Pit Crews and Sales Teams: Planning Improves the Odds of Winning
Keep in mind that pit crews don’t prepare during the race. There is a time for preparing and a time for selling. We don’t start prepping when we’re supposed to be out selling. Before
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.
Keep in mind that pit crews don’t prepare during the race. There is a time for preparing and a time for selling. We don’t start prepping when we’re supposed to be out selling. Before
Something is amiss! Today’s sales consultants are not sales experts; they are expert administrators of the prepackaged, template-based models they “tailor” or “customize” and superimpose onto a client’s business. They evaluate businesses from a
Follow these three proven secrets of top producers and your appointment rate will increase as well as your qualified appointment ratio! This article is too short to script all these things out for you,
Just as you wear one outfit to exercise, a different one to work, and another to enjoy a nightclub, you must consider what your team will be doing while on-site to choose the most
The bottom line is that a sale is a game of strategy in which “numbers” are only one part. And, apart from improvement in strategy, process, skills, and techniques, you won’t improve sales. The
Some people are more married to their grudge (it gives them a reason to live) than they are to resolving it. People are prickly, they take offense and lock onto it, and once they’ve
Sales is a dynamic occupation that engages a dynamic world. Salespeople depend on your support to help realize their efforts. In order to achieve reliable growth, your operation must be designed to evolve from
Social media has changed our lives in many ways, and it’s changed the way we make buying decisions as well. If you’re like most people today, you probably search several sites, read reviews, look
Shifting into auto-pilot mode can affect a sales person’s results and not in a good way. When you move in auto-pilot, you lose your effectiveness. You do yourself and your potential customers a disservice.
Every sales professional feels frustrated when they’re put on hold even after receiving all the buying signals, including agreement with your solutions, price and service. 3 Reasons Clients Procrastinate According to a recent study
Are you writing your next series of educational articles for publication? Designing new marketing materials for an upcoming trade show? Preparing a special presentation for VIP prospects? These are a few example circumstances where
The most successful sales people almost always have very clear objectives, plans on how to get there and an ability to push past the pain of work to achieve it. Something that proved to them
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
If you want to be a consultative salesperson, a trusted advisor, and a Level 4 Value Creator, then you have to tell the truth. It’s your truthfulness, your candor, and your willingness to help
Every successful sales person has a list of habits that form the core of his or her work. While the particulars vary with each individual or product line, many are universal. The following tangible,
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.
Most sales people live a hurried life and time is of the essence. While we agree that in sales, time is money, there is a cost for polluting our bodies with so much junk food that
Pay attention and adapt your style to that of your prospect and customer. I work with great salespeople and the most successful know how to connect with a variety of buyers. Salespeople are taught
Making the choice to build a spiral pipeline for your sales starts with engaging three core activities in your organization. And continuing these three core activities every day. Don’t Settle for Living in a
Stop thinking your job is done when the contract is signed. Stay on the ground. Remain active even after the deal is closed. Redefine Closing the Sale It’s time to reframe how we think
Salespeople and sales managers are caught up in their own version of Ground Hog Day. They keep using the same approach, having the same conversations, which are leading to the same outcomes. Sales Ground
In order to strike a balance between no theme and full-on theme park, it’s important to understand how to choose a theme that’s right for your presentation and your audience. A group of flight
Sales prospecting can be tedious, intimidating, and terribly discouraging. Yet, it still has to be done. Why not make a game out of it and get past the boredom? You’ve probably heard the saying
Sales is a process, especially when it comes to consultative selling and the process only works when you don’t skip steps. Staying in touch with prospects, following up in a timely and mindful manner
On this podcast, Jeb Blount, Founder and CEO of Sales Gravy, discusses his bestselling book Fanatical Prospecting with Gina Lynch. Gina and Jeb focus on what start-up founders and entrepreneurs must do to accelerate
The fourth quarter is prime time for sales teams. Manage Q4 well and you’ll make your number and more. Manage it poorly and you’ll pay for your mistake well into the new year. There
The problem is that most managers and other figures of authority — Directors, V.P.’s, and even Business Owners — have never been taught how to properly exercise authority and command respect as leaders. Sales
The Question Every Sales Leaders Must Asnwer Do your people understand what they are accountable for? Most people will answer, “yes,” yet most of the time people make mistakes or fail to meet expectations
Great managers lead by example. They start off each day by making sure everybody is ready to do business. They start with a daily meeting making sure that they have a positive attitude, set
Your team wants to feel the energy and belief, as a Sales Leader work on this emotional transfer. Being a leader and having vision and communicating emotional is a Critical Success Factor in Sales
First of all, I don’t enjoy gambling; and second, I really don’t know how to read a horse racing program. When it comes to betting on a horse race, I tend to look at