Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

In this podcast, Jeb Blount, Jeremy Olson, and Kristin Isaacson discuss the importance of role-playing in sales. They emphasize the need for leaders to create a culture of role-playing and accountability within their teams. They also highlight the benefits of roleplaying in helping salespeople improve their skills, gain empathy for the customer’s perspective, and build confidence. They encourage individuals to find their preferred style of roleplaying and commit to regular practice, even if it feels uncomfortable at first.

One key takeaway from this podcast episode is the role of leaders in fostering a culture of role-playing within their teams. By encouraging and embracing roleplaying exercises, leaders can establish an environment where individuals feel safe to practice and refine their sales techniques. This culture of accountability sets the stage for continuous growth and improvement.

Roleplaying allows salespeople to step into the shoes of their customers, understand their perspective, and develop empathy. By simulating real-life scenarios, sales professionals gain insight into the challenges and concerns their customers may face. This understanding enables them to ask the right questions, provide tailored solutions, and build stronger relationships.

Moreover, roleplaying serves as a platform for salespeople to enhance their skills and build confidence. Through practice and repetition, they can refine their pitch, overcome objections, and improve their overall sales performance. Roleplaying provides a controlled environment where individuals can experiment, receive feedback, and make necessary adjustments.

Consistency is a vital component of effective roleplaying. Just as athletes train regularly to maintain peak performance, salespeople must commit to regular practice. Consistent roleplaying ensures that skills remain sharp, and individuals continue to grow. It is not a one-time activity but an ongoing process that drives continuous improvement.

Roleplaying has a unifying effect on sales teams. It establishes a shared language, understanding, and approach to sales. By engaging in roleplaying exercises together, team members develop a collaborative mindset and foster a sense of camaraderie. This collaborative atmosphere promotes knowledge-sharing, peer feedback, and mutual support, leading to a stronger, more cohesive team.

While role-playing may initially feel uncomfortable, it is crucial to overcome this discomfort to reap its benefits fully. Sales professionals should recognize that discomfort is a sign of growth and improvement. Embracing the practice of role-playing with a growth mindset allows individuals to step outside their comfort zones, challenge themselves, and continually enhance their skills.

Constructive feedback and coaching play a pivotal role in maximizing the impact of role-playing. Salespeople should actively seek feedback from their leaders, peers, or trusted individuals outside their team. This feedback helps identify areas for improvement and provides valuable insights for refining sales techniques. Regular coaching sessions allow sales professionals to address weaknesses, build on strengths, and continuously enhance their performance.

To make roleplaying effective, it must become an integral part of the sales process. It should be viewed as a non-negotiable activity, similar to going to the gym. Just as consistency is key in physical fitness, regular roleplaying is crucial for sales fitness. By prioritizing role-playing, sales teams can develop a culture of continuous learning, improvement, and success.

There is immense value in roleplaying in sales. From building empathy and enhancing skills to fostering team unity and personal growth, roleplaying is an essential tool for sales professionals. By creating a culture of roleplaying and embracing its benefits, sales teams can unlock their full potential and achieve extraordinary results.

The innovative Sales Gravy University sales training platform gives on the go individuals and entire teams easy, affordable access to the world’s top sales trainers in both live and on-demand courses. Now you can learn how to win in sales anywhere, anytime, and on any device. 

In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount talks to renowned sales experts Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz about their “Go For No” approach to embracing rejection in sales. They discuss how the fear of “no” sabotages sales presentations and what salespeople can do to deliver more successful and engaging presentations that get them to “yes”.

In the dynamic world of sales, where each presentation is an opportunity to forge valuable connections and secure vital deals, a formidable adversary often lurks in the shadows—the fear of failure and rejection. It’s a sentiment that frequently courses through the veins of salespeople, affecting their confidence and ultimately their performance. This fear, while entirely human, can become an insidious obstacle to delivering compelling sales presentations.

But here’s the paradox: it’s precisely this fear, when understood and harnessed, that can catapult a salesperson from mediocrity to mastery. This podcast delves into the heart of this challenge, exploring why salespeople often grapple with the fear of rejection and failure, how it affects their ability to engage their audience, and most importantly, why embracing this fear can be a game-changer in the competitive world of sales.

