There Are No Gatekeepers
When you make that initial phone call or in-person door knock, you don’t know what you don’t know. Who says the greeter is not the CEO, or at least the husband, wife or brother
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 make that initial phone call or in-person door knock, you don’t know what you don’t know. Who says the greeter is not the CEO, or at least the husband, wife or brother
Successful sales people know the importance of persistence but the key is to change your approach or strategy with each prospect every time you contact them. You also need to consider the frequency of
Listening is the number one skill of Top 20% producers. Their listening goes far beyond just listening though, because top producers actually hear what is behind what their prospects are saying, and they know how
There was an old joke in my photocopier days when we in-person cold called door to door in downtown Chicago that we would say a prayer before every visit. It went something like
Since leaving the industry, I have learned that having a well established professional network of executives was critical to building my business and a great way to ensure career security. I strongly advise both
Have you ever been in the middle of a presentation when all of a sudden your mind goes completely blank? You’re delivering your content and next thing you know, you’re at a total
One simple phrase can strike fear into the hearts and minds of professionals around the world: “Public Speaking.” Imagine you just found out that you have to deliver a presentation to a group of
You may assume that because the information you deliver is routine, or because you work with the people in your audience, that you don’t have to build a strong connection with them while presenting.
As the economic downturn continues, so do budget cuts and time constraints. In situations like this, it is always difficult to get new recommendations approved. Chances are you’ll have to pitch your recommendation to
The truth is that financial presentations can be exciting and eye-opening if you prepare your content correctly. When you use the following tools for presenting financial information, you make it easy for people to
I was among fifty unsuspecting passengers who boarded a small commuter plane bound for Cincinnati where many of us had connecting flights. We had one of those infamous “on time” departures. It was a
The #1 problem I run across when working with companies is an unreachable, unrealistic revenue goal set by the owner that has no real buy in by the sales manager. It is this disconnect
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
Every week, someone asks me: “Jeb, do I need Sales Navigator to prospect on LinkedIn?”My answer: No. But you do need a system. LinkedIn is the most powerful prospecting platform on earth. It’s a
You’ve probably heard it a hundred times lately—AI is coming for your job. Every week, there’s a new headline about another role being automated, another company replacing people with bots, another “AI agent” that
The buzz around “social selling” is deafening. Every guru, every pundit, every platform is screaming about its power. And yet, most salespeople are failing at it. Miserably. They log into LinkedIn. They dabble with
The gap between average salespeople and elite performers lies in process. While most reps chase quick wins and hope something sticks, top producers follow proven sales strategies that consistently deliver results. They’ve mastered the
Most salespeople are busy. Few are productive. They chase. They pitch. They get ignored. And the cycle repeats. Why? Because they’re committing one of the worst offenses in modern sales: They’re treating LinkedIn like
You’re on LinkedIn, but do you really know how to use it effectively? There’s no good reason to avoid mastering LinkedIn. Your prospects are on LinkedIn actively engaging, researching, and making decisions. LinkedIn is
Every day, your prospects are assaulted by a digital firehose of generic, AI-generated emails and connection requests. It’s an incessant barrage of noise, and as a survival mechanism, your buyers have learned to ignore
You know AI is transforming sales, everyone’s talking about it, but you’re still staring at ChatGPT like it’s some mysterious black box, wondering what magical question you should type in first. That’s the reality
The OutBound Sales Training & Leadership Conference presented by Sales Gravy returns Nov. 9-12, 2026, at the spectacular Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas. If you’re serious about your sales career
Everyone agrees that sales meetings can be excruciating. But, what if you turned your weekly sales meetings into rock star sales rallies? You can make just a few changes to make the meeting motivational,
What does average mean, especially in today’s workplace where the lack of employee engagement drains profits? Where it drains the performance of hard working employees who go beyond expectations? Years ago, a wise mentor
To build a winning sales team, and avoid making deadly mistakes, you need a scalable, predictable, and data-driven approach. Mistake #1: Hiring salespeople with your gut Hiring rock star sales people is the most
Put these 15 sales metrics in place and start monitoring them so you can see how you are performing as a company and individually, and where you need to make adjustments to achieve your
Complacency is hindering business growth and costing your sales teams new opportunities, valuable accounts, and profitable relationships. Here are three signs of complacency in your sales teams and how to squash it. Your sales
Sellers need individual business plans because personal performance planning fosters quota and territory ownership, accelerates the adoption of best practices, and builds a foundation for sales productivity accountability. It is surprising how few sales
Leaders cannot manage what they don’t measure. Therefore sales metrics and sales management are interconnected. For this reasons, it is imperative that sales managers and leaders clearly understand the metrics that matter. Sales Activities
Our team at Sales Gravy interviewed Ken Thoreson, president of Acumen Management Group, Ltd. As a sales management thought leader, Ken is recognized as an expert in sales execution, channel management, revenue generation, sales
Despite being awash in numbers, more sales data has not resulted in better sales performance. Therefore, it is critical that leaders understanding the sales metrics that contribute to effective sales management. Sales Activities, Sales