Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

Matt from Grand Rapids says, “If I don’t make my cold calls, our pipeline will go dry.” He is juggling everything from operations to customer service escalations, all while trying to generate fresh leads through cold calls.

Sound familiar? In this Ask Jeb segment of the Sales Gravy Podcast, I walk Matt through practical strategies to carve out time for prospecting and target the right prospects, so that he can keep his sales pipeline full—even while being pulled in a dozen directions.

Matt’s role covers operations, customer support, escalations, and sales. That’s a lot of hats for one head. Between urgent issues (like system outages) and everyday distractions (Slack messages, emails, ticket follow-ups), his cold-calling efforts often get pushed to the back burner.

If urgent tasks always overshadow your pipeline-building activities, you’ll end up with a dangerously thin pipeline. Remember: “The Pipe is life.” The longer you allow other priorities to get in the way, the more your sales (and stress levels) suffer down the road.

Yes, certain crises truly are urgent. If your client’s phones are down, you can’t ignore that. But not everything that feels urgent is urgent. Often, we treat every Slack ping or email notification like a five-alarm fire.

A system outage that halts business? Absolutely that requires immediate action. A non-critical support request? Schedule it for later. Set boundaries so routine tasks don’t hijack your entire day.

Turn Off Notifications: Close Slack, kill your email window, silence your phone—whatever it takes to create an uninterrupted block.

Leverage High-Intensity Sprints: Prospect in short bursts (15–30 minutes) where all you do is dial. Make notes on a physical list to avoid toggling between multiple browser tabs.

If you’re not the only one who can handle support tickets, let others take them. Own the customer relationship; let your team own the problem resolution.

One of the biggest time-sucks for salespeople is diving headfirst into problem-solving. If you’re an empathetic type, you might be tempted to fix every issue yourself. But that drains your time and divides your focus.

When a customer meltdown looms, they want reassurance. You’re the friendly face they trust. Let them know you’re on it, but don’t dive into the technical fix if there’s someone else better equipped.

Get a clear commitment from your support team: “Can you resolve this by 3 p.m.?” Check in before the deadline, not after. That way, you can give the customer a timely update.

You, as the salesperson, remain responsible for the customer’s happiness. Your support or operations team, however, is responsible for execution. Keep close tabs on them, but don’t do their job for them.

Matt’s telecom company has a strong base of medical practices—mostly gained through referrals. Now he wants to proactively call into that same niche. But how do you successfully cold call a vertical you’ve never actively prospected before?

Look at your existing medical clients. How big are they? What specialties do they serve? Who handles IT decisions? Notice any patterns in the types of practices or roles you consistently serve.

Medical offices might not realize they’re missing features that could improve patient flow. Translate “telecom upgrades” into benefits that matter—like reducing patient wait times, integrating scheduling, or enabling secure remote access. If you offer advanced AI features (like intelligent call routing or sentiment analysis), frame it around operational efficiency and cost savings.

In the initial call, your only goal is a deeper conversation—an appointment, a demo, a chance to learn more about their practice’s pains. Don’t try to close them on the phone. Earn the right to a serious meeting by showing genuine understanding of their challenges.

When you’re juggling 100 tasks, the simplest method often works best. If your CRM is a magnet for distractions, go pen and paper:

Pen, List, Phone (from Fanatical Prospecting)

Prep a physical list of 20–25 leads you plan to dial in a short block. Put the CRM away. Jot quick notes in the margins—who picked up, who didn’t, outcome of each call. After you’re done, block 10 minutes to update your CRM. No more toggling and no wasted cycles.

Medical offices are typically more reachable early in the morning (before they’re swamped with patients). Tackle your call block first, then switch to operations or email triage.

Even a “BTN” (Better Than Nothing) approach ensures you don’t roll a zero on any given day. Make it a habit to achieve some number of outbound calls before lunch.

Matt’s question boiled down to two points: (1) How do I make time for prospecting when operational fires pop up? and (2) How do I penetrate a new (but familiar) niche?

When you’re tired at day’s end, battling an inbox full of escalations and half-finished tasks, remember: always make one more call. That extra push keeps your pipeline alive and your sales career thriving—even when you’re juggling a half-dozen hats.

Got a burning question about sales, leadership, or juggling multiple roles? Ask me about it. Head to https://salesgravy.com/ask. One of our producers might schedule you for an upcoming Ask Jeb episode, where we tackle your biggest challenges together!

If you’ve hung around me for longer than five minutes, you’ve heard me say that sales is about talking with people. The fact is, the more people you talk with, the more you’ll sell.

The good news is that there are lots of people to talk with to make a sale. The problem is, far too many salespeople have quit talking with people.

Instead they keep prospects and customers at arms length through asynchronous communication channels like email – especially when prospecting. 

They lean on email because it’s easier to hide behind a keyboard than pick up the phone and face rejection. But here’s the cold, hard truth: Email as a prospecting channel has suddenly stopped working. 

Recent data indicate that salespeople today are sending three to eight times more emails than they were just a couple of years ago … yet they’re getting only a tenth of the response. 

Let that sink in for a moment. Three times more email and a tenth of the response. These days you can send your prospecting emails dressed up in a pink bunny suit, riding a unicorn, tossing hundred dollar bills in the air and prospects are still going to ignore you. 

