4 Behaviors That Put You on the Top Sales Producer Board (Money Monday)
Have you ever had a moment where the answer you were looking for was right in front of you? I’m talking about a giant neon sign moment where you realize that a strategy is
Have you ever had a moment where the answer you were looking for was right in front of you? I’m talking about a giant neon sign moment where you realize that a strategy is
Morgan Keim, founder of Ocean Ridge Capital, raised over $400 million in venture capital before he turned 35. One of his companies alone pulled in over $300 million pre-revenue—convincing pension funds and VCs to
Here’s a question that cuts to the heart of what makes sales hard: What do you do when your commodity is identical to every competitor’s, the buyer knows it, and the only lever they
You’ve heard people say, “Sales is a grind.” And they’re right. Sales requires relentless effort. You’ve got to make the calls, run the process, deal with internal roadblocks, handle piles of rejection, and show
I spent an afternoon at Ramsey Solutions in Tennessee with Jason Williams, Vice President of Sales for the EntreLeadership Division. What stood out wasn’t the size of the operation or the fancy building. It
Here is a question that should keep every sales leader up at night: What do you do when your team has gotten so comfortable managing their existing accounts that they have stopped prospecting for
I’m going to ask you a question that might sting a little. As a sales professional, are you just friction with a friendly face? Think about it. A whole lot of salespeople are good
Brad Beeler, author of Tell Me Everything and retired Secret Service agent who has conducted more criminal polygraphs than anyone in the agency’s history, was clearing a house on a search warrant when he
Let me ask you: What if the biggest thing standing between you and your next closed deal had nothing to do with your product knowledge, your pricing, or your pitch? What if it came
Here’s a question that’ll change how you think about this profession forever: What’s the one moment that reveals you’re built for sales success? For most people, that moment never comes. They stumble into sales,
You declined another prospecting block today, didn’t you? That internal meeting popped up. Someone needed “just five minutes.” Your CRM screamed for attention. Before you knew it, another day passed without a single cold
Here’s a question that keeps salespeople up at night: How do you build a powerful personal brand without stepping on your company’s toes? That’s the question Taylor Deadrick asked me during a recent live
Here’s a problem that’ll make your head spin: What do you do when you can sell way more than your company can produce? That’s the question posed by Dylan Noah from Toronto. Dylan sells
![6 High-Probability Moments to Send LinkedIn Connection Requests Prior to an Event Events create natural relevance. Conferences, trade shows, user groups, and local meetups give you a reason to connect that does not feel forced. The mistake sellers make is waiting until the event starts or turning the request into a pitch. A better move is connecting days or weeks ahead with a simple acknowledgment of the shared event. Example: Hi Sarah, saw you’re attending the Midwest Manufacturing Summit next month. I’ll also be there and am super excited! I’d love to catch up in person at the event. In the meantime, let’s connect here on LinkedIn. You are aligning with something already on their calendar. When you see them at the event or reach out afterward, your name is no longer unfamiliar. Following an Event After an event, connection requests work best when they reference a real interaction, even a small one. A short conversation, a question during a session, or a brief introduction creates enough context. The request should reflect that moment, not attempt to convert it into a follow-up. Example: Tim, I enjoyed meeting you at the conference last week. Your take on [subject/trend/idea] was intriguing. I look forward to staying connected and to our next conversation. This reinforces continuity and professionalism without pushing the relationship forward prematurely. After a Sales Call Sending a connection request after a sales call is one of the most underused opportunities in prospecting. If the call was answered and productive, the request reinforces credibility and continuity. Example: Thanks again for the conversation today. I appreciated your perspective on how your team is thinking about next quarter. I look forward to our next meeting and sharing some ideas I have with you and your team. If the prospect did not answer, a connection request can still make sense as a light reinforcement, especially early in the relationship. It keeps your name present without escalating pressure. Either way, the request works because the call establishes legitimacy first. After a Meaningful Interaction Not all interactions happen in formal selling environments. Thoughtful exchanges in comment threads, group discussions, or brief conversations in passing all create natural moments to connect. That might mean running into each other at a non-work event, crossing paths at an airport, or chatting briefly in a line somewhere unexpected. Example: Haley, it was a pleasure meeting you on our flight to Atlanta. Thank you for your restaurant recommendations! I look forward to staying connected, What makes this work is that the interaction was real. The request simply continues it. Mutual Connections Shared connections reduce perceived risk when handled with restraint. They signal that you operate in similar professional circles, not that you have permission to pitch. The mistake is overexplaining or implying endorsement. Example: Hi Mark, I noticed that you are connected to my good friend, James, and since you are also [interested in, working in, located in] I thought it might make sense for us to be connected also. A simple acknowledgment is enough. Familiarity does the work. Profile Views Profile views signal awareness, not intent. When someone views your profile after a call, email, or content interaction, a connection request can make sense as a low-pressure acknowledgment. Example: Wendy, thank you for visiting my profile. I had a chance to look at yours, and based on your interests, I thought it might make sense for us to connect. The discipline is resisting the urge to read more into it than is there. Want the exact framework for integrating LinkedIn into a disciplined outreach sequence without pitching, spamming, or wasting time? Buy The LinkedIn Edge by Jeb Blount and Brynne Tillman today. Sales Gravy is the number one sales training organization](https://salesgravy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6-Moments-LinkedIn-Connection-Requests-Actually-Work-in-Prospecting-Sales-Gravy-Blog-Featured-Image-768x401.jpg)
LinkedIn connection requests are misunderstood because sellers expect them to do work they were never designed to do. A connection request is not a pitch. It does not advance a deal. It does not
Here’s the scenario that’s playing out in sales organizations everywhere right now: Your team fought through a brutal first half of the year, rallied momentum in the second half, crushed their numbers, and now
Here’s a question that’ll stop you in your tracks: Would you let someone walk up to you, take your wallet, empty out all your cash and credit cards, and leave your family with nothing?
