Customize Your Presentation For Different Personalities
Warning: The information you are about to read will dramatically change the way you see yourself and how you relate to other people! In his book, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,
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.
Warning: The information you are about to read will dramatically change the way you see yourself and how you relate to other people! In his book, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus,
While 90% of sales reps tend to remain stuck working within and producing up to (or more likely down to) their invisible dollar sign, the good news is that about 10% of sales reps
To build successful sales relationships, there are three critical components: expertise, enthusiasm and empathy, all of which lay the foundation for the even more critical component, trust. Unfortunately any of these three individually or
There is a better way. What all top producers do is have an unyielding faith that things are going to work out as long as they keep taking action, change their actions as their
Utilize the time you do have by adding extra exercise into what you have to do anyway. Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator, carry your materials and luggage yourself, and park
We’ve all done this at one time or another. Sales slow down and suddenly, a new customer appears, a new product comes out or a new sales technique emerges, and you start to think
When representatives feel as though they could be better utilized anywhere else, they are less likely to take the event seriously. Unfortunately, this is not just a personal problem for them – a negative
In my role as a sales consultant, I’ve watched a great number of people with incredible sums of intellectual capital not being challenged at all to contribute. At the same time, I’ve watched people
Regardless of how you feel (stressed, tired, overworked…) when the show opens each morning, it is essential that you make yourself look like you do when you feel your best. Once you look like
If you are serious about changing your career and your life, then get in the practice of working on your mental attitude first. Adopt these five mental attitudes of winners to powerfully change your
Be willing to work with the media. They may have a different concept about profiling your business than you do and go with it. They are not giving you a free advertisement – they
For clients who are also attendees, start by including them in your pre-show marketing efforts. In the time leading up to the event, send them a tailored version of the e-mails, physical mailers, and
How To Open A Prospecting Call Besides being very busy, your prospects probably get a lot of sales calls every week, and many of them from your direct competition. So why would they want
Email or Telephone: Which one do you use more for prospecting? The question should not be the number of people you can contact. The question we need to be asking is, “What is the
Cold Calling C-Level Executives When calling into the upper “C” suites, assess their mood and circumstances at the time of the call quickly and match it with your tone and conversation. This will give
Build Relationships With Gatekeepers Tricks or tactics to “bypass the gatekeeper” may get you some surprise face time, but it’s often at the expense of the deal. Winning over a gatekeeper can often be
Your Prospect Is Stalling. Now What? Top producers know a weak prospect when they hear one, and they would much rather know ahead of time who is leading them on and not likely to
Why You Should Start Reversing Objections Reversing objections is counter-intuitive, highly effective, and requires superior preparation and courage. You must consider the response that requires the most confidence, preparation, quick-thinking, understanding, and sales talent.
How To Sound Natural Over The Phone If you sell for a living, sooner or later you have to pick up the phone for prospecting, follow up, and sales calls. To be effective, you
The Dreaded “I Am Not Interested” Objection Nothing, absolutely nothing, cuts a conversation with a prospect shorter than a brusque, “I am not interested.” Knowing how to respond to this objection can make selling
On cold calls, to grab attention your message and approach needs to be relevant. There are 5 questions to answer before you make that cold call that will help you develop a message that
What Does It Mean To Give Your Customers The Red Carpet Experience? How many people are you losing because you treat even one person poorly? What’s at the heart of good or bad service? You
The Two Opposing Sales Philosophies After years of pursuing sales as a serious closer, I grew into what I refer to as an “of service” sales professional. While I’m still all about closing deals,
How To Design An Effective Sales Call Plan You are supposed to sell in such a way that people would prefer to work with you over anyone else. You need to be known, liked,
Email or Telephone: Which one do you use more for prospecting? The question should not be the number of people you can contact. The question we need to be asking is, “What is the
How You Open Your Closing Calls Might Lose You The Deal I’m going to share with you one of the easiest and most effective ways to close more business. And it all starts with
On this Sales Gravy podcast episode, Jeb Blount and Daniel Disney discuss the real secrets to becoming a LinkedIn selling machine. You’ll learn the keys to to filling your pipeline with qualified opportunities, building
Got a Stalled Pipeline Opportunity? Here’s What To Do Next When facing stalled pipeline opportunities, you might wonder, “Was it something I said? Did I do something wrong?” Often, it is out of your
Cold Calling C-Level Executives When calling into the upper “C” suites, assess their mood and circumstances at the time of the call quickly and match it with your tone and conversation. This will give
The buyers in procurement are professionally trained to negotiate. Salespeople not so much. This can put you at a huge disadvantage when you are forced to negotiate with them. But not anymore. On this
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.
Most sales team meetings fail because they aren’t actually about selling. Mike Weinberg says the fix is simple: stop running status updates and start running meetings that make your team more aligned, more energized,
Jumping in to save a rep’s deal feels like leadership, but it trains your team to call you instead of solving problems themselves. Real sales leadership means coaching the rep, not closing the deal
If you want to know how to scale a sales team, document your sales process and prove your close rate before you add headcount, then decide whether your next hire is a leader or
Most sales forecasts fail for a reason no CRM can fix. Sellers stop telling their leaders the truth the moment honesty starts costing them something.
Summary The most effective sales compensation strategy for getting a small team focused on high-value complex deals is to layer a significantly higher reward on those deals without reducing incentives on transactional ones. Pair
Summary When the market shifts, your salespeople are not going to figure it out on their own. That’s your job. As a sales leader, your responsibility is to see the change coming, get ahead
Summary: Most sales managers confuse empathy with sympathy and pay for it in team performance. Jeb Blount breaks down the real difference, why listening first is the most powerful coaching move you have, and
Summary: Q1 is feedback, not failure. Top-performing sales teams use a Q1 sales strategy review to assess whether they have an execution problem or a focus problem, then make targeted adjustments heading into Q2.