Essentially salespeople and their AI minions are banging out more and more email to make up for the lower response rates leading to a vicious cycle of diminishing returns. At this point, for all intents and purposes, email prospecting is dead. 

What happened? 

In the past, crafting cold email involved strategic thought and personalized messages unique to each prospect. It was a slow process which meant salespeople sent fewer but more effective prospecting emails that were at least tolerable for prospects. 

If your email didn’t connect, your prospect would just delete it and, sometimes, at least respond that they were not interested. 

Ten years ago, the slow decline of email as a prospecting channel began with the advent of sales engagement platforms like OutReach and SalesLoft. These platforms opened the door to reps to send streams of automated emails in multi-step cadences at the push of a button.

Then two years ago, AI burst onto the scene and suddenly everything changed. A legion of enterprising tech entrepreneurs promised magical prospecting engines that would “replace” salespeople altogether. Just push a button and AI does the hard work to fill the pipeline.

These AI apps churn out prospecting emails using “hyper-personalization,” scraping tokens off your LinkedIn profile, grabbing a crumb of information from your Facebook feed, and slapping that into an email to make it look human. 

But here’s the problem: buyers aren’t stupid. The second they sniff out that a robot is behind the curtain, it completely turns them off. People don’t like to be manipulated — especially by AI. Once they realize they’ve been duped by AI, they trust nothing else in their inbox. 

And because AI can send emails 24/7 — relentlessly — without taking a coffee break or a vacation, inboxes have been flooded with this shallow AI-generated drivel. 

The reality is that these platforms are basically spam machines that turned the slow decline of email prospecting into a fast moving avalanche of pain. These AI powered sales automation tools have scaled email volume to an extraordinary and unsustainable level.

The deluge of AI generated email led to a phenomenon called the Great Ignore in which all prospecting messages — good or bad, human or AI generated — are cast into the same bucket and ignored by the prospects.

Buyers are drained, exasperated, and exhausted with this crap. I talk to decision-makers every day who say, “I don’t open any email from someone I don’t already know anymore. I just delete it. I don’t have time for that.”

And if they do open your email and see it’s obviously AI text, rather than just deleting your email, they’ll block you permanently. 

Think about it. How often have you looked at your own inbox and found an email with an awkwardly “hyper-personalized” opener that references your dog’s name, a local restaurant, or a sports team. The minute you realize it’s not truly personal, that it’s a a cheap AI gimmick, you feel manipulated. You become cynical. You trust nothing. 

So you delete or block the sender.

Multiply that by thousands or millions of prospects doing the same thing, and you see why email as a prospecting channel has just quit working. 

The root cause of this problem is that the vast majority of sales professionals rely on email as their sole prospecting channel — primarily because they fear synchronous channels like the phone and face-to-face prospecting. 

So they double down and send even more emails. As they scramble to get noticed, the consequence is paradoxical: the more they try to connect with email, the more they resort to cheesy tricks and manipulation, the more prospects shut down and ignore them. 

With thousands of sales organizations and millions of salespeople using this same approach, it’s just not sustainable. And this is exactly how we’ve ended up with three times the email volume and one-tenth the response rate. 

For the modern salesperson, this presents a profound challenge — how to capture attention in a world that is learning to ignore you. The answer is: Pick Up the Damn Phone!

The phone is your single greatest secret weapon for breaking through the noise and getting the attention of spammed-out prospects.

The truth is nothing will ever beat a real-time, interactive, synchronous prospecting conversation. You can hear their tone of voice, address objections instantly, and actually have a conversation.

Hardly anyone calls anymore, because they’re scared of rejection or they assume that no-one answers the phone. But guess what? Prospects do answer the phone and they will talk with you.

And even if they don’t, you can leave a sincere, voicemail message in your own voice, that puts you miles ahead of the AI-generated garbage in their inbox.

If you’re an outside sales rep, get out in the field and swing some doors. I’ve spent a lot of time out in the field lately, going door-to-door with sales teams. Time after time, we walk in, ask to speak with a decision-maker, and we get immediate face-to-face conversations. No hostility; no one kicking us out. 

Prospects are starved for genuine human interaction. They are tired of video calls and chatbots. They’ll talk with you if you show up. 

This week, I want you to put email prospecting on pause. Instead, focus on the phone and in-person prospecting. Block an hour each morning, first thing, for telephone prospecting. Make at least 25 dials each day. 

Then, while you are out in the field, set a daily goal of five door knocks or drop-ins. Ten is better if you can pull it off.

After each appointment, look to your left, look to your right, and look behind you — then walk in those doors. You’ll be shocked at how receptive people are when you’re standing right in front of them.

In a world where robots are faking sincerity and spamming the universe, your best asset is your genuine, authentic, flawed-but-real human self. That’s what resonates. That’s what triggers trust. 

You have a personal brand, a vibe and style that AI can’t replicate. So show it off.

Pick up the phone, knock a door, get out there and talk with people. Because in this age of spam and robotic nonsense, human contact is the key to building a winning pipeline. 

Learn how to reduce objections and increase cold call conversions with 25 winning scripts that earn more appointments. Download our FREE guide: 25 Ways to Ask for the Appointment on a Cold Call

You nailed the pitch. The budget was there. The decision-maker was engaged. So why did the deal go cold?

The problem might not be your process. It might be you. Before a prospect buys from you, they have to buy into you. Your professional presence sets the stage for every interaction. 