Here’s a question that’ll expose one of the most common productivity killers in sales: How much research should you do before making a cold call? That’s the challenge Michael Bricker from West Monroe, Louisiana,
A strong LinkedIn prospecting sequence is built around subtle, intentional touches. If phone and email are the boxing gloves of prospecting — direct and hard-hitting — LinkedIn is the velvet glove. It softens your
If you’ve been looking for a way to hit or exceed your annual quota, qualify for President’s Club, or simply earn a bigger paycheck or bonus, focusing on helping business owners reduce their tax
Is Your LinkedIn Personal Branding Built for Buyers or Bystanders? “Respectfully, you are not my audience.” Performance coach Giselle Ugarte said that on a recent episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, and it might
What Does a Perfect Bowling Game Have in Common With Top-Performing Sales Reps? Walk into a bowling alley on a Friday night, and you’ll see a scene that looks like pure recreation. The crash
A strong LinkedIn prospecting sequence is built around subtle, intentional touches. If phone and email are the boxing gloves of prospecting — direct and hard-hitting — LinkedIn is the velvet glove. It softens your
Here’s a truth most car dealerships don’t want to admit: people don’t hate buying cars. They hate buying cars from salespeople who make the customer experience painful. That’s the challenge Brendan Carlington from Mount
It isn’t everyone who can say they got an education in sales at the dinner table, but for my brother and I, that’s exactly where our education—and our love of sales—began. My father was
Every sales professional has a horror story that still makes them break out in a cold sweat years later. The deal that imploded spectacularly. The customer interaction that went sideways in ways you couldn’t
The year was 1938. Families across America gathered, listening during the golden age of radio. On the eve of Halloween, a broadcast interrupted their evening: A live report claimed Martian cylinders had landed in
The sales landscape has fundamentally shifted. While your competitors are still dialing for dollars the old-fashioned way, elite sales professionals are leveraging AI as their secret weapon to prospect faster, personalize deeper, and close
Here’s the scenario that’s playing out in sales organizations everywhere right now: Your team fought through a brutal first half of the year, rallied momentum in the second half, crushed their numbers, and now
You’re Coachable, But Are You Truly Humble? You’ve been coachable your entire career. You take feedback, adjust your approach, read books, listen to podcasts, and implement what works. Yet being coachable doesn’t automatically make
The automated “Great job, team!” email blasted to 47 people at 4:37 PM on a Friday isn’t authentic appreciation. Neither is the generic gift basket ordered by someone in HR who’s never met your
To a sales leader, it’s a familiar story.Month one: Your new SDR is on fire. Energy through the roof. They’re excited about cold calling.Month two: Still strong. Meetings are getting booked. Dashboard looks good.Month
This time of year is critical. As sales leaders map out their budgets for the new year, the conversation always centers on a core conflict: How to cut expenses and, simultaneously, motivate teams to
Here’s a question that’ll keep you up at night: How do you take a company from $300K in annual revenue to $1.5 million in 18 months, then scale to $3-$5 million within five years?
Your sales team has the tools. They know the pitch. The CRM is full of leads. So why are half your reps still missing quota? The real issue? Most sales leaders are managing activity
Walk into any sales conference, scroll through LinkedIn, or join a sales team meeting, and you’ll hear the same tired arguments: cold calling versus social selling, interruption versus relationship-building, quantity versus quality. The sales
Leadership is the single most important factor in a sales team’s success. You can have talented reps, strong products, and a solid sales process, but without effective leadership, performance stalls. As Duff Tucker, Sales
