A recent sales summit got industry professionals together to network and share some of their top insight into their success.Tim Clarke, the director of product marketing at Salesforce, shared tips from sales superstars, and we’re going to share the best of those snippets with you here to hopefully inspire you, too!

Sales vs. the Internet

“Rather than reduce the power of salespeople, the Internet made salespeople more powerful than before.” -Jason Jordan, Partner, Vantage Point Performance

Some have argued that the Internet could mean the end of traditional sales forces, but according to Jordan, who has a much more optimistic (and realistic) outlook on the issue, the Internet is simply a tool that has given talented sales professionals even stronger footing.

Know thy customer

“Your target customers and prospects, especially the social ones, can tell within seconds whether you’ve done your due diligence.” -Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce

Consumers today have less patience than ever. Their phones, email, screens and devices are all constantly vying for their attention. So if you want a piece of the pie, do your due diligence and show them you know them.

Beware the blow off

“I’m going to tell you to send me your sales information and then bet with colleagues how many follow-up calls you’re going to make.” -John Barrows, Owner, J.Barrows, LLC

Prospects will often tell you to simply send them some information in order to get off the hook. Chances are, it won’t be effective. Instead, probe for more insight into what information could actually be useful to them.

Be human

“Empathy creates an emotional connection, which elevates the sales conversation.” -Colleen Stanley, President & Chief Selling Officer, SalesLeadership, Inc.

Sales is a people business, so relating to your customer on an emotional level can mean the difference between sealing the deal and losing the sale. All the sales training in the world can’t teach the basic human skill of empathy.

Go back to the beginning

“When the salesperson is having trouble closing, it’s an issue that goes way back up to the sales funnel.” -Mark Hunter, CEO & Founder, The Sales Hunter

If you’re having a consistent issue closing the sale, it’s not necessarily the sales professional’s fault; it could be a sign your MQLs aren’t so qualified after all, so look back up that sales funnel for further clues.

Know your worth

“If sellers demonstrate that they have information, insights, resources and networks – that is, real value to add – it’s like a magnet.” -Jill Rowley, Founder & Chief Evangelist, #SocialSelling

No one wants to be sold to. Instead, be the type of sales professional who people seek out – not the other way around. By consistently providing value, in the form of quality content, resources, feature updates and the like, your product’s quality will speak for itself.