If you don’t make a strong first impression, it won’t matter how great your service is.

Your appearance tells a prospect what to expect before you even open your mouth. 

Well-groomed, polished, and with a professional presence? You’re perceived as credible and competent. Over the phone or through email, if you’re engaging, confident and well-spoken, then you’re going to open more doors.

Match your appearance and tone to the company you’re approaching. A simple LinkedIn search or visit to a company website will shed light on company culture. If this is a more informal environment, don’t show up in a suit. If everyone dresses sharp, then your polo and khakis aren’t going to cut it. You want to show an understanding of the work culture by doing your research and fitting in.

Confidence comes from preparation — knowing your client, their business, and your value. You are how you present yourself. Trust in yourself and display confidence, and your prospect will see you as confident, too. 

However, don’t fall into the trap of arrogance.  Avoid overpromising, looking to be right rather than helpful, and speaking more than you listen.

When you do speak, speak confidently. Eliminate filler words like ‘um’ and ‘ah’ from your conversation. These undermine your confident demeanor and cause your prospect to doubt your credibility. 

Instead, take intentional pauses when you’re not sure what to say or to avoid tripping over your words. A brief pause won’t make you look like you don’t know what you’re talking about — it’ll look like you’re taking a moment to choose exactly the right words.

Your body language needs to project authority. A firm handshake and steady eye contact show confidence and can put your client at ease. They establish you as a professional presence, ready to combat a company’s issues with excellence. If you’re on a video call, speak up, introduce yourself with some key details and ask your prospect to do the same. Give them an opportunity to tell you who they are.

Smile and be open toward your prospect. This helps establish trust, and mirroring your prospect’s body language is an easy way to develop rapport. Sit up straight and lean in, showing you’re listening carefully to their pain points and issues. 

In this digital age, you can’t be surprised to know that potential customers might Google you, find you on LinkedIn, or otherwise look you up online. After all, didn’t you do your research on them before you reached out? It’s your responsibility to present a professional front online as well as in person.

You’re cultivating a personal brand online the same way you’re doing with every call and email. Use your LinkedIn profile to establish yourself as an expert in your area and you’ll see that payoff in your credibility with clients. Make a practice of sharing industry insights, commenting on relevant posts, and posting your own observations on trends, challenges, or best practices.

The power of your professional presence isn’t limited to first impressions. It’s relevant in every step of the selling process — including how you present yourself as an engaged listener.

Stop thinking of yourself as a seller and start thinking of yourself as a solutions-provider. What you’re offering prospects is the chance to solve a problem costing them money, time or both. That starts with mastering the art of listening.

From the first phone call to the initial meeting and every touch after, establish yourself as a consultative seller who’s more interested in eliminating pain points than simply selling a product. Ask thoughtful follow-up questions and repeat key points to show you understand your prospect’s point of view and issues. 

From voicemails to emails to social touches, follow up with persistence and thoughtfulness. Personalized follow-ups show you’ve paid genuine attention to the prospect’s concerns. It also reaffirms your professionalism and genuine interest in negotiating a deal that benefits both parties.

Many salespeople quit too soon. Studies show it can take up to eight touches for engagement, yet most give up after three or four. If you’re not following up 11 or 12 times, then you’re wasting your time. Don’t let impatience kill your deal. Don’t give up one touch too early.

Sales is about influence, and the first thing you influence is how people see you. Sell yourself first, and the rest will follow.

Your professional presence is the foundation of trust and credibility in sales. Every interaction you have, from the first handshake to the final follow-up, shapes how a prospect views you—and whether they’ll buy from you.

Mastering the art of first impressions, exuding relaxed confidence, refining your nonverbal communication, and maintaining a strong digital presence aren’t just extras—they’re essential to winning deals. Sharpen your professional presence, and you’ll not only sell more but also build lasting relationships that drive long-term success.

Caroline is dealing with a dilemma so many sales professionals face this time of year: How do you shake off a mid-winter rut and regain your momentum when it’s cold, dark, and everyone else seems to be dragging too?

On this Ask Jeb episode, I offer practical, real-world strategies to help you thaw out from the winter freeze. Whether you’re fighting the gloom of early sunsets, the aftereffects of holiday downtime, or the struggle to get your customers back in “buying mode,” these tips will help you power through and regain your momentum.

When you’re in a mid-winter sales rut—especially in cold, gray weather—your environment can either lift you up or drag you down. The content you consume and the people you interact with have a direct impact on your attitude.

Limit Negativity
Skip cable news and doom scrolling. It’s toxic and drains energy. Steer clear of co-workers who only want to complain. Instead, find colleagues or mentors who keep the conversation upbeat and productive.

Engage in “Automobile University”
Turn windshield time into learning time. Load up on podcasts, audiobooks, or uplifting content. If you’re on the road for field sales, use that dead time to sharpen your skills or motivation.

Pro Tip: Tune in to the Sales Gravy Podcast (yes, shameless plug!) or revisit classic audio programs by Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, or Jim Rohn for a quick confidence boost.

Create a “Win” File
Save glowing emails, client testimonials, or kudos from your boss in one place. On days when you feel like a zero, open that folder and remember your wins. Believing in yourself often wavers most when external results are slow. A targeted self-esteem boost can snap you out of that funk.

