How to Scale a Two-Person Sales Team Into Something Bigger
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
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.
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
To prioritize prospects effectively, evaluate every opportunity using three variables: lead temperature, sales cycle timing, and deal size. Together, these factors show which prospects deserve immediate action, which need ongoing nurturing, and which belong in automation. Key Takeaways Why do so
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.
AI works for sales when the purchase is simple and low risk enough that a buyer feels comfortable clicking a button without talking to anyone. The moment a deal gets complex, expensive, or risky,
Field sales reps who blended virtual and in-person outreach during the pandemic consistently outperformed those who relied solely on in-person contact. The most efficient field sellers use virtual tools for prospecting, qualifying, and maintaining
The best pitch I’ve ever heard about didn’t have a single slide. It had an ax, an elevator, and a crowd that had no idea what was about to happen. The sales storytelling techniques
Stalled deals are rarely a follow-up problem — they’re a process problem. When you’re selling to risk-averse, consensus-driven buyers, deals die in the middle of the pipeline because the decision-making process was never defined
Sales complacency is the silent performance killer that sets in after winning — and the only defense is returning to the fundamentals that built your success in the first place. Key Takeaways When Success
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
Quick Summary Reading buyer signals means recognizing the behavioral and psychological cues prospects send before they ghost you, and using that information to keep deals moving toward a real decision. Key Takeaways Listen to
AI call screeners are blocking more sales calls every day — and most salespeople are making it worse by leading with the wrong message. Getting past AI gatekeepers comes down to one thing: relevance.
When results drop and motivation fades, the fix is to increase your prospecting activity above your normal baseline, not wait until you feel ready. More calls create more conversations, more conversations create more opportunities,
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
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
LinkedIn is still the #1 platform for building pipeline in B2B sales, but the game has changed. Sales and marketing professionals have all come to rely on LinkedIn. It’s been their digital handshake, networking
While your competitors are stuck in voicemail purgatory, a small group of top performers has unlocked a secret pipeline of qualified sales leads. They’ve discovered how to stop chasing and start attracting, all by
Here’s a question that’ll flip your understanding of cultural intelligence in sales upside down: How do you win over a room full of skeptical Spanish teenagers when you’re the obvious American outsider who barely
If you’re only showing up in one place, you’re not showing up at all, which is why top sales reps are making multi-channel prospecting a priority and leveraging LinkedIn to get ahead. “The reality
You know the feeling. You’re mid-pitch, and you watch your prospect’s eyes glaze over—their mind somewhere else entirely. It’s exhausting, demoralizing, and it’s killing your close rate. But what if you didn’t have to
Here’s a question that’ll keep you up at night: What do you do when your emotions are sabotaging your sales performance? That’s the exact challenge posed by Kurt O’Donnell and the sales team from
Ben Hogan, who was arguably the greatest ball striker the game of golf has ever known, taught that if you wanted to improve your swing you should focus on the cause rather than the
How to Make Positive Change Stick These 8 strategies not only position leaders as catalysts for positive transformation but also ensures that their organizations remain agile, competitive, and poised for long-term success in an
Why Roleplay Should Be A Key Part of Your Sales Culture In this podcast, Jeb Blount, Jeremy Olson, and Kristin Isaacson discuss the importance of role-playing in sales. They emphasize the need for leaders
Mastermind Group Incredible Asks Jeb Blount Their Toughest Sales Questions In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Mastermind Group Incredible asks Jeb Blount their real-life questions as he provides solutions to overcome their
Building and Leading a Successful Sales Team On this episode of the podcast, Allison Walsh, Vice President of Business Development and Branding for Advanced Recovery Systems, a national behavioral healthcare company, discusses her experience
Sales Training Is An Investment In YOU In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount is joined by Sarah Browner, the Global Sales Enablement Manager at Adobe. If you are a sales
Recruiting For High Performance When you recruit the right person, you will find that they’re self-motivated and eager to train. On the other hand, if you hire someone that is not suited for the
Sales Training Matters For Small Businesses Sales Training can help your small business reach new heights, even with limited resources. There is a simple reason why large companies invest in sales training: It improves
Moving From A Culture of Efficiency to A Culture of Effectiveness Acting and improv skills are similar to soft skills in sales— leading with empathy and understanding your audience and your customer is paramount.
Human Connection Is Irreplaceable Dress appropriately for the situation and audience— it’s the little things that close the sale. Do research on who you’re trying to sell to and a personalized follow-up email after