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There are advantages to an automated system. It saves money in salaries and benefits. It prevents old-fashioned phone tag by allowing people to leave detailed messages in their own voice with clear and correct
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.
There are advantages to an automated system. It saves money in salaries and benefits. It prevents old-fashioned phone tag by allowing people to leave detailed messages in their own voice with clear and correct
Don’t you wish that along with those bizarre directions on how to set up and use your phone—the ones written by the people who designed the phones and therefore already know how to use
Do tattoos and body piercing belong in business? There seems to be an increased number of people with tattoos on their body and a variety of body piercing. Body piercing used to be limited
As a media crisis trainer, Ms. Hoffman advises her client to figure out what their audience will be wearing and to go one step above. The same rule applies in all areas of business.
The same overall rules apply to women’s work attire as apply to men’s. Business clothing is not a reflection of the latest fashion trend. A woman should be noticed for who she is and
If you choose to vary your business attire depending on the day’s schedule, make sure that you are prepared for the unexpected. Have a change of clothes at the office. And remember that it
Many of my clients tell me that their sales team are made up of a bunch of service people or farmers. The challenge in difficult times are that new customers are risk averse to
The key to success during a downturn, aside from surviving, is to further entrench yourself with your existing client base and at the same time look for ways to penetrate and position your product
It is up to us to respect time and give it both meaning and value. If you want to know the value of a year, ask a P.O.W. that has lost his freedom. If
If you were to poll all of your customers as to why they bought from you, they would respond with a variety of reasons. What follows are the most common reasons why people choose
The greatest obstacle in making a purchasing decision is fear. When it comes to selling, you better handle the prospect’s fear or it will handle you. Fear of making the wrong decision. Fear that
One advantage that salespeople posses is this; aside from being a salesperson, you are also a consumer and a prospect, enabling you to better connect with each prospect you speak with. Think about
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
The “what” centers around the value you as the solution provider bring to the buying decision table. The hardest question for any business owner to answer and along with the correct response to potentially
Top sales performers and successful small business owners embrace the human touch and are viewed by their constituents to clients as “valuable.” These individuals make time to stay human. In what is still a
On this podcast episode, Sales Gravy’s Jeb Blount discusses the key to blending social media into your sales day to keep the pipe full and close more deals.
If you haven’t included video marketing into your integrated marketing plan, maybe now is the time to take that action. Ensure A Maximum Return With Limited Time Recently, I entered the world of video
You have done it. I have done it. And most of us will do it again. We ask this question without considering the consequences – which almost always turn out badly. On this podcast
The most pressing issues facing sales professionals and sales leaders are, Prospecting, Pipeline, and Productivity. In this exclusive re-broadcast of VSKO17, four of the world’s most cutting edge thought leaders, shatter modern day sales
People buy on emotion and justify with logic. In fact, human emotions have a massive impact on buying behavior. On this podcast episode, Jeb Blount discusses why ultra-high performing sales professionals are astute students
Learn to say “No” thoughtfully and respectfully with the focus on creating a high-performance sales culture. Are you limiting your sales team and the ability to increase sales by not ever saying “No”? Sometimes,
Bullying behavior creates a hostile work environment. Eventually, word will spread about you being the bully boss. With technology, the spread of bullying in schools continues to make front-page news. Schools, corporations, and parents