I cut my teeth in sales selling plastics—without a clue what I was doing. Like most new reps, I was trying to figure it out as I went along. In the beginning, I thought the key to winning people over was to talk, yap and run my mouth. So I did just that in every meeting. And guess what? It didn’t work. I knew I had the potential to be great at sales, but I needed a system (and some discipline to use my ears more than my mouth). I committed to training, found a mentor, and never stopped being curious. That’s when everything changed.

• I planned my sales calls better. (No more winging it.)
• I ran meetings with structure. (No more talking too much.)
• I followed up with precision. (No more letting deals stall.)
• I listened more than I talked. (No more guessing what the client wanted.)
• I solved problems and added real value.

It was just that simple. Through trial and error—and a lot of intentional practice—I became a top-performing salesperson at every company I worked for. Then I leveled up again: I started leading and training others to succeed in sales, too.