When you can’t rely on external circumstances (like sunny weather or a jam-packed pipeline) to motivate you, it’s time to feed your mind intentionally.

Pick Up a Book
I once pulled myself out of a rut by alternating 10 minutes of prospecting with 10 minutes of reading No Bull Selling by Hank Trisler. That pattern helped him stay focused and eventually led him to top-performer status in his region.

Audio Allies
If reading a physical book doesn’t fit your schedule, try audiobooks. Caroline mentioned she’s listening to The AI Edge on Audible. Whether you dive into James Clear’s Atomic Habits or any other self-improvement or sales guide, consistent listening can reset your mindset.

Aimlessness often fuels a sales rut. Getting clear on why you’re putting in the work refocuses your daily efforts.

Craft a Personal Business Plan
Break your annual quota or goals into quarterly, monthly, and weekly targets. Then, identify the daily actions that lead to those targets. Write them down, review them often, and adjust as needed.

Check In with Your Plan

If you’ve already set goals: Take them out of the drawer and ask, “Am I doing what I said I would do each day?” If you haven’t set goals yet: It’s never too late to start. Use the lull to plan out the rest of your year.

Try the “BTN” (Better Than Nothing) Approach
On a recent Money Monday episode, we introduced the concept of doing something—even if it’s small—to maintain momentum. One call, one follow-up, or one networking email is better than none at all. Doing a little bit every day builds massive momentum over time. Even if you’re not closing big deals right now, small actions (e.g., 15 minutes of prospecting, 10 minutes of follow-ups) add up.

The Eat the Frog concept (mentioned in Fanatical Prospecting) is about tackling the hardest or most dreaded tasks first. If winter weather and post-holiday inertia already have you feeling sluggish, don’t let procrastination compound the problem.

Schedule Tough Calls in the Morning
If you tend to stall on prospecting, block out time when you’re freshest. Once you conquer the hardest thing on your list, everything else feels easier.

Celebrate Small Victories
Even if you only manage a handful of calls, pat yourself on the back. Remind yourself that a day with 5 calls beats a day with none.

Motion begets emotion—meaning the more you do, the more you feel like doing. Conversely, idle time often magnifies a slump.

The Power of Micro-Commitments
Promise yourself you’ll make 5 dials or send 3 targeted emails before checking social media. Then, if you’re up for more, keep going. These little commitments help you sidestep analysis paralysis.

Reap the “Sales Endorphins”
Keith Lubner, calls it “sales endorphins.” Each positive action—be it a successful call, a good conversation, or a micro-goal achieved—releases a jolt of motivation.

You Control the Thaw

Mid-winter, post-holiday ruts can feel like trudging through snow drifts in frigid temps. The key is recognizing that you have the power to pull out of this sales rut. Surround yourself with positivity, draw on small wins, and “eat the frog” before your day disappears under a cozy blanket of procrastination.

Whether you rely on motivational audio, daily micro-commitments, or a well-curated folder of glowing testimonials, do what it takes to spark the engine. And if you find yourself at the end of the day, worn down and tempted to punch out early—make one more call. That simple action can ignite momentum and get your motor running.

Got a burning sales question? Head to salesgravy.com/ask. Our producers will reach out to get you scheduled on an upcoming Ask Jeb show where we tackle your biggest sales and leadership challenges.

Three weeks ago it warmed up here in Augusta, Georgia, so I played hooky from work to take advantage of the nice weather and play a round of golf. While I was waiting for the group in front of me to clear the green my phone rang. I answered but I couldn’t hear anything on the other end so I hung up. 

Ten minutes later it rang again with a call from the same number. This time, however, I was walking up to a birdie putt, so I sent the call to voicemail. 

After finishing my round, I looked at my voice messages to see who had called, but there was no message so I didn’t give it another thought. 

Later that day, I found an email from the rep asking for a meeting. He said he had called but we’d been disconnected. 

It was at that moment that I realized I had my earbuds in when I answered the phone the first time. Sometimes calls do not automatically transfer to them. That is why I couldn’t hear him when I picked up the phone. 

I considered responding to his email at that moment, but it was dinner time, and I was getting ready to grill some steaks. So, I put his note aside for later. The next morning, life happened, priorities got in the way, and I completely forgot about it. I haven’t heard from him since. 

After three attempts (and no voice message) he gave up. The sad thing is, because of my guilt about hanging up on him, had he made one more call or email, I would have responded. 

Other than not prospecting altogether, giving up too soon is the primary reason salespeople are failing at prospecting on an epic scale. 

Once after another attempt at creating a viable light bulb went down in flames, inventor Thomas Edison said that he hadn’t failed. He’d just found 10,000 ways that didn’t work. Because of his relentless persistence, he changed the world. 

Now juxtapose this against the statistics on sales prospecting persistence: 

Deeper into the weeds, the data tells us that it takes many prospecting touches to compel prospects to engage. 

Keep in mind that these are averages across a wide statistical distribution. Depending on your brand recognition, geographic location, prospecting channel, product, service, sales cycle, industry vertical, and the role (CEO, Director, Manager) you might find that these numbers shift.

The point, however, is not the numbers. It is the story these numbers tell us. In most cases, it takes around 8 touches to get meaningful engagement from a prospect. But 92% of salespeople give up after no more than four attempts. 

It’s no wonder that pipelines are bone dry and last year, according to recent data, 91% of sales teams failed to achieve quota. 

When I tell stories of prospecting persistence from the stage during keynotes and training sessions—for instance, the rep who contacted me 71 times before finally convincing me to buy from him—people in the audience visually squirm. 

Invariably, when I tell the true story of the time I left a voicemail for a prospective client every day for 52 days in a row before he called me back leading to a $1.2 million deal and punching my ticket to Presidents Club, there is an audible gasp of disbelief.  

This type of raw prospecting persistence carries negative connotations. People will come up to me and say things like:

“I could never do that!”

“I’d be pissed if anyone called me that many times.”

“If someone did that to me, I’d block them.”

Sometimes they attack me with:

“Anyone who would call that many times is an awful person.”

“I don’t care what you were selling or how badly I needed it, I would never buy from you!”

“That’s horrible; it’s stalking!”

I want to be clear that I am not suggesting that salespeople should engage in gratuitous stalking. That makes no sense and will not earn you meaningful engagement. 

Professional, intentional, systematic, multi-touch prospecting, is not stalking. 

Although nearly every sales professional worth their salt understands the power of persistence in prospecting, most struggle to be persistent prospectors. 

For most salespeople, the level of persistence required to grab the attention of modern buyers can feel like you’re being pushy—crossing the line, bothering, and annoying people. 

This wave of emotional hang-ups in the form of projecting is why most salespeople give up too soon.

Projecting, in a psychological context, is the act of attributing your own emotions, feelings, assumptions, experiences, or biases to your prospect. It causes you to decide what they are feeling through the lens of your own emotions rather than theirs.

Think about the rep who called me while I was on the golf course. If, in his mind’s eye, he pictured me angry at him because I hung up, he might feel that a fourth or fifth touch was “too pushy” or “annoying me,” even though those feelings couldn’t be further from the truth. 

I might have found what he was selling interesting, but we’ll never know now.

Or, if you feel anxious about interrupting people with a phone call, you might project that anxiety onto your prospect, assuming it makes them uncomfortable. However, your prospect may not feel that way at all—especially if they are in a buying window and receptive to talking with you.

Projecting, which is all too common for salespeople, costs you dearly and holds you back from being persistent. 

Projecting your own discomfort with prospecting persistence causes you to rationalize that your prospect doesn’t want to be contacted. This becomes an easy excuse not to prospect or to give up after one or two touches. 

Breaking through the challenge of projecting when prospecting and truly embracing persistence is not easy. You know as well as anyone else that detaching from emotional hang-ups is easier said than done. But emotional detachment is exactly what has to be done in order to free yourself from what is holding you back. 

When it comes to the persistence of prospecting—where rejection and non-responsiveness are common—emotional detachment is a crucial meta-skill. 

Detachment doesn’t mean being cold or indifferent. It means not allowing your own personal emotions to cause you to decide what your prospect feels. When you learn to detach, you are less likely to take rejection personally, you’ll bounce back more quickly, and you’ll find the persistence required to win. 

Detachment begins with internalizing that your prospect’s initial resistance does not equate to outright rejection. We all resist new things and change.

Resistance is a natural response to your outreach. Especially when people are not yet familiar with you, your brand, or your product, service, or software. It is just human nature.

Persistence is often required to move beyond this initial familiarity barrier. This helps compel your prospect to engage in a meaningful conversation and build a deeper connection. This is why making multiple prospecting touches is a normal part of the prospecting and familiarity journey.

Instead of viewing a lack of response, a rejection, or an unexpected outcome as a personal failure, try reframing these moments. Recognize that each step, whether positive or negative, contributes to your growth and eventual success and is a part of the process. This helps you avoid getting caught up in the negative emotions that cause you to give up too early.

It is easier to detach from your emotions when you view each persistent prospecting touch as a natural step toward meaningful engagement. Instead of focusing solely on the success or failure of any given touch, shift your perspective to see the bigger picture of building relationships over time.

Shift your mindset from equating persistence with being pushy and resistance with rejection. Then you step into a prospecting framework that values consistency, patience, and a focus on persistently playing the long game.

Edison once said that “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” So when you are tired, worn out, and you feel like you can’t take anymore rejection, always will yourself to make one more call!

Learn how to convert more prospecting calls into appointments with our FREE Guide 25 Ways to Ask for the Appointment on a Cold Call

In sales – especially in product knowledge training – we’re taught from day one how to pitch, how to present, and how to overcome objections. We rehearse our spiels, memorize talking points, and perfect our scripts. 

But too often we forget one of the most basic truths in sales: The more you listen, the more you learn. And the more you learn, the faster and easier it is to close a deal. Silence — shutting up and listening — is your secret weapon. 

Yes, you need to speak confidently about the value you bring to the table, and you need to be clear when you’re asking for the deal. But the words that actually sway a prospect don’t come from you — they come from them. 

Prospects convince themselves to buy. Your job is to guide the conversation in such a way that they articulate the problems they’re trying to solve, the goals they want to achieve, and the obstacles blocking their path. When you can get them to articulate those issues in their own words, you close deals. 

A common mistake reps make is rushing in to pitch a solution, answer a question, or tackle a perceived objection. They jump in prematurely, before letting the prospect fully voice what’s on their mind. 

But if you can stay silent, if you can resist the urge to speak immediately, your prospect will usually elaborate. They’ll keep talking, often divulging the root cause of their hesitation. 

That root cause might be very different from what you assumed at first glance. If you jump in too soon, you risk addressing a superficial objection and missing the real issue entirely.

I’ve seen too many sales professionals sabotage deals because they were afraid of a little silence. They ramble on, trying to fill every pause, unnerved by any lull in the conversation. 

But in the pause, in the silence, is where your prospect gathers their thoughts. If you just wait, if you’ll just shut up, what comes next is where the real magic lies. 

Your prospect will begin to share deeper insights. They might reveal the internal politics at play, the budget constraints, or the personal motivations driving their buying decision. They’ll teach you exactly how to close the sale. 

Learning to be comfortable with silence is also about showing genuine respect for the other person. When you give someone space to talk, you send an unspoken message: “I value your thoughts, your insights, and your experiences.” 

That’s a powerful psychological signal. It builds trust faster than any perfectly rehearsed line. People buy from those they trust, and trust often begins with the simple act of listening.

Now, I’m not saying you should clam up entirely. Strategic silence is not about becoming a mute. It’s about knowing when to speak, what to say, and when to remain quiet. 

Ask a probing question, and then zip your lips. Sit there, look them in the eye, and nod empathetically while they talk. Let them finish. Then pause a moment. 

Usually, that extra beat of silence after they finish speaking nudges them to continue, and they’ll share even more valuable information. 

If it’s truly time for you to respond, do so thoughtfully, directly, and concisely. Then hand the baton of conversation back to your prospect with another question or an invitation to elaborate.

When you unlock the power of silence in your sales conversations, you’ll get below the surface to the real issues your prospect is facing and build stronger relationships. Never forget that sales isn’t about talking more; it’s about learning more. And you learn more by closing your mouth and opening your ears.

Sales Gravy Live’s Fanatical Prospecting Bootcamp teaches tactics and tricks to 5x your pipeline in 90 days. Learn more about it here.

For more sales tips, listen to the Ask Jeb Podcast, where Jeb answers viewers’ burning questions live. Listen here.

Download Jeb’s FREE Fanatical Prospecting Book Club and Study Guide. This 31-page guide includes summaries, discussion prompts, individual reflections, and exercises. Get it Here

Marcin from Warsaw, Poland, asks: What are the top sales trends shaping the future of sales?

Our conversation ranged from the impact of AI to the growing importance of a consultative selling mindset in modern selling. Below, you’ll discover practical insights you can leverage to sharpen your competitive edge—regardless of what industry or region you sell into—and take advantage of these emerging trends.

When we think about the future of sales, AI inevitably dominates the conversation. Whether you’re a software rep, selling capital equipment, or providing professional services, artificial intelligence is quickly transforming the salescape.

In an age where we can automate just about anything with tech, your core differentiator will be your ability to build trust and engage deeply with clients.

In the age of AI there is a massive shift toward consultative selling. If you’re selling complex products, services, or solutions, you can’t just pitch features and benefits anymore. To survive and thrive you must become a business advisor, diagnosing problems and developing creative and innovative solutions.

A big part of stepping into a consultative role is adopting a lifelong learning mentality. Too many sales professionals stop reading or stop trying new things once they feel confident in their current role. But the pace of change is accelerating, and complacency is dangerous.

Problem solvers are the champions of the business world. It is crucial that you make the mindset shift needed to go from a mere “vendor” to a high-level consultant or trusted advisor. It starts with seeing yourself in that new identity. Once you do, you’ll naturally invest time into building deeper business acumen, strengthening your listening skills, and shaping creative solutions.While AI and automation will continue to reshape sales, your ability to interpret data, ask incisive questions, and connect personally with buyers will set you apart.

If you’re struggling with a tricky sales scenario—whether it’s prospecting woes, AI adoption, or mastering consultative conversations—I’d love to help. Go to salesgravy.com/ask, fill out the short form, and our producers will reach out to schedule you for a future Ask Jeb segment.

WARNING: This Monday’s message will be one of the most powerful hacks you’ll ever integrate into your life—because it’s simple, easy to put into practice, and it works. It has the potential, over the course of time, to change everything for you.

It’s the BTN method, and I learned it from a friend of mine who completely transformed his life and his habits by mastering this one straight-forward tactic.

In James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, he talks about a strategy for making a habit stick: never miss two days in a row.

In other words, if you mess up on Monday—if you skip your workout or drop the ball on your new habit—you give yourself permission to let it go.

But get right back on track by Tuesday. You never miss two days in a row and allow those mistakes to pile up and push you right back into the bad habit you are trying to change.

I love this advice because it reminds us we’re all human. We’re going to slip up. Life happens—kids get sick, you get sick, clients call with emergencies, your boss piles extra tasks on your desk, or your flight is delayed and you’re stranded in an airport— sometimes you’ve just have to eat that piece of cake.

James Clear’s approach is, when this happens, to give yourself a break. It’s okay that you messed up once. Forgive yourself but just don’t let it spiral downward by stringing together multiple days of misses together. It’s a great approach.

But there is another strategy that works even better for staying track, makes it easier to bounce back, still allows you to be human, and over time yields far better results. If you really want to build unstoppable sales habits and supercharge your performance you’ll love this approach.

A few years back, I was meeting a good friend of mine for dinner. We hadn’t seen each other in a couple of years.

