Selling Isn’t Life or Death But It Does Require Commitment
As you go about your day today, remember that selling isn’t life or death. However, if you prepare and have commitment, your approach is based on solid core values, and you execute and work
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.
As you go about your day today, remember that selling isn’t life or death. However, if you prepare and have commitment, your approach is based on solid core values, and you execute and work

Several years ago, I read a fascinating article about a body language experiment that was conduced by a group of marketing students attending a major university. The experiment was designed to measure the impact,

Call me a referral snob if you will, but if we’re going to ask for referrals, spend precious time following up on them, and then work them with due diligence, don’t we deserve

Some people love meetings and others dread them. Despite having the reputation as sleep enhancers, meetings are actually an opportunity for you to network with management, fellow employees, clients and vendors. You may be

Attending meetings is a lot like going to class. Where you sit in class can affect your grade, and where you sit in a meeting can affect your career. Business meetings are opportunities for

Keep your emotions in check. Road rage is on the rise. While it ought to be avoided simply on the basis of safety, a display of temper behind the wheel could also cost you

Get ready by being clear on your message. Know what it is you want to say. Have three to five points to make regardless of what you are asked. Learn by watching politicians. They

Ask yourself: Ever had a prospective client request a discount, postpone an order, or worse, cancel purchasing from you or your salespeople? Well then it’s a good bet they don’t understand your offerings true

One of my rules for Champion sales people is that nobody buys anything unless there’s a gap between where they are and where they want to be. To effectively sell value, sales people need

In today’s fast- paced business world where too many people claim that they don’t have time to be nice, it’s easy to overlook the details that can help you grow your business, increase your

Now, for those of you who are wondering how one goes about becoming a motivational speaker, it’s pretty much the same as developing any other business. You need to develop your product and brand,

The point is that most people spend time worrying about not hitting their goal and concentrate a lot of time thinking about the things that could go wrong, while Top Performers in any industry
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
Chris Beall, CEO of ConnectAndSell, and Jeb Blount, CEO of Sales Gravy, discuss the economics of building and running highly productive sales teams. As with virtually every aspect of our world, even the field
If you don’t like to sell, it means that you are doing it wrong. Stepping in with courage and determination into a sales conversation is the most powerful aspect of your business. The biggest
When their KPIs don’t recognize the importance of consistent prospecting follow-up to reach target contacts, you’re not only setting yourself up to lose a potentially good rep, you are also directly impacting your prospecting
The secret to an organized closet is to never bring in anything new unless you first get rid of something old. I recently sent out a survey to my colleagues, asking them to evaluate

People are Human Sounds pretty silly, right? Sometimes I find myself forgetting that everyone has their own perspective. We can start to assume that others think and feel the way we do, but this
No matter what type of company you have, there is always a need to find new customers. That’s what sales prospecting is all about regardless of the fancy name you give it. Early in

I want to believe that sales professionalism has evolved. I want to believe that at this time, everyone “gets” that the buyer matters most in the sales conversations. Yet, that isn’t what I’ve experienced.

If sales people (especially in a consultative sale environment) don’t learn the fundamentals of a consultative sales process, they will just stay mediocre at best. So, what are some of the basics that are

Prospecting is the price you have to pay in advance for success in sales and the income you want. -Jeb Blount In this episode of Level Up: From Agent to Entrepreneur podcast, featured sales

How to Build and Maintain A Strong Sales Force Progressive leaders choose to inspire and empower rather than direct and control their sales force. They recognize that a strong relationship is indeed the key

Sales Leaders Must Make Time for Sales Team Meetings Regular weekly sales team meetings are one of the keys to spending more time with your team and keeping their skills and attitudes sharp. Busy

Lead Team Meetings That Motivate All too often, virtual team meetings are unorganized and a bore. But, with the right mindset and preparation, they can be a powerful way to motivate and inspire your

Make An Impact With Mission Drive And A Positive Mindset Commit to making a positive impact by helping people learn, grow, develop, stretch, and win. This gives you the resilience to leverage technology to

Sales Leadership is More than a Job, It’s a Lifestyle The truth is that you can’t fake sales leadership because salespeople will see through it every time. Earlier this week, I was sitting in

What does emotional intelligence have to do with sales leadership? According to Colleen Stanley, who is the author of the hit new book Emotional Intelligence for Sales Leadership, a high EQ matters a lot.

Are You Tough Enough To Be Vulnerable? What does it take to be truly authentic? How will your life and career change if you become fearless? Vulnerability is the path to invincibility. Discover how

With Virtual Training Confusion is Your Enemy Effective virtual training begins with an effective virtual training communication plan that ensures that learners know exactly what to do. With virtual training, learner confusion is your

A Sales Leader’s Focus: Meetings Or Management? A manager’s job is to train, educate and develop their people, and to make them as successful as possible. To be effective, managers should be buried in