Coach Your Sales Team to Top Performance
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
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.
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
Hiring the right people will solve most, if not all, of the new business production problems that you have today. If you have people today that are underperforming, you have to ask yourself this question:
Right now I’m involved with a company whereby I’m listening to and critiquing cold calls. These are qualifying calls. We’ve written the scripts for these reps, put in all the qualifying questions, and now
Here are four of the most common nervous habits that kill sales and what you can do to avoid them in your next selling situation. Have you ever had that out of body experience
Motivation comes from within. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Why not let the people we serve inspire us to be motivated? The Triggers of Success A friend sent this simple text this week: “Inspire
Pretending is not necessary. Your value is obvious from the first sentence of your email and your prospects will want to respond and talk with you. Use your real value proposition and a genuine
Pre-show marketing is an excellent way to connect with your prospects, clients, and partners before a trade show to remind them of your presence and encourage them to visit with you in the convention
Your job as a sales professional is to help your prospects understand their need and to feel the pain that can result from avoiding a solution. According to life insurance industry studies, 36% of
Business people remember sales people who go out of their way to ensure that they receive the best solution, even if it isn’t the sales person’s product or service. Earning a prospect’s trust is
Finding the best candidates is a process that requires a new twist on the ranking system. The most subtle interactions became the gateway to an inventory of eligible candidates of future employees. A Mead
As a small business owner don’t make the fatal mistake of failing to offer business etiquette courses to your employees or taking one yourself. The best business plan and marketing strategy plus all the
With so many people to see and so little time in the convention city, you will need to narrow your focus to achieve the results you desire. Following these tips will help you to
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
To create true sales predictability (and avoid Sales Whiplash), it’s critical to consider both independently, and to have your pipeline numbers influence your forecast output. Drastically Refine Your Sales Pipeline This Year Understanding that
When you are winning deals, it’s easy to slip into a euphoric mindset and completely forget about the process that got you there in the first place. Out of all the sales rules, there
Here’s a question about sales territory disputes that’ll make your head spin: What do you do when overlapping territories and shared relationships turn your sales team into a collection of lone wolves fighting over
In 1960, two brothers scraped together $900 and bought a failing pizzeria in Michigan, launching what would become a cautionary tale about sales incentive programs gone wrong. Within months, one brother traded his half
The transition from closer to coach is where most new sales leaders struggle. You’ve put in the work, made the calls, and closed the deals. Your numbers speak for themselves. You were the rainmaker.
Here’s a question that’ll drive you absolutely crazy: How do you sell professional services without giving away everything for free? That’s the burning question from Laura and Adam, attorneys who are struggling with the
Gaius, who runs an insurance brokerage in Ohio wants to know how to get his new sales agents cold calling and building pipeline earlier in their training cycle, without making them feel overwhelmed and
Sales Leadership is a continuous journey of self-awareness, connection, and growth. By cultivating courage, emotional intelligence, and authenticity, leaders can navigate challenges effectively and inspire their teams to reach new heights. Through active listening,
Eric in Lewiston, Maine, asks how to use last year’s data to create and accurate sales plans and evaluate software tools (like CRMs and ZoomInfo) to make those goals happen. Sales planning is vital—without
In this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount sits down with Andy Matheou from RHM Staffing to dive deep into the challenges and triumphs of selling in the staffing industry. Andy shares
On this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, Lucy Beth Adams sits down with Master Sales Trainer, Jessica Stokes to discuss her journey in sales, from her early days in cold calling to becoming