closing a sale as a new beginning. Roy Beversdorf, a three-time winner of Dow Chemical’s prestigious Pinnacle Award, says, “The toughest part of a sale isn’t getting the business, it’s keeping the business.” Beversdorf, who sells basic commodity chemicals to strategic accounts, believes that what you do after the sale will earn you credibility with your customer.

Former Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt once wrote that the seller is at a psychological disadvantage after the sale has been made, saying, “The buyer expects the seller to remember the purchase as having been a favor bestowed. The seller now owes the buyer one.”

To remain on the buyer’s good side, top salespeople pay special attention to keeping the customer happy. They send thank-you notes, call to find out how the product is performing and answer any questions that may have come up since the purchase. What about dealing with problems after the sale? Beversdorf says, “A problem gives you the greatest chance to shine. If you can resolve a problem in the customer’s best interest, you just reinforce why you do business together.”

13. Practice Self-Improvement
Always keep your temper in check and speak calmly. Listen carefully for your customer’s and your company’s needs, and strive for solutions that satisfy both. Use your sense of humor to dissolve tension. Accept that you can facilitate dialogue but cannot control the outcome. Stay focused on learning.

Top performers tend to embrace new experiences more eagerly. They believe that new learning is no threat to them, and as a result they become more familiar with the process of growing than others do. Top performers are not afraid to ask for advice from others and they tend to find the best available mentors throughout all stages of life. They value their own self-improvement too much to be deterred by fears of possible rejection. Gary Murphy with Consolidated Freightways cited Peter Drucker and Stephen Covey as positive influences. These authors have helped him develop stronger time management skills. While managing one of CF’s largest territories, Murphy enrolled in an MBA course, took classes at night and on weekends and earned his degree from the University of Phoenix in 1996.

Chad Hayworth, account executive with Gateway 2000, believes in ongoing learning: “If you are committed to sales as a profession, take the steps to make yourself a more valuable commodity. Sharpen your saw to stay on top of your game.” Hayworth regularly reads sales magazines and books and visits Web sites to find good selling ideas.

Top performers also strive to achieve balance in their lives. Laura Loughner with UPS says that it is important to have fun and enjoy your job as well as your family. One top performer compared the process to a high-wire balancing act, saying, “The objective of a high-wire walker is to advance and stay balanced at the same time. If you take your eyes off the wire, you tend to fall.”

The natural enemy of balance is speed. As we go faster, we tend to lose control. That’s why top performers aim at improving their balance. They seek out challenges that are in line with their skills and learn from the masters who have gone before them.