The concept of “Go for No” is about intentionally increasing your failure rate and intentionally hearing “no” more often. The idea behind this is that when you embrace rejection, it paves the way for more “yeses” to come.

However, this doesn’t mean that you should simply keep hearing “no” without making any improvements or using the feedback from those rejections. It’s important to treat each “no” as valuable data for growth. For instance, you can set goals based on the number of “no” responses you aim to receive, and actively seek out opportunities to hear “no.”

In the world of sales presentations, there’s a phrase that often rings true: “Don’t show up and throw up.” It’s a cautionary mantra that reminds salespeople of the importance of preparation and structure in their interactions with potential clients. Showing up unprepared, with no more than a vague idea of what to say, can lead to a meandering and unconvincing pitch. Instead, successful sales presentations require careful planning.

Salespeople should have their notes ready to go, create a basic outline for the conversation, and prepare specific talking points. While improvisation might seem like a way to appear more “natural,” it often results in coming across as unprofessional or unprepared. A well-prepared presentation not only instills confidence in the salesperson but also engages the audience more effectively.

And the truth is, when people speak without preparation, they often start in the middle and then backtrack to mention something they forgot. Eventually, they reveal their main point, which they were saving for the end. Sometimes, the desire to sound natural can be exaggerated.

However, it is perfectly fine to take a step-by-step approach. For example, lawyers in a courtroom follow a clear path. They ask a question, receive an answer, and mark it as completed on their yellow notepad.

Sales presentations are not just about pitching products or services; they’re about engaging the audience. One powerful way to achieve this is through storytelling. Rather than launching into a dry pitch, consider weaving a compelling narrative into your presentation.

Share a story about someone who faced a challenge similar to what your audience might be experiencing and highlight how your solution came to their rescue. Stories have a unique ability to capture people’s attention and emotions, making them lean in and connect with your message on a deeper level. In the realm of sales, it’s not just about what you’re selling, but the story you’re telling.

Even with the best preparation, unexpected hiccups can occur during a sales presentation. One common fear is losing your place or stumbling over your words. The important thing to remember in such moments is not to freeze. A momentary pause to collect your thoughts can work wonders. Your audience is unlikely to remember a minor fumble in your presentation.

What they will remember is how you handled it. By maintaining composure and continuing smoothly, you demonstrate professionalism and resilience. So, the next time you find yourself momentarily lost during a presentation, take a deep breath, regain your bearings, and confidently continue. It’s a small hiccup in the grand scheme of your presentation’s impact.

However, when I started out, I would replay my speeches and criticize myself. I would be embarrassed and beat myself up over mistakes or missed elements. It was excruciating, and I would feel so horrible that I didn’t want to face anyone.

But then, people would tell me that it was the best speech they had ever heard. I realized that nobody really notices when you make a mistake, unless it’s a major blunder. People don’t pay much attention to it.

You may notice and feel the mistakes, but they don’t. They see you responding to adversity with grace, and they can relate to that. But I realized that people appreciate me giving my all, even if I stumble or make up words sometimes.

As a salesperson, you may not be speaking in front of thousands of people, but the same principles apply. I bring my own energy and authenticity, and that’s what people love.

So, first off, remember that you don’t need to be perfect. Be yourself and bring your passion to your presentations. That’s what will resonate with your audience.

Embracing rejection and overcoming the fear of failure is crucial for success in the dynamic world of sales. By intentionally increasing our failure rate and treating each “no” as an opportunity for growth, we pave the way for more “yeses” to come. It is important to approach sales presentations with careful planning, preparation, and structure, avoiding the pitfall of showing up unprepared.

Utilizing storytelling techniques helps to engage the audience on a deeper level, while maintaining composure and confidently continuing in the face of unexpected hiccups showcases professionalism and resilience. Ultimately, it is not about striving for perfection, but about bringing our passion and authenticity to our presentations, resonating with our audience and forging valuable connections in the competitive realm of sales.

The innovative Sales Gravy University sales training platform gives on the go individuals and entire teams easy, affordable access to the world’s top sales trainers in both live and on-demand courses. Now you can learn how to win in sales anywhere, anytime, and on any device. 

In this Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount talks to Clare Dorrian, SugarCRM’s CMO, about putting people first, building human connections, and prioritizing the customer experience in a saturated market.

Clare shares expert insights on outbound prospecting, multi-channel engