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.
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
Take a moment to think about any behaviors you may have overlooked in the past with fresh eyes and imagine how your staff may react in the moment while representing your company in public
If you pay attention to the details and make every effort to see that your clients have a pleasant experience, they will assume that you will handle their business the same way. Before long
The Right People for Sales There is a saying, mostly used in the world of athletics; “You can lose with great people but you cannot win without them.” Clearly this theory applies to many
The problem with many sales managers is that they aren’t expected to get on the phone and sell. And the problem with that is how can they teach and coach something they aren’t doing
People are in “holiday mode” and many businesses are in a holding pattern, waiting for budgets to be released in the New Year. These ideas should give you enough to keep you busy in
So you now own an iPad or other type of tablet and you’re wondering if you should use it on a sales call. Here are 6 quick rules to consider: 1. Don’t use it
A Surprise Opportunity with The Ultimate Decision Maker I was having breakfast with a client, Spike Count of the Baxa Company, in Denver right before a training program I was delivering, and we were
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
Prospecting Machine Jeb Blount and Adam H. Michaels talk sales, prospecting & more! The Lighthouse with Adam H. Michaels · Jeb Blount | The Prospecting Machine From dealing with crazy rejections to what makes a
That stumped him. And that’s the whole point. Most sales reps sell just like he does: leading with features and benefits sure that if they just say the right one or ones, in the right
Introducing a salesperson to cold-calling is the same as Edison introducing electricity to the world by demonstrating the use of the electric chair. It’s universally known that sales professionals hate cold calling. And, yes,
Jeb Blount and Anthony Iannarino discuss the biggest mistake salespeople make and how to avoid the stalled deal.
The time and energy you devote to things that are outside of your control is better spent in areas where you have control. We don’t get to choose what happens in the areas where
Instead of wasting time figuring out an impressive response, spend time understanding what caused the objection in the first place. Identify what you are doing, or not doing that triggered the money objection in
I hear all the time from salespeople saying how their prospecting plan doesn’t seem to be delivering the results they need. Everyone needs to continually fine tune their prospecting process. The biggest problem I
How then do we make coaching conversations productive, efficient, and less stressful for the coach and coachee? With a bit of forward thinking and action and these 3 sales coaching hacks: We all know
This makes the salesperson a shrewd negotiator, choosing to negotiate with the weaker party, making it more likely that a deal is done. One of the things I hear from sales leaders most often
The best way to measure sales productivity is with leading indicators—the KPIs and metrics that predict future revenue and let you fix problems before sales dry up.
Most sales team meetings fail because they aren’t actually about selling. Mike Weinberg says the fix is simple: stop running status updates and start running meetings that make your team more aligned, more energized,
Jumping in to save a rep’s deal feels like leadership, but it trains your team to call you instead of solving problems themselves. Real sales leadership means coaching the rep, not closing the deal
If you want to know how to scale a sales team, document your sales process and prove your close rate before you add headcount, then decide whether your next hire is a leader or
Most sales forecasts fail for a reason no CRM can fix. Sellers stop telling their leaders the truth the moment honesty starts costing them something.
Summary The most effective sales compensation strategy for getting a small team focused on high-value complex deals is to layer a significantly higher reward on those deals without reducing incentives on transactional ones. Pair
Summary When the market shifts, your salespeople are not going to figure it out on their own. That’s your job. As a sales leader, your responsibility is to see the change coming, get ahead
Summary: Most sales managers confuse empathy with sympathy and pay for it in team performance. Jeb Blount breaks down the real difference, why listening first is the most powerful coaching move you have, and
Summary: Q1 is feedback, not failure. Top-performing sales teams use a Q1 sales strategy review to assess whether they have an execution problem or a focus problem, then make targeted adjustments heading into Q2.
