Prospecting Letters as a Strategy
When you take the time to write a personalized letter, you’ll be surprised by the response. The company president will not only take your call, he may even reach out to you to thank
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 you take the time to write a personalized letter, you’ll be surprised by the response. The company president will not only take your call, he may even reach out to you to thank
Customers buy when they see a perceived value that outweighs the cost of the investment. What we need to realize is that there are three components of value; economic, business and personal. All three
Stress occurs when an analytical or “melancholy” type of person is overwhelmed by his or her attempts to balance their physical, financial, personal, spiritual and career interests. The long-term affects of prolonged stress are
This simple truth is widely ignored even though studies show that sales and marketing pitches filled with jargon and corporate speak come across as rude, misleading or obnoxious. Simple plain English is viewed as
It’s like a professional sports coach. What do they do? They design the best plays and then coach each athlete to use the best techniques and skill sets on every play. That’s why they
Every setback and failure you experience also comes with a great opportunity. When one door closes, a window of possibility opens. The key is to look for the opportunity and avoid dwelling on failure.
What’s one of the biggest differences between the top 20% and the bottom 80%? The bottom 80% are still using stale, phony techniques that don’t work, and they are still trying to trick the
If you are like most women business owners, you started a business because you have a particular passion, talent, skill or ability; not because you like selling. Then you discovered you had to sell
If we want to move up the priority chain with our prospects we must not just convey our value, but create the perception that our products and services are something they can’t do without.
If they’re not willing to be involved, then they’re just using you either for information or because they are afraid to tell you “no.” You can get them involved by asking them to do
Successful negotiating requires you have a strategy. The clearer your strategy before negotiating, the more successful you will be. At the core of the strategy is what I refer to as the “3 Ts
Have you prepared a presentation that could be delivered in 1 minute, 5 minutes or 15 minutes? With busy and unexpected schedules your planned hour meeting can get cut short. If your selling message
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
Ways to Look Back at Your Sales Year For me, the last two weeks of the year have always been the chance to pause, take a break from the grind of selling, and really
![6 High-Probability Moments to Send LinkedIn Connection Requests Prior to an Event Events create natural relevance. Conferences, trade shows, user groups, and local meetups give you a reason to connect that does not feel forced. The mistake sellers make is waiting until the event starts or turning the request into a pitch. A better move is connecting days or weeks ahead with a simple acknowledgment of the shared event. Example: Hi Sarah, saw you’re attending the Midwest Manufacturing Summit next month. I’ll also be there and am super excited! I’d love to catch up in person at the event. In the meantime, let’s connect here on LinkedIn. You are aligning with something already on their calendar. When you see them at the event or reach out afterward, your name is no longer unfamiliar. Following an Event After an event, connection requests work best when they reference a real interaction, even a small one. A short conversation, a question during a session, or a brief introduction creates enough context. The request should reflect that moment, not attempt to convert it into a follow-up. Example: Tim, I enjoyed meeting you at the conference last week. Your take on [subject/trend/idea] was intriguing. I look forward to staying connected and to our next conversation. This reinforces continuity and professionalism without pushing the relationship forward prematurely. After a Sales Call Sending a connection request after a sales call is one of the most underused opportunities in prospecting. If the call was answered and productive, the request reinforces credibility and continuity. Example: Thanks again for the conversation today. I appreciated your perspective on how your team is thinking about next quarter. I look forward to our next meeting and sharing some ideas I have with you and your team. If the prospect did not answer, a connection request can still make sense as a light reinforcement, especially early in the relationship. It keeps your name present without escalating pressure. Either way, the request works because the call establishes legitimacy first. After a Meaningful Interaction Not all interactions happen in formal selling environments. Thoughtful exchanges in comment threads, group discussions, or brief conversations in passing all create natural moments to connect. That might mean running into each