Top Solution Sellers: 5 Top Factors that Distinguish Them

Distinguish Top Solution Sellers
Top solution sellers don’t just manage time — they focus it on the activities that drive the biggest impact. General advice like “use your time wisely” applies to everyone, but what sets elite sellers apart are the mindsets and behaviors that consistently produce results. They prioritize understanding customer needs over pitching products, invest in building strategic relationships, and approach every opportunity with a value-first perspective. By aligning their daily actions with outcomes that truly move the needle, top solution sellers separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

Five Research-Backed Factors that Distinguish Top Solution Sellers

After more than twenty-five years designing and delivering customized solution selling programs — and working directly with sales teams to elevate performance — we’ve identified what truly sets the best apart. Top solution sellers aren’t just competent; they consistently outperform their peers. Based on our experience and sales rep assessment data, the five factors that distinguish elite solution sellers from middle- and low-performing reps are:

1. Putting the Client First
   It may sound simple, but top solution sellers approach every interaction with a client-first mindset — prioritizing the client’s interests above their own. This means gaining a deep understanding of the client’s industry, business, and strategic priorities, and focusing relentlessly on helping them succeed. In contrast, lower-performing sales reps concentrate on closing deals rather than creating value for their clients or their clients’ customers.
2. Planning Thoroughly Before Each and Every Call
   Never wing it. Clients can instantly tell whether you’ve prepared — and showing up unprepared can feel almost disrespectful to someone who has set aside time to meet with you. While clients expect sales questions, they expect thoughtful ones — not queries that could have been answered through a bit of research, a review of financial reports, or preliminary conversations with staff.

   Top consultative salespeople invest time in pre-call sales planning to fully understand the client and their context. This preparation allows them to uncover deeper needs, tailor their insights, and build trusted relationships on solid, value-driven ground.

3. Know Which Clients Warrant Time and Energy
   Top sales leaders make sure their teams have a precise profile of their ideal clients — those who are not only receptive to their unique value proposition but also have a real need and the resources to act. The faster a prospect can be qualified, the sooner a salesperson can decide whether to invest or move on.

   A clear “red light” on a prospect isn’t a setback — it’s an opportunity to focus time and energy on clients with greater potential to buy and grow.

4. Focusing on Selling Rather than Peripheral Activities
   Salespeople are among the most valuable — and expensive — resources in any organization. Top solution sellers spend the majority of their time selling, not on tasks that can be handled more efficiently by others. The most effective reps know how to delegate or offload activities that don’t leverage their core skills.

   To set top sellers apart, ensure they have reliable support from administrative staff, customer service teams, and field engineers — freeing them to focus on what drives revenue and builds client relationships.

5. Providing Value with Each Interaction
   Top solution sellers don’t just sell — they establish themselves as trusted advisors. Building that trust requires putting the client’s interests first, rather than focusing solely on personal or organizational revenue targets.

   Elite sellers aim to deliver something of value in every interaction — whether it’s a relevant whitepaper, a connection to a subject-matter expert, a timely insight, or a fresh perspective. Each meaningful contribution deepens the client relationship and strengthens “entanglement,” creating a bond that’s difficult for competitors to break.

The Bottom Line
To elevate your sales team from competent to exceptional, embed these five best practices into your sales process. When top solution-selling behaviors become routine, you’ll see stronger client relationships, higher win rates, and measurable improvements in overall sales performance.

To learn more about improving your solution selling skills, please download The 6 Top Reasons Sales Training Initiatives Fail

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.