How Would You Define Customer Delight?
We live in a world that demands results. We also expect stellar service or customer delight. Mediocre service can only be tolerated when you don’t have a choice, like when you’re going through security
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.
We live in a world that demands results. We also expect stellar service or customer delight. Mediocre service can only be tolerated when you don’t have a choice, like when you’re going through security
Sales coaching is the management No. 1 activity that drives sales performance. The only problem is that managers have not been taught how to effectively coach. Coaching is a skill that takes time to
The most dangerous lie that salespeople tell themselves (and anybody else who will listen) is that they lost the opportunity with their dream client on price. Salespeople—like all other groups of people—lie to themselves.
Sales experience is virtuous if you ever hope to have an executive level job. There’s a persistent perception that sales is a “last resort” job. I don’t know where it comes from, but you
Champion athletes know that the best way to improve performance, achieve greater success and become the best they can be is by working with a coach. It seems plausible that if coaching is integral
Think of past sales you’ve made and ask yourself – how much of a factor was trust? For most people trust is key to building a relationship which can lead to making the sale.
Coaching is about asking thoughtful questions. It is based on the belief that individuals have the answers to their own sales challenges. As the head of sales you know that the primary role of
Are there rules for managing these messages and being a professional and polite user of electronic mail? There are, but not everyone has gotten the word. It’s time to brush up on your email
Distilling down what selling really is: Selling is the transfer of our enthusiasm to another person — giving our passion about a subject to someone else. Enthusiasm is Not Bouncing Off the Walls “Thanks
Getting your sales team to buy into your new sales initiatives, and developing key drivers for coaching, reinforcing, and measuring the implementation of these initiatives is what determines how successful your new sales culture
Of course, you want more referrals from your client in the future. If you take the time and effort to do a little investigation, you should have at least a few areas to investigate
When the day comes and you’re ready to tell your truth, remember to tell the person you are telling them YOUR truth before you actually tell them your truth. State your positive intent, and
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
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.
Summary A LinkedIn social selling strategy works when sellers show up with authenticity, not automation. The biggest mistake sellers make today is using AI to generate posts and messages in bulk, then publishing without
Summary The easiest way to spot a fake sales guru on LinkedIn is to ask one question: are they selling you something before they’ve proven anything? Fake gurus manufacture credibility through aesthetics and urgency.
Summary How do you know what sales advice to trust? Look at who’s giving it. Credible sales advice comes from people who are actively selling today, have a verifiable track record across years and
Most salespeople are wired for now. The quota is now. The pipeline review is now. The pressure to close is always right now. And that urgency is exactly what gets in the way when
Summary: The leading indicator of sales success is not calls made, emails sent, or LinkedIn touches. It is the First Time Appointment (FTA) — a net-new meeting with a prospect you have never spoken
Buyer resistance is at an all-time high and has reached a tipping point. Two emotional intelligence competencies separate sellers who push through from those who back down. Key Takeaways: Using Emotional Intelligence to Break
Quick Summary Q1 surfaced a consistent theme across our best podcast conversations: the reps who win consistently are the ones who treat the fundamentals (goal setting, communication, prospecting discipline, and self-awareness) as non-negotiable. In
Quick Summary: The most effective way to rehearse a sales pitch is to practice out loud in front of real people until you own the story, not just recall it. When you reach that
The sales player-coach — carrying a personal quota while also helping build and lead a team — is one of the hardest roles in sales, and most people in it burn out quietly. Surviving
Key Takeaways When people leave training, why don’t they all perform at the same level? Training and coaching occupy different positions in the development process. One without the other leaves the job half done.
You just promoted your top performer to your newest sales leader. They crushed quota six quarters in a row. Closes deals in their sleep. Customers love them. The team respects them. On paper, it’s
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
A book of business that isn’t growing is dying. When your team drifts into “farmer mode” and stops hunting new logos, it’s on leadership to make prospecting non-negotiable again. Key Takeaways: How to Get
“You know, at the core of Working Genius, what it does is it allows us to avoid guilt and judgment—guilt about ourselves and judgment of others.” That’s Patrick Lencioni, bestselling author and organizational health
Quick Summary Founder-led sales teams struggle to scale because the entire sales system lives in the founder’s head. Major clients only trust the founder, reps can’t replicate instincts they were never taught, and every
“That chip on my shoulder made me less empathetic, more rushed, too eager to solve things too fast, and less thoughtful. That chip built me, but then it started to tear me down.” I
“You can’t be more committed to somebody’s success than they are.” That insight comes from Colleen Stanley, author of Be the Mentor Who Mattered, during a recent conversation on the Sales Gravy Podcast. It’s