Consider This Before Your Next “Free Giveaway”
When your giveaway is read – or listened to – they should say “wow…this free information is so great I can’t wait to see what I’ll get when I work with her.” Don’t Let
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.
When your giveaway is read – or listened to – they should say “wow…this free information is so great I can’t wait to see what I’ll get when I work with her.” Don’t Let
Avoid sales urgency because most buyers react negatively to the “opportunity method”. Chances are, you’ve all heard a version of it at least once before: “If you really want this one, grab it now,
Traditionally, a great interview with a sales director often leads to a decision to extend an offer that is based more on gut-feel, rather than on knowing the prior behaviors of the candidate that
All companies want to win more sales. More sales equals greater profits. So why has winning more sales become the unreachable dream? The first place to start is by looking at your sales people
While there’s no “magic bullet” for selling in a down market, there are several key steps you can take right now that will have an immediate impact on your business. As a professional sales
Here’s a fresh look at landing that new sales position and it’s only six steps! Even in this brutal job market and without a lot of experience, take the steps below with passion and
Japan used the philosophy of TQM and the concept of continuous improvement to set and achieve ambitious national goals. Quality management best practices developed quickly in Japanese plants and became a major driving factor
Are Your Prospects Reluctant to Respond? I get a lot of requests for voicemail scripts and email scripts that work. Seems as if prospects still aren’t returning calls and everyone seems to be reluctant
Selecting the right SWAG for your booth (or selecting not to provide any premiums at all) can be tough, but hopefully by identifying and explaining these seven categories, you will be better informed and
If you lead with features of your product or service instead of benefits, your main objection from the client will be cost. When you uncover their needs and then present the benefits of your
The Game of Successful Techniques Every so often, a person comes along who changes their field of study in a major way. Louis Pasteur changed the world of medicine with his introduction of the
My question to sales managers who buy into the premise that more coaching delivers better sales is “if you are not out there coaching your reps, then what are you doing?” Most first line
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
Here’s the scenario that’s playing out in sales organizations everywhere right now: Your team fought through a brutal first half of the year, rallied momentum in the second half, crushed their numbers, and now
You’re Coachable, But Are You Truly Humble? You’ve been coachable your entire career. You take feedback, adjust your approach, read books, listen to podcasts, and implement what works. Yet being coachable doesn’t automatically make
The automated “Great job, team!” email blasted to 47 people at 4:37 PM on a Friday isn’t authentic appreciation. Neither is the generic gift basket ordered by someone in HR who’s never met your
To a sales leader, it’s a familiar story.Month one: Your new SDR is on fire. Energy through the roof. They’re excited about cold calling.Month two: Still strong. Meetings are getting booked. Dashboard looks good.Month
This time of year is critical. As sales leaders map out their budgets for the new year, the conversation always centers on a core conflict: How to cut expenses and, simultaneously, motivate teams to
Here’s a question that’ll keep you up at night: How do you take a company from $300K in annual revenue to $1.5 million in 18 months, then scale to $3-$5 million within five years?
Your sales team has the tools. They know the pitch. The CRM is full of leads. So why are half your reps still missing quota? The real issue? Most sales leaders are managing activity
Walk into any sales conference, scroll through LinkedIn, or join a sales team meeting, and you’ll hear the same tired arguments: cold calling versus social selling, interruption versus relationship-building, quantity versus quality. The sales
Leadership is the single most important factor in a sales team’s success. You can have talented reps, strong products, and a solid sales process, but without effective leadership, performance stalls. As Duff Tucker, Sales