Good salespeople are always striving to become top performers for their company. Being a top performer means that you’re hitting every quota and on track to make President’s Club, and maybe even leading the company in sales.

We’ve covered the topic before from an HR perspective, but we have yet to talk about how good salespeople can make that next step to becoming a top performer. Here are four steps to sales success:

1. Set Goals

Top performers consider a company’s minimum sales targets to be a first step on the way to achieving their sales goals. Make this your mindset as well; your minimum sales goals should be above what your company expects from you. Is there a bigger bonus for better numbers? Aim for that. Does your company have a President’s Club? You should expect to be in it. Without this mindset from the beginning you will not be able to plan accordingly.

2. Assess

The first step to achieving your sales goals is to take a close look at your sales funnel. Do you know how many calls you need to make to turn your prospects into leads? How about how many leads you will have to create to close a deal? If you can’t answer either of those questions, this is your first priority. Sit down and determine what your funnel looks like right now, and then create a plan about how you are going to increase its size so that you are closing more deals.

3. Strategize

Now that you have a clear picture of your sales funnel, where can you increase your efforts? Will you have to call more prospects to create more leads? Are leads falling through the cracks? Maybe you’re going to have to spend more time on your new leads after you’ve converted them. If you think that you can’t possible spend more time on the phone prospecting, or that you’re doing a good job of keeping leads warm throughout the sales cycle, perhaps you need to address how you are managing your time; a more efficient sales process could free up some more time for business development.

4. Execute

There is a sales quote that is probably over-used that has to do with persistence being the key to selling. I’m sure you’ve heard it before so I won’t repeat it, but there is a reason that it shows up everywhere; it’s true! Selling is about persistence. You must be persistent not only in the face of objections and rejection but in your commitment to your process and consistency when dealing with your clients. If you decided that you need to make 20 more cold calls per week to hit your sales goals, you must make 20 more cold calls per week, and you must do it for an entire quarter. If you can look back on the quarter and see that your numbers have improved, then you need to keep calling. If you look back and can see no difference, then you need to figure out why, and perhaps change your strategy. But never give up on your plan before you have enough information to determine whether you are being successful or not.