In the high-stakes arena of outside sales, where rejection hits hard and quotas loom large, what separates top performers from the pack? Sales guru Jason Forrest maintains it's the unshakeable mindset of a sales warrior.

Drawing from his decades of sales experience, Jason Forrest sat down and dove deep with host CEO Steve Benson, unpacking how field salespeople can battle internal barriers, master proven processes, and fight on all fronts - like a frontline hero, but with pipelines instead of battlefields.

This article distills the interview's gold into seven actionable strategies, though you can always check out and listen to the full Outside Sales Talk episode The Mindset of a Sales Warrior  here. Whether you're dodging "overpriced" objections or juggling work/life balance, these outside sales tips will help you thicken your skin and close more deals. Let's gear up!

Jason Forrest Insight #1 - How to Cultivate the Warrior Mindset: Fight the War on All Fronts

Jason Forrest champions what he calls The Warrior Mindset - think the grit of a first responder or a parent overcoming divorce - and Forrest explains that every salesperson harbors a warrior spirit within. But in sales, that warrior must activate constantly. "Your top salespeople truly have to be a warrior all the time because they’re fighting the war on all fronts," Forrest says. Customers gripe about ops delays, prospects balk at pricing, bosses threaten quotas, and loved ones lament your absence.

To build the resilience of this sales warrior mindset:

• Embrace your locus of control: Focus on what you can influence - your prep, your pitch, your follow-up - rather than external chaos.
• Thicken your mental toughness: Recall past "warrior moments" (for example, facing a tough test) to remind yourself you can do hard things and that you're built for battle!
• Adopt the athlete's edge: Treat sales more like you’re an athlete - coach yourself daily with progressive rituals, instead of managing like a 9-to-5 drone.

Why It Works: As Steve Benson asks, "How do you keep focused on what you need to do to have that warrior focus?" Forrest's answer flips the script: Warriors create their own side in the fight, turning isolation into inner strength. This mindset boosts close rates by 20 - 30% in high-pressure field sales scenarios, per Forrest's training data.

Jason Forrest Insight #2 - How to Use the Performance Formula: Knowledge Minus Leashes Equals Wins

Forrest's core equation? Performance = Knowledge - Leashes. Knowledge is what you've learned (e.g., negotiation tactics from Chris Voss). Performance is what you do. Leashes? Leashes are those sneaky internal saboteurs blocking execution. "A leash is any sort of mental resistance that holds us back from doing what we’ve been taught to do," Forrest clarifies.

Break down the four leash types:

• Self-Image Leashes: Do you see yourself as a "sales warrior" or just a cog? Low self-efficacy kills bold asks.
• Story Leashes: Excuses like "I can't sell over Zoom - it's COVID's fault" shift blame outward.
• Reluctance Leashes: Fears around asking for referrals, using social media, closing or anything else, such as BSRP's 16 call reluctances, like "telephobia".
• Rule Leashes: Permissions you hoard, like "I must earn the right to close." Forrest challenges: Write your criteria - the more rules, the fewer sales. "The person with the most rules sells the least."

To snap these leashes:

• Audit weekly: "What stops you from using a new tactic with 100% of customers this week?"
• Reframe fears: For "yielder" types who hand control to prospects, Forrest asks, "What's your intention in yielding? To be helpful?" Then flips it: Imagine a doctor yielding to a panicked patient - this would lead to malpractice! As the expert, salespeople need to lead!

Why It Works: Training often piles on knowledge, ignoring leashes - sales training is a $164B industry, yet 70% of sales training flops (from Forrest's book WTF: Why Training Fails). Subtracting leashes changes behavior - there’s no reason acting on a single revelatory podcast insight can’t unlock 10 - 30% pay bumps, as Forrest urges listeners to revisit episodes through this lens.

Want 7 more sales approaches from 7 additional sales experts? Look no further!

Jason Forrest Insight #3 - How to Remove Leashes Through Targeted Sales Training

Forget one-off seminars - Forrest's performance group demands 90-day commitments for real ROI. "We’re not gonna just do a one night stand event," he quips. Instructors drill: "What stops you from executing this lesson 100% this week?" Stories or excuses likely surface (like the classic "Not enough time!"), then shatter.

For common leashes like yielding:

• Examine your intent: "By letting customers guide, what's your goal - to seem helpful?"
• Challenge with analogies: Picture a passive doctor who yields to their patients - this "helpfulness" becomes harmful inaction. Instead, know that you are the expert and you know what the customer needs.
• Level up identities: Move from follower (afraid to push) to helper (70 - 80% of reps) to leader, then warrior (the top 1%, advocating like a founder).

Why It Works: As Steve observes, "Most training tends to focus on the knowledge variable, not subtracting the leashes." Forrest agrees: It's education vs. training. This accountability uncovers patterns - leashes correlate across unapplied learnings - leading to sustained field sales strategies that scale teams without founder burnout.

