Pursuing Sales Results vs. Developing Your Team
I recently had lunch with a highly successful VP of Sales of a Pharmaceutical company. He explained that he was frustrated with the members of his sales management team, who he felt were focused
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.
I recently had lunch with a highly successful VP of Sales of a Pharmaceutical company. He explained that he was frustrated with the members of his sales management team, who he felt were focused
The information that a prospect wants to hear is not necessarily dependant upon the questions they ask, but more so on the questions that you ask. The only questions that you can control and
When asking a prospect questions, be sure that your questions succeed in achieving the following objectives. 1. Be direct and candid with your questioning and communication. Do not be vague or tiptoe around the subject
We all make mistakes, but often it is hard to admit them and more difficult yet to say those key words, “I’m sorry.” When you have offended someone in business, a sincere apology is
Today’s job applicants are encountering a lack of courtesy that is all too common. Businesses are flooded with applicants for every opening and many are showing a lack of respect for job seekers by
Imagine this: you’ve worked for hours putting together the proposal that your prospective client requested and are finally ready to hit the send button. You envision the recipient checking e-mail immediately and contacting you
The first place to start is with a good quality card to show that you value your clients and colleagues. Skimping on your selection can be interpreted in a number of ways. Your recipients
Could you use a few more referrals? “Go the extra mile” when providing service and turn the customers you serve into advocates to help you promote your business. Your referrals and follow on business
Joe has been Tom’s manager for the last 2 years. Tom is a hard worker; “every time I go out with him we have a full and busy day”. Tom has an excellent understanding
It’s crunch time and your sales are down, what can you do? I faced a similar situation in 2003. As VP of Sales of a Canadian pharmaceutical organization we faced the SARS crisis. Access
One of my clients analyzed their sales figures and discovered that more than 80 percent of their revenues were generated by fewer than 20 percent of their customers. They strategically choose to improve their
Send notes and cards to anyone with whom you do business or anyone with whom you would like to do business. Your relationship to people and their level in an organization will determine the
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
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
The year was 1938. Families across America gathered, listening during the golden age of radio. On the eve of Halloween, a broadcast interrupted their evening: A live report claimed Martian cylinders had landed in
Here’s a question that’ll keep you up at night: How do you take a company from $300K in annual revenue to $1.5 million in 18 months, then scale to $3-$5 million within five years?
What would happen if each day you scheduled 12 minutes to push yourself away from the desk and take a walk outside or even lock yourself in the bathroom if need be? Just stop
It is imperative that all employees understand how they are profit centers and how all these profit centers connect to the bottom line. Certain paradigms exist within each business culture. These paradigms are philosophical
Are you struggling with employee discipline in your office? People challenges occur most often because there is a lack of structure and understanding of the company goals. How many times do you hear something
If you truly want to do more with the same amount of time each and every day, then begin by developing those self-leadership skills necessary for personal success. Can we agree that: A minute
These 8 keys can help you unlock your sales training and development programs so that you get “the most bang for your buck”. Sales training will be one of the few training and development
Part of the reason so many small business owners are crazy busy is because they are not 100 percent forward-thinking leaders. “We don’t have a budget as much as we need to take this
How frequently in business do we continue to ride dead horses? From ineffective marketing to misaligned operational systems to poor management, all continue to exist even though they are, simply speaking, dead horses. Years
Often, when a sales rep knows the right way to ask for the sale, they’ll be more inclined to do so! This common error costs more sales than most sales leaders are willing to
Sales managers are all around us; those in the selling game have likely encountered multiple. Like salespeople themselves, they have a wide range of qualifications, personality traits and work ethics, but the role of