Telling the Hard Truth is the New Path to Successful Sales
Improving Your Leadership Skills As a leader in your company, there comes a time when you will have to convey a truth that isn’t easy to hear or say. Whether you’re telling a prospect
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.
Improving Your Leadership Skills As a leader in your company, there comes a time when you will have to convey a truth that isn’t easy to hear or say. Whether you’re telling a prospect
3 Tips For Selling to Your Prospect’s Brain You’ve heard many sayings when it comes to selling, such as customers buy emotionally and then back up their decision with logic. Or, how about, “you
Instead of getting older and losing strength, stamina and flexibility, you can actually reverse this and become “functionally younger” next year than you are right now. You can actually change the decline curve that
Just what actions ARE you taking right now to accomplish your goal? Do you have a sales coach or have you joined a mastermind group to support you and give you the tools you
Do you lie to yourself? You may not think so but I suggest that you probably do. Here’s what I mean… Sales Lie #1: “I could reach my quota if my company lowered their
When an attendee visits your booth but you realize he either doesn’t match your personal reasons for participating (so you don’t want to chat with him) or your focused area of expertise (so you
Achieving “unachievable” revenue goals If there’s a universal truth in sales, it’s that the start of a new year means everything starts over. Whether you had a terrific year or not, whether you create
Demonstrate your credibility by what you say and by how you conduct yourself. Have the courage to ask tough questions, and have fierce, honest discussions. Seven Steps to Building a Solid Client Relationship
A new year for your customers usually means a new budget cycle and now is the time to stimulate their interest and get ahead of the curve. You’re not discounting your products and services,
The lack of business etiquette skills runs the gamut from polite dining, professional dressing to such simple acts as saying “Thank you” to a customer or an employee. Very few people bother with expressing
You’ve heard Albert Einstein’s famous definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Here’s my corollary: Focus on new ideas and actions and expect better results. Sales
Unless you are replying to a message marked urgent, there is no need to send an instant response. Your e-mail is a representation of you personally and professionally. E-mail Errors That Can Cost You
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
Leverage Friday afternoons for phone calls to people you haven’t been able to connect with or with prospects who are tied tightly to a competitor. It happens every summer. The number of sales appointments
On this episode of Sales Pipeline radio, Matt Heinz and Jeb Blount discuss emotional intelligence, Sales EQ, and Fanatical Prospecting. You’ll be surprised to hear Jeb’s opinion about how sales and marketing should work
It’s evident that time is a critical factor in completing sales, building and keeping the relationship. Given that, what strategy does your dealership have in place to shorten the time it takes to close
The only asset you have that is in limited supply is your own time. When a slow customer takes up too much of it, you lose. The time you’re spending with them is preventing
At the end of the day, you want to make things as easy as possible for the prospect, not turn them into your admin. Last week I received an email from a very friendly
The key to any sale is getting your prospect to tell you how to sell them. If you can do that, you’ll make your job much, much easier. Today it seems to be harder
Too often we get so focused on what we produce or deliver, that everyone in the company loses sight of the real value of the product or service. Aligning everyone in the company to answer one question can
Sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others can be powerful tools to help you prospect more effectively. In my new book coming out this September, “High-Profit Prospecting,” I share insights every salesperson needs to
I promise that it is almost NEVER about price. But, if it is, here is what probably went wrong. You jumped to what you were selling instead of focusing on the issue they needed
How to Make Positive Change Stick These 8 strategies not only position leaders as catalysts for positive transformation but also ensures that their organizations remain agile, competitive, and poised for long-term success in an
Why Roleplay Should Be A Key Part of Your Sales Culture In this podcast, Jeb Blount, Jeremy Olson, and Kristin Isaacson discuss the importance of role-playing in sales. They emphasize the need for leaders
Mastermind Group Incredible Asks Jeb Blount Their Toughest Sales Questions In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Mastermind Group Incredible asks Jeb Blount their real-life questions as he provides solutions to overcome their
Building and Leading a Successful Sales Team On this episode of the podcast, Allison Walsh, Vice President of Business Development and Branding for Advanced Recovery Systems, a national behavioral healthcare company, discusses her experience
Sales Training Is An Investment In YOU In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount is joined by Sarah Browner, the Global Sales Enablement Manager at Adobe. If you are a sales
Recruiting For High Performance When you recruit the right person, you will find that they’re self-motivated and eager to train. On the other hand, if you hire someone that is not suited for the
Sales Training Matters For Small Businesses Sales Training can help your small business reach new heights, even with limited resources. There is a simple reason why large companies invest in sales training: It improves
Moving From A Culture of Efficiency to A Culture of Effectiveness Acting and improv skills are similar to soft skills in sales— leading with empathy and understanding your audience and your customer is paramount.
Human Connection Is Irreplaceable Dress appropriately for the situation and audience— it’s the little things that close the sale. Do research on who you’re trying to sell to and a personalized follow-up email after