13 Real Alternatives to Cold Calling That Build Pipeline
Can’t stomach cold calling? Steal Jeb Blount’s 13 proven alternatives to picking up the phone that build real pipeline and actually work.
Welcome to the Sales Gravy blog, where salespeople and sales leaders get better every week. We publish new sales training articles and podcast episodes three times a week, covering prospecting, cold calling, objections, negotiation, and leadership, written by Jeb Blount and the Sales Gravy trainer team.
Can’t stomach cold calling? Steal Jeb Blount’s 13 proven alternatives to picking up the phone that build real pipeline and actually work.
The right time to hire a fractional sales leader is when your team has outgrown what you can manage on top of running the business. Here are 7 signs that tell you it’s time,
Making just three to five of proactive calls to customers in a five-minute block, breaks the reactive cycle most account managers live in and builds the relationships that drive real, predictable revenue.
Recruiting is a sales leader’s number one job, and the way to find sales candidates is the same way your reps find customers: recruit like you prospect.

Steal this trial close technique and exact scripts to motivate buyers to make decisions and act without making big price concessions.
Referral leads close at three to four times the rate of cold and self-generated leads. Once both reach a real sales conversation, referrals close at roughly 26 percent versus 9 percent for cold and

When should you ask questions on a cold call? Questions come after you’ve earned the right, when you’re gathering information and qualifying, and they lead the conversation only when the prospect contacted you first.
To prospect for new clients, stop making random touches and run a consistent five-step system. Work this system every day and you gain control of your pipeline, along with the peace of mind that
The best way to measure sales productivity is with leading indicators—the KPIs and metrics that predict future revenue and let you fix problems before sales dry up.
A good sales voicemail is short, scripted, and gives the prospect one clear reason to call you back. This guide gives you seven word-for-word sales voicemail scripts that work!
Salespeople fail at cold calling for five common reasons. Fix them and the phone starts producing appointments again.
Email response rates are collapsing because decision maker inboxes are stuffed with automated, AI-written slop. This is exactly why the phone is more powerful today than it was ten years ago.

On this discussion with Dylis Guyan, host of The Inspired Selling Podcast, I discuss that most failure in sales – especially for business owners – is caused by the failure to prospect consistently. The

Gryphon Networks sat down with Jeb Blount, CEO of Sales Gravy and bestselling author of Fanatical Prospecting and Sales EQ, to discuss misconceptions about cold calling and overcoming the fear of picking up the phone and being

When you build a hunter-based sales culture, you accelerate sales productivity and pipeline velocity. On this Enterprise Sales Podcast with Noah Goldman, Jeb Blount, author of Fanatical Prospecting shares the secrets of ultra-high performing

Use this checklist to determine why your email list may not be performing up to your expectations. Your lead generation email list is one of the top four factors that cause marketing campaigns to

People buy from you, not because you understand, but because they feel understood. As a sales professional, I urge you to rethink NO. Who knows what buyers mean when they say no? I certainly don’t.

Uncertainty Means Lots of Objections Objections. When things hit the fan – inflation, economic upheaval, market disruption, recession – you’re going to still get lots of them – even when you’ve got empathy packed

Are you ready to stop playing “supermarket roulette” with your prospects? Wouldn’t it make you feel accomplished at least knowing regardless of the outcome, that you did everything on your end to move the

On this Sales Gravy Quick Tip, Jeb Blount reveals the real secret to superstar sales success. The good news is it’s obvious and within your grasp.

Many so-called “sales experts” are quick to tell you that they have the one path to prospecting salvation or the top secret for making sales prospecting easy. Run away from these charlatans as fast

Steal this trial close technique and exact scripts to motivate buyers to make decisions and act without making big price concessions.
Salespeople fail at cold calling for five common reasons. Fix them and the phone starts producing appointments again.
Most salespeople are looking for the secret edge that will move them to the top of the sales ranking report. The truth though is that there isn’t just one thing that separates top performing
Short Answer How honest should you be in sales? Completely. The moment a customer catches you in even a small lie, like fudging how long a meeting will run, they have every reason to
The best pitch I’ve ever heard about didn’t have a single slide. It had an ax, an elevator, and a crowd that had no idea what was about to happen. The sales storytelling techniques
Sales complacency is the silent performance killer that sets in after winning — and the only defense is returning to the fundamentals that built your success in the first place. Key Takeaways When Success

Quick Summary Reading buyer signals means recognizing the behavioral and psychological cues prospects send before they ghost you, and using that information to keep deals moving toward a real decision. Key Takeaways Listen to
When results drop and motivation fades, the fix is to increase your prospecting activity above your normal baseline, not wait until you feel ready. More calls create more conversations, more conversations create more opportunities,
No matter your industry or deal size, mastering how to negotiate in sales comes down to seven rules that protect your leverage and win more profitable deals.

A Sales Leader’s Focus: Meetings Or Management? A manager’s job is to train, educate and develop their people, and to make them as successful as possible. To be effective, managers should be buried in

Giving critical feedback to your salespeople is a key element of coaching and improving sales behaviors. It’s also challenging for sales leaders to do it the right way. Giving salespeople feedback is hard to

Are You Facing Sales Fatigue? These team building techniques will ensure that your organization will exceed your goals this year and create a culture of high performance. Holding frequent success meetings and instilling passion

There are Two Fundamental Classifications of Salesperson The difference between Sales Pros and Sales Reps is important for business owners, executives, and sales managers who want to accelerate revenue growth by acquiring new accounts.

On this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast Jeb Blount (People Follow You) and Kristie Jones discuss the trials and tribulations of building and sustaining a sales accountability culture. You’ll learn that without accountability

The Case for Virtual Training Virtual Instructor-Led training blends the social benefits of classroom training with the speed, agility, and cost effectiveness of e-learning. These are the seven ways that virtual training has become

Keep Burnout At Bay Especially now, burnout threatens the best of sales teams. Fight it by focusing on recovery, not on hours worked. How can team leaders keep burnout from closing in? Of all

Great Ideas for Sales Contests It is a sales leader’s objective to make sales contests a fun experience. Creating fun in your sales culture with different types of contests will help you achieve different

Delivering An Excellent Customer Experience Many elements make up an effective customer service training program. Here are seven secrets we use as a base to introduce customer service reps to the fundamentals of delivering