other at a non-work event, crossing paths at an airport, or chatting briefly in a line somewhere unexpected. Example: Haley, it was a pleasure meeting you on our flight to Atlanta. Thank you for your restaurant recommendations! I look forward to staying connected, What makes this work is that the interaction was real. The request simply continues it. Mutual Connections Shared connections reduce perceived risk when handled with restraint. They signal that you operate in similar professional circles, not that you have permission to pitch. The mistake is overexplaining or implying endorsement. Example: Hi Mark, I noticed that you are connected to my good friend, James, and since you are also [interested in, working in, located in] I thought it might make sense for us to be connected also. A simple acknowledgment is enough. Familiarity does the work. Profile Views Profile views signal awareness, not intent. When someone views your profile after a call, email, or content interaction, a connection request can make sense as a low-pressure acknowledgment. Example: Wendy, thank you for visiting my profile. I had a chance to look at yours, and based on your interests, I thought it might make sense for us to connect. The discipline is resisting the urge to read more into it than is there. Want the exact framework for integrating LinkedIn into a disciplined outreach sequence without pitching, spamming, or wasting time? Buy The LinkedIn Edge by Jeb Blount and Brynne Tillman today. Sales Gravy is the number one sales training organization](https://salesgravy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6-Moments-LinkedIn-Connection-Requests-Actually-Work-in-Prospecting-Sales-Gravy-Blog-Featured-Image-768x401.jpg)
LinkedIn connection requests are misunderstood because sellers expect them to do work they were never designed to do. A connection request is not a pitch. It does not advance a deal. It does not
If you’ve been looking for a way to hit or exceed your annual quota, qualify for President’s Club, or simply earn a bigger paycheck or bonus, focusing on helping business owners reduce their tax
Is Your LinkedIn Personal Branding Built for Buyers or Bystanders? “Respectfully, you are not my audience.” Performance coach Giselle Ugarte said that on a recent episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, and it might
What Does a Perfect Bowling Game Have in Common With Top-Performing Sales Reps? Walk into a bowling alley on a Friday night, and you’ll see a scene that looks like pure recreation. The crash
A strong LinkedIn prospecting sequence is built around subtle, intentional touches. If phone and email are the boxing gloves of prospecting — direct and hard-hitting — LinkedIn is the velvet glove. It softens your
Here’s a truth most car dealerships don’t want to admit: people don’t hate buying cars. They hate buying cars from salespeople who make the customer experience painful. That’s the challenge Brendan Carlington from Mount
It isn’t everyone who can say they got an education in sales at the dinner table, but for my brother and I, that’s exactly where our education—and our love of sales—began. My father was
Every sales professional has a horror story that still makes them break out in a cold sweat years later. The deal that imploded spectacularly. The customer interaction that went sideways in ways you couldn’t
How to Lead the Pack The past year was very challenging for many sales managers, but now we need to look ahead. Have you increased your sales targets? How will you ensure that your
Motivating Your Sales Team Can Be a Challenge For a sales manager, motivating your sales team is a never ending battle. Here are five simple strategies for sales team motivation. Everyone has a set
The worst trait of ineffective sales leaders is that they believe that they’re more important, smarter, and more competent than the people working for them. In leadership, one principle stands above all. You need
There is hardly a leader on earth that doesn’t yearn for accurate, predictable sales pipeline forecasting. The good news is that there are three elements of sales forecasting, that when mastered, will give you
Every Sales Manager’s Real Priorities The reason coaching is so important to sales is that the more you develop your sales team, the better your sales team becomes. There are dozens of tasks and
Examine Leadership Before Sales Skills If you hired reps who you believed could sell, and who proved that they’ve been successful selling in the past, then the first place to examine when your reps
For leaders, questions are king when it comes to coaching and training. Learning and practicing effective questioning skills is central to effective leadership. There are five rules for asking the right questions, at the
Reduce Bad Sales Hires With Better Interview Techniques It’s easy to make bad sales hires – we’ve all done it. However, with a few tweaks to your interviewing techniques you’ll improve the probability of
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been more than guilty of falling in love with the tallies on the sales report. I’ll read the report and assume that those whose names line up