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.
Prospects Have Objections, You Need to Know How to Handle Them Learning to handle objections is important so that you don’t spend time with prospects who are not going to buy and you ensure
Three Turnarounds to Common Insurance Sales Objections In inusrance sales, there are three objections that you will face when engaging prospects and customers. You gain a competitive advantage when you prepare in advance and
Your Prospect’s Attention Span is Short It is super easy to lose your prospect’s attention on a cold call. When you do, click . . . the call is abruptly over. When you make
Gatekeepers Are Not The Enemy It may seem like the gatekeeper’s primary job is to keep you out. But they can be your ally if you learn how to enlist their help. Knowing best
3 Key Elements of Sales Fitness To reach peak performance and productivity, sales professionals need to be physically fit, because mental energy is limited by physical energy. Here are three steps you can take
Snail Mail Isn’t Dead When it comes to making connections with hard-to-reach decision-makers, gaining familiarity with a prospect, and maintaining a relationship with your past and current clients, snail mail can’t be beat. Here’s
Video Messaging Works The simple truth is that video messaging works. Even a 60-second video can get you and your team right to the people who matter the most. Prospecting Isn’t Easy I was
Finding The Right Time To Prospect The best part of weekend warrior prospecting is that prospects tend to be more relaxed without distractions. Here’s why you should set aside a block of time on
Lessons In Sales Negotiation I built the confidence to never get rattled and to always ask for what I want. The worst thing that could happen is that a buyer walks away without putting
In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, I highlight a key sales opportunity as we approach the final stretch of the year. There is no doubt that this has been a strange year,
On this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, host Jeb Blount Jr. and guest Neil Cameron discuss the evolving landscape of B2B sales, focusing on how to adapt to millennial buyers, the importance of
On this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, JBJ sits down with Amy Franko, a sales expert specializing in the mid-market, to discuss pipeline velocity, qualifying deals, and the importance of asking the right
Join Jeb Blount Jr. and, special guest, Anthony Iannarino on The Sales Gravy podcast as they dive deep into the world of sales. Discover the secrets to successful outbound strategies, learn how to elevate
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”
Proactively managing the sales pipeline by ensuring every deal has a scheduled next step is critical for preventing stalled opportunities and improving closing rates. The Challenge of Stalled Opportunities Recently, I was working with
Sales objections pose a challenge for salespeople, leading to demoralization. Sales leaders play a crucial role in helping reps develop perseverance.
The article suggests using bingo as a teaching tool to handle objections
In sales, it is easy to become blinded by sales disorientation leaving you to crash and burn your deals. Recently, I finished reading a book written by one of the “Housewives of New York”,
Closing the Sale When You Get Ghosted When you get ghosted by buyers it can be crazy frustrating, especially when you feel you are right on the cusp of closing the sale. We’ve all
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