Jason Forrest Insight #4 - How to Master the 5-4-3 Sales Process: Predictable Closes in Any Territory

Forrest's 5-4-3 field-tested framework - ranked #2 globally - powers his "Warrior Selling" program: 5 steps to understand the mission, 4 to present solutions, 3 to resolve the sale. It echoes the Challenger model but adds precision: "Where do you put it? How do you say it?"

Key to Forrest’s framework is to disrupt the buyer’s stale view with the "VETO" acronym - Vision, Example, Teach, Own - from Forrest’s Step 6:

• Vision: Polarize with your edge or differentiator (e.g., Forrest's training veto: "Sick of 70% training failure? We're the 30% that proves ROI.").
• Example: Share a client story of ditching competitors.
• Teach: You should know your product's solutions better than anyone else. Expose industry flaws, for example, "Why should someone leave XYZ? Because they lack our unique fix."
• Own: Anchor to their pains and own your solution: "This is why we're 20% more - and worth it."

Why It Works: Without vetoing paradigms in place, premium pricing flops. "How are you going to charge more if you don't disrupt?" Forrest asks. This carves a niche in prospects' minds, flipping "overpriced" to "irresistible," and creates predictable outside sales tips for territories from B2B to real estate.

Want to know how to close more sales using FBI tactics? Check out Chris Voss’s playbook!

Jason Forrest Insight #5 - How to Hire GUMPs: Unleash Top Sales Warriors from Day One

80% of new reps flop in year one - Forrest's team flips it to 20% replacements via "GUMPs" (a nod to the beloved, motivated character, Forrest Gump). GUMP is an acronym for Goal-oriented, Unleashed, Motivated, & Procedural-based.

• Screen for procedure: Ask, "Tell me your sales process." The answer "It depends" flags option-based mavericks, which are great for startups, but lousy for scaling.
• Hunt without leashes: Reverse-engineer top hires' interviews/assessments for patterns.
• Onboard warrior-style: Create customized 90-day programs blending recruiting, assessments, and training.

Jason Forrest Insight #6 - How to Climb the Mastery Pyramid: From Cruising to Jedi-Level Sales

Forrest explains the concept of a “mastery pyramid”, with salespeople mapped to various levels of the pyramid based on their motivation and efficacy. From the bottom to the top of the pyramid:

• Play to Not Lose: Bottom of the pyramid - bare-minimum quota dodgers.
• Play to Cruise: Cruisers stay comfortable in safe mediocrity (in Forrest’s firm, these reps bring in ~60K/month).
• Play to Improve: These reps ask how to be better than the day before, and beat their yesterday's self!
• Play for Challenge: These reps love to smash personal bests.
• Play for Mastery: These reps are top of the pyramid, masters who still recognize the need to implement the occasional tweak (“like the Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady level”) - who adjust, innovate, and continue to dominate.

Admittedly, top producers can look "boring" to the outside observer - same daily calls, questions, outcomes. But they know to make necessary corrections or tweaks, like comedian Chris Rock testing jokes for his main set list. All salespeople should at least be trying to be on the “Play to Improve” level of the mastery pyramid.

Why It Works: Even “improvement-level” reps outsell “cruisers.” As Forrest says, "If everyone just decided to be at playing for improvement level, we would all sell more." This field sales strategy fosters progressive rituals over ego, turning mavericks into scalable sales warriors.

Jason Forrest Insight #7 - Quickfire Sales Tips: Jason's 60-Second Warriors

What happens when you ask Jason Forrest to give his top tips in 60 seconds? He delivers some juicy tidbits! 

• Common Mistake: Stop ignoring competition in a sales call. Ask: "Who was your favorite supplier before us? What do they lack?" Then depending on their answer: "If we add that plus our differentiator, is that ideal?"
• Differentiate: Know rivals better - provocatively respect them during discovery, then veto: "That's why we're 20% more."
• Toughest Challenge: No outcome frame. Ditch market highs/lows, and one-up your personal best (for example, close in 55 vs. 60 minutes).

And Forrest’s best advice? Copy winners and ride their coattails - no ego! Otherwise, the alternative is to "be the poor version of you.” Kids use YouTube shortcuts and video game cheat codes; adults should too. Money spends the same!

Final Takeaway: Snap Your Leashes and Charge Forward

Jason Forrest doesn't just teach sales - he forges warriors. Start with his book or podcast, then audit what you’ve learned: Pick one tactic (for example, “vetoing”), ask "What stops me 100%?" and dismiss your excuses. As Steve wraps, "Great companies have predictable processes that lead to predictable successes." In field sales, that's your battlefield edge - protect prospects from subpar choices, scale like a founder, and watch quotas crumble.

Ready to unleash your inner sales warriors? They are waiting!

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