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.
Who would you rather hire for your inside sales team – an experienced inside sales rep with experience selling different products or services across several companies, or someone new to sales, say a
In larger organizations where an eco-system of teams and departments must communicate effectively and deliver across an engagement or project is a strategy that would not be so effective nor welcomed. Permission is not
Selling used to be the job of a few, but with the economic slowdown it quickly became apparent that sales has to be a feature of all job descriptions. From the CFO who leverages
Eighty percent of your competition won’t do these things, but if you will, you will smoke them in sales. In fact, you can become a Top 5% or even a Top 1% producer if
To increase the chance that you or your sales reps will achieve a goal they have set for themselves it is critical to have them commit their plan to paper, write it down! When
We’re all connected, folks. If you want to live a harmonious life with others, I strongly advise you to give of yourself, help whenever you can, as much as you can. Not only will
Buyers often seem to be on a different wavelength. Their decision making criteria have changed. For the price obsessed buyer you must calculate your value before you can communicate it. If you can’t communicate
There are other ways to set goals for other job functions, but sales goals are unique to sales people and need to be treated that way. Sales goals can be measured in amount sold,
Claws and fangs don’t make you a good hunter but rather knowing how to use them within the context of your prey does. I had a discussion with a colleague recently when he made
Companies that fail to implement an effective cross-selling program actually do a disservice to their customers and in effect, leave the backdoor open to their competitors. Progressive companies understand the power of cross-selling and
Being a good sales coach isn’t easy. You have to help your salespeople when the rejection overcomes them. You also need to let them know when they are doing a great job. Hopefully you
If you’re not recording sales reps or listening to recordings, then you are missing the most important tool you have available to you. Just imagine an NFL team that didn’t watch and use game
Can’t stomach cold calling? Steal Jeb Blount’s 13 proven alternatives to picking up the phone that build real pipeline and actually work.
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
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.
Quick Summary Cold calling anxiety is not a symptom of weakness. It’s human and natural to feel fear when you cold call. You are interrupting a stranger who was not expecting you, and everything
Fear of the phone is quietly draining sales pipelines, and the reps who win are the ones willing to stop hiding behind email and LinkedIn and simply make the call.
Salespeople seek a magic window that makes cold calling easy. When prospects answer happy, say yes without a fight, and book the meeting themselves. So, is there a best time to call?
Short Answer Yes, you can make cold calling fun, and it is worth doing, because the reps who enjoy the phone are the ones who stay on it. Fun is not a personality trait
Short Answer What is priming in sales? Priming in sales is exposing your buyer to specific words, images, stories, and questions that shape their emotional state before you ask for the sale. Buyers who
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,
Data can do more than tell you facts about your own business. It also can reveal important information about what’s going on with your competitors in the marketplace. How to Be Data Savvy In
