Improve Your Sales Results: 6 Lessons From The Dating Scene
From blind dates to marriage, here are six lessons from the dating scene that will improve your sales results. I’ve been married to the same man since Noah built the ark, so you’d expect
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.
From blind dates to marriage, here are six lessons from the dating scene that will improve your sales results. I’ve been married to the same man since Noah built the ark, so you’d expect
Developing a deep knowledge of your sales landscape helps you sell more in less time. English navigator Henry Hudson learned the hard way in the 17th century what can happen when you don’t know
When we have something to focus on we can create a very targeted, specific message that can be heard by that audience. When we keep our outreach broad we dilute our message and no
Pay attention and adapt your style to that of your prospect and customer. I work with great salespeople and the most successful know how to connect with a variety of buyers. Salespeople are taught
When you’re in combat or arguing with a client, you are automatically pushing them away, regardless if you’re right. When you’re in conversation, the buyer is staying engaged with you. Are your client and prospect conversations often
Characteristics of a resilient, sustainable business include leadership that understands the difference between working “for” and working “with” their employees. Consider these glum facts: Only one in eight workers worldwide are engaged at work,
Making the choice to build a spiral pipeline for your sales starts with engaging three core activities in your organization. And continuing these three core activities every day. Don’t Settle for Living in a
Stop thinking your job is done when the contract is signed. Stay on the ground. Remain active even after the deal is closed. Redefine Closing the Sale It’s time to reframe how we think
Make sure your testimonials are “impact” testimonials. Distrust in sales and marketing messages has skyrocketed over recent years. Not surprising when you see some of the ridiculous unsubstantiated claims made in e-mails. Buyers may
Salespeople and sales managers are caught up in their own version of Ground Hog Day. They keep using the same approach, having the same conversations, which are leading to the same outcomes. Sales Ground
In order to strike a balance between no theme and full-on theme park, it’s important to understand how to choose a theme that’s right for your presentation and your audience. A group of flight
Some of us aren’t even aware that we talk negatively to ourselves. Take some time today to think about what you say to yourself. If you find yourself doing this, it is time to
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
Success in sales is paid for in advance with prospecting. If you are not willing to pay this price, get out now. Go do something else. Life is far too short to spend it
Making the choice to build a spiral pipeline for your sales starts with engaging three core activities in your organization. And continuing these three core activities every day. Don’t Settle for Living in a
Stop thinking your job is done when the contract is signed. Stay on the ground. Remain active even after the deal is closed. Redefine Closing the Sale It’s time to reframe how we think
Salespeople and sales managers are caught up in their own version of Ground Hog Day. They keep using the same approach, having the same conversations, which are leading to the same outcomes. Sales Ground
In order to strike a balance between no theme and full-on theme park, it’s important to understand how to choose a theme that’s right for your presentation and your audience. A group of flight
To create true sales predictability (and avoid Sales Whiplash), it’s critical to consider both independently, and to have your pipeline numbers influence your forecast output. Drastically Refine Your Sales Pipeline This Year Understanding that
When you are winning deals, it’s easy to slip into a euphoric mindset and completely forget about the process that got you there in the first place. Out of all the sales rules, there
The best way to measure sales productivity is with leading indicators—the KPIs and metrics that predict future revenue and let you fix problems before sales dry up.
Most sales team meetings fail because they aren’t actually about selling. Mike Weinberg says the fix is simple: stop running status updates and start running meetings that make your team more aligned, more energized,
Jumping in to save a rep’s deal feels like leadership, but it trains your team to call you instead of solving problems themselves. Real sales leadership means coaching the rep, not closing the deal
If you want to know how to scale a sales team, document your sales process and prove your close rate before you add headcount, then decide whether your next hire is a leader or
Most sales forecasts fail for a reason no CRM can fix. Sellers stop telling their leaders the truth the moment honesty starts costing them something.
Summary The most effective sales compensation strategy for getting a small team focused on high-value complex deals is to layer a significantly higher reward on those deals without reducing incentives on transactional ones. Pair
Summary When the market shifts, your salespeople are not going to figure it out on their own. That’s your job. As a sales leader, your responsibility is to see the change coming, get ahead
Summary: Most sales managers confuse empathy with sympathy and pay for it in team performance. Jeb Blount breaks down the real difference, why listening first is the most powerful coaching move you have, and
Summary: Q1 is feedback, not failure. Top-performing sales teams use a Q1 sales strategy review to assess whether they have an execution problem or a focus problem, then make targeted adjustments heading into Q2.