The Quick and Easy or the Hard and Profitable

By Steve Shaner

Old School Sales Wisdom: Part 1

“Success in sales is as simple as A-B-C,” or Always Be Closing! Those are the words from the movie Glen Gary Glen Ross, starring Alec Baldwin. A-B-C is used in the sales world to motivate professional salespeople and encourage them to close deals. It implies that a salesperson should continuously look for new prospects, pitch products or services, and ultimately complete a sale. While that is a holistic view of the sales process it seems that the only important part of the sales process is CLOSING the sale!

I don’t remember a time when I had the best sales of my career, that the next month or whenever the sales fell off, (and they always do after a record month), where management didn’t care what I sold last month, but instead always demanded, “What have you done for us lately?”

While I knew all the tactics, all the strategies, and put in an immense and intense effort in sales, I was never more than just average. Others down the hall or in the next cubicle seemed to land bigger sales and in greater frequencies. I considered myself more experienced, knowledgably and talented in the craft but my rarely, if ever, rose to the top. Why? I don’t know.

Success in professional sales is rarely the result of talent alone; it is built on daily habits, clear priorities, and an unwavering commitment to meeting customer needs. Over years of working with prospects and clients, I’ve learned that consistent prospecting, thoughtful questioning, attention to detail, and personal accountability separate average performers from trusted professionals. The tips that follow are not complex theories, but practical principles forged through real-world experience—principles that help salespeople stay productive, serve customers with excellence, and adapt in industries that are always changing.

Tip #1 – Everyday ask yourself two specific questions:

Early in my sales career, Ed Singer, one of the older, grizzled veterans of the Sales department, and a wonderfully kind mentor to young salespeople, often saw me struggling trying to figure out who to call, or even what to do next. One day he came by my cubicle with his coffee mug in one hand, and one for me as he sat down in my visitor’s chair by my desk handed me a coffee. He took a sip and said, “Steve, I hear you struggling. And if you’ll indulge me for a few minutes, I think I can help you.”

I eagerly sat up and said, “Oh yes, please go on!”

He continued, “You see young man, successful selling and customer service require daily focus, intentional action, and disciplined priorities. He stopped and said… You might want to write this down, as her motioned for me to get a pen.”

I scurried for a note pad and pen faster than I ever had to find a pen for a customer about to sign a contract with my firm. My gentle giant of a sales mentor went on to say, Steve, first of all…

First, “Who is my BIGGEST most promising prospect for some future business?” Answer that question, then everyday do something to move that first sale a little closer to a sale.

Secondly, “Large account or small, new customer or existing customer, who is my best chance of making a sale TODAY?” Then do everything you can to close that sale before you go home today.

Ed took his last swig of his coffee, got up to leave, but first turned around and said, “Good Luck kid. Let me know what I can do to help you.”

As I often recalled what advice Ed Singer gave me, I tried manifest his wisdom by doing my best to begin each day identifying the most important prospect for future growth, and the customer most likely to buy today, then taking concrete steps toward both. Let me explain.

First, identifying your biggest prospect for future business keeps you focused on long-term growth. Major accounts rarely close quickly—they require time, trust, and multiple interactions. By doing something every day to move that opportunity forward, you prevent it from stalling or being forgotten. Even small actions—a call, an email, sharing an idea, or scheduling a meeting—build familiarity and confidence. Over time, this steady progress turns large opportunities into major wins. Without this daily attention, big prospects often drift to competitors who were more consistent and intentional.

Second, identifying your best chance to make a sale today ensures short-term results and income stability. Sales is both a long game and a daily performance. Focusing on the most likely immediate opportunity helps generate regular wins, builds confidence, and keeps revenue flowing. These daily successes also create momentum, reinforce productive habits, and help you avoid the stress that comes from having an empty pipeline.

Together, these two questions create the perfect balance between today and tomorrow. One builds your future, and the other produces results now. Practicing this discipline prevents the common sales trap of being busy without being productive. It ensures that every day contributes to both immediate success and long-term career growth. In simple terms: one question supplies your pipeline, and the other builds funds your paycheck.

For a sales professional, answering these two questions every day creates focus, momentum, and balance, which are essential for consistent success.

That two-step tip was the beginning of a journal where I started writing down the genesis of this article. As the days and weeks went by, I couldn’t get this amazing tidbit of advice out of my head. As I listened and learned more about professional sales I came up with a multitude of other principles that I experienced and journaled over the next 20 plus years. Here, in no specific order, are more.

Tip #2 – Beware of the barren fruits of a busy life!

Much of my most successful years in the sales were done as a national representative in the printing and direct marketing industry. Maybe one of the reasons this was one of my most successful efforts was because my customers and clients were much larger than a small business needing a flyer or company letterhead. They needed massive amounts of direct mail and catalogue type of marketing collateral, thereby making the average sale MUCH, MUCH larger. The invoice often added up to thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands of dollars. Sounds great, except with great rewards comes great responsibility.

Sometimes some of your best sales advice can originate from the most unusual source.

One exhausting day, I received a phone call from one of my budding prospects to talk about a printing project he needed that I was putting together a proposal to land that job. After the initial hellos? What’s going on? He asked how I was doing because I sounded tired.

I fumbled and mumbled out a few words that tried to cover up my day and yet be transparent enough to honor his perception, (which was true).

My customer stopped me and said, “Beware of the barren fruits of a busy life!”

Wow, that comment hit me right between my eyes. “Beware of the barren fruits of a busy life!” was a reminder that activity and accomplishment are not the same thing. Sales professionals can fill their days with emails, meetings, reports, and administrative tasks and still accomplish very little that produces revenue.

I am prone to make a list of the things I want to accomplish today, tomorrow and next week, in addition to keeping my long-term appointment calendar up to date. Sometimes busyness gets me off track and at the end of the day I realized I got very little done, but I stayed busy doing so little. Busyness sent me down a rabbit hole completing a lot of things that were not on my agenda for the day, but it made me feel good, so I added them to my list of things to do simply so I could cross them off.

Busyness creates the feeling of productivity, but if it does not move a prospect closer to a decision or strengthen a customer relationship, it produces no real fruit.

In sales, results—not activity—are the true measure of effectiveness.
Beware of the barren fruits of a busy life, challenges you, the sales professional, to examine whether your daily actions are aligned with your primary purpose: helping customers and generating business. It is easy to gravitate toward tasks that are comfortable, routine, or urgent but not important.

A busy schedule can sometimes become a hiding place that keeps a salesperson from doing the difficult but necessary work that leads to success. Ultimately, this advice is about living and working with purpose. A successful sales professional learns to prioritize impact over activity and outcomes over appearances. By focusing on what truly matters—serving customers, building relationships, and advancing opportunities—they ensure their efforts bear fruit. In doing so, they avoid the frustration of being constantly busy yet falling short of their true potential.