He’s the CEO of a large company—constantly flying all over the world, dealing with high-level negotiations, board meetings, you name it.

I know from experience that this kind of schedule can wreak havoc on your diet, your sleep, and especially your exercise routine.

When Chris walked into the restaurant, I was stunned. He looked incredible—like a completely different person.

He’d lost a bunch of weight and was in fantastic shape. As we sat down at our table I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Dude, you look incredible, how on earth do you manage to find the time to exercise and take care of yourself like that with your insane schedule.”

The truth is that at the time, I was really struggling with my own health. I’d been traveling without a break and gained far too much weight. I felt bad. And even though I knew I needed to do something about it, I was wrestling with the typical excuses: busy travel itinerary, client dinners, lack of time in the mornings for a real workout, late nights in airports, and exhaustion.

Chris looked at me, smiled, and said, “I use the BTN method.”

I instantly reached for my phone to Google “BTN” because I thought it was some new, miracle workout program and I was looking for anything that could help me get my health back on track.

Chris just started laughing. “You’re not gonna find that on Google,” he said. “BTN stands for Better Than Nothing.”

Chris explained his philosophy: No matter where he is—no matter how jam-packed his day, no matter how exhausted he feels—he refuses to let a single day pass without doing some form of exercise—no matter how little.

On a good day, when he has time, he does an intense 45-minute workout. But if he doesn’t have time, if he’s been in back-to-back meetings from dawn to dusk, then he’ll at least drop down on the floor in his hotel room and do five push-ups, or 20 jumping jacks, or a two-minute plank. Something. Anything. Just not nothing.

He explained that five push-ups is better than none and over time it all adds up. That’s the BTN method—Something is Better Than Nothing.

One big reason most of us haven’t adopted the BTN mindset is that it feels too small to matter. If you’re used to a 60-minute workout, you might think, “Ten push-ups? That’s useless. Might as well not do anything.”

The truth is that doing anything is infinitely better than doing nothing because of the cumulative impact of doing a little bit every day. For Chris, the months and years of never missing a day completely transformed his health.

Plus, BTN keeps you tethered to your routine, your discipline, momentum, and your sense of identity as someone who follows through and never misses a day.

In my book Fanatical Prospecting, I talk about how prospecting is one of those non-negotiable activities you must do every single day to keep your pipeline full.

Yet, if we’re honest, nobody really likes prospecting. We’ll dream up any excuse, and I mean any excuse to put it off: proposals that need writing, admin tasks, emails, that one big client who demands your attention 24/7, meetings, the boss, it’s Wednesday, a full moon or maybe just the allure of another cup of coffee in the break room.

Of course there are real, legitimate issues that impact how much time you have for prospecting during your sales day.

I know you’re busy. You have fires to put out. Big presentations. And a packed schedule of demos, discovery, and closing meetings. On these days when your schedule is that packed it’s not unusual to roll a zero and skip prospecting altogether. It’s not like you did it on purpose.

But that’s a big problem because those zeros add up to zero. The number one reason for failure in sales is an empty pipeline and the number one reason why you have an empty pipeline is because you did zero prospecting.

A zero day is a day when you do absolutely nothing toward your goal. In fitness, that means no movement, no push-ups, not even a single squat. In sales, it means ignoring prospecting entirely.

Zero days are the real enemy because zero days compound your inaction leading to crash and burn failure.

By contrast though, when you adopt a something is better than nothing mindset and commit to never rolling a zero, you’ll accomplish more than you ever thought possible because you tap into the law of cumulative impact.

The Law of Cumulative Impact states that small, consistent actions, when repeated regularly over time, add up to produce massive results.

In other words, even seemingly insignificant efforts—like making a few prospecting calls or doing a short workout—lead to major transformations in performance, health, and personal growth over time.

Some days you’ll knock out 50 cold calls. Other days you might only manage to make five. That’s okay! Because the last time I checked, five is better than zero.

By continuously stacking small wins, you harness the compounding effect and far exceed what can be achieved with occasional bursts of high effort followed by long stretches of inaction.

The key is allowing yourself to be proud of those micro-wins. You’re aiming for progress, not perfection. And the days when you can do more—fantastic. But on others you have to accept that doing something is a win because it’s better than nothing.

Greatness in sales comes from consistent daily effort. The pipeline is always flowing because you never stop feeding it. The “Better Than Nothing” approach ensures you’re always adding logs to the fire—maybe just a few some days, maybe a whole bundle on others, but never letting it burn out completely. Over time, that’s how you create unstoppable momentum.

Here are the keys to putting the BTN Method into practice in your sales day and life.

And remember, this doesn’t just apply to prospecting. Never let a day go by without some form of progress toward your sales goals. Five minutes, ten minutes, one micro-task—it’s always better than nothing.

Whether it’s your first year in sales or you are a seasoned veteran, our FREE Goal Planning guide gives you proven tips, tools and tactics for developing a winning game plan to achieve your biggest goals.

On the surface, you’d think that “selling” and “asking” go hand in hand. In reality, salespeople at all experience levels often hesitate, tiptoe around, or dodge direct closes because they’re afraid of rejection, worried about coming across as pushy, or insecure about asking.

On this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount explores why salespeople fear asking for the sale and what to do about it with author and Sales Gravy University instructor, Tony Morris 

Every salesperson starts somewhere. Tony Morris started turning a profit buying 10 pounds of sweets from a shop and selling them for 20 pounds. Before that, he sold car washing door to door. But before all that, he spent hours watching his father prep for sales calls in the mirror, honing his language and mastering his message. It drove home one idea for a young Tony: To be a sales success, you have to practice, practice, practice learning how to ask for the sale. 

The Fear Factor That Holds Salespeople Back From Asking for the Sale

There’s an underlying, deeply human factor that derails many capable sales professionals: The fear of asking for the sale.

Rejection stings, whether it’s a “no” from a potential client or crickets after your presented a proposal you believed was bulletproof.  We fear hearing “no” because we interpret it, consciously or not, as a sign that our competence or worth is lacking. Ironically, the more empathetic and relationship-focused a salesperson is, the more they tend to shy away from scenarios that might lead to an uncomfortable refusal.

When you allow the fear of rejection for creep in when attempting to close the sales it often leads to:

Watch any top performer in any field—a pro golfer, a concert pianist, or an elite salesperson—and they often make it look effortless. People assume they were simply “born with it.” In truth, consistent practice is usually the reason they’re able to operate at such a high level without appearing scripted or nervous.

One reason salespeople hesitate to ask for the sale is that they don’t feel comfortable with what to say—or how to say it—when the conversation reaches its critical moment. Practice, especially under realistic conditions, engrains talk tracks, responses to objections, and emotional composure. Practice allows you to lean on muscle memory rather than fumbling for words or panicking at a curveball question or objection.

The more you prepare, the more comfortable you are in the moment. When you are well-prepared you come across as “unscripted” and fluid because you’re not scrambling to find the right words. You’ve internalized the dialogue, so it sounds like a calm, authentic conversation rather than a memorized monologue.

Time and again, top sales performers cite a simple truth: a fast “no” can be better than a lingering “maybe.” It allows you to save time, refocus energy, and cultivate a pipeline of engaged prospects. Learning to handle “no” as a data point—rather than personal rejection—keeps you in motion.

Whether you’re selling software, consulting services, or coffee machines, if you never ask, you’ll never receive. Fear of rejection and worries about being too pushy can sabotage your success long before you even get to the handshake stage. Authentic confidence, grounded in genuine concern for the buyer’s wellbeing, is the antidote. Combine that mindset with disciplined practice, and you become unstoppable.

You don’t need to “push” people; you just need to guide them. You don’t need to coerce; you simply open the door and invite them to walk through. And if you believe wholeheartedly in your solution, this moment of asking becomes a service to your prospect, not an intrusion. That shift in perspective can transform your entire sales career—and perhaps even your life.

It’s one thing to know you should ask for the sale; it’s another to do it regularly and effectively. Every week, set aside time to measure how consistently you close your conversations. Are you ending calls with vague next steps? Or are you confidently moving opportunities toward a clear yes or no?

The next time you catch yourself hesitating at the close, remember: it’s not about you—it’s about helping them solve a problem. Take a breath, trust your preparation, and ask. Then stay silent long enough for the buyer to answer. You might be surprised how often they say “yes.”

Jeb Blount’s bestselling book Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling. is a practical, eye-opening guide that clearly explains the why and how behind the most important activity in sales and business development―prospecting.

Download our free Fanatical Prospecting Book Club Guide HERE.

Elli in Galveston, Texas, faces a scenario that many young sales professionals know all too well: How do you earn respect and project confidence in selling when you’re dealing with people who are older and more experienced than you?

Ellie’s question highlights a universal issue in sales. Whether you’re dealing with age differences or expertise gaps, it’s easy to feel anxious if your buyer is decades older or has been in the industry for a long time.

Below, you’ll find practical strategies to bridge that confidence gap, project authority, and demonstrate a relaxed assertiveness that resonates with prospects of any age.

A significant part of Ellie’s challenge stems from internal dialogue rather than external facts. As I reminded her, rarely will a prospect openly declare, “I don’t respect you because you’re young.” Instead, we often impose that narrative on ourselves.

The simplest way to defuse insecurities about age or experience is to ask better questions. Listening is far more powerful than talking in most sales situations.

If there’s a secret weapon in sales, it’s projecting selling confidence. But this isn’t about memorizing every rebuttal or faking bravado. It’s about becoming relaxed and assertive enough to handle anything that comes your way.

Even the best frameworks won’t help if your own thoughts tear you down. Here’s how to realign your mindset:

Intimidation often stems from the unknown. When you deal with a large, entrenched prospect, it’s easy to see them as unapproachable. But frequent interaction turns intimidation into familiarity.

Whether you’re talking to a brand-new entrepreneur or a CEO with decades of experience, confidence is a feeling people sense and respond to. If you walk in unsure of yourself, that doubt can quietly poison the interaction. But if you arrive calm, prepared, and sincerely invested in understanding your buyer’s world, you’ll find that even the most seasoned executives lean in with curiosity and respect.

Remember: You don’t need to know everything. You just need to show genuine interest, have a reliable process, and let your passion for helping them shine through. That’s the real secret to selling confidence across any age gap—making the other person feel heard, validated, and supported.

If you’re wrestling with a tough scenario—whether it’s about age gaps, prospecting woes, or tricky objections—I’d love to help you tackle it. Head over to salesgravy.com/ask, fill out a short form, and our team will reach out to schedule you for a future Ask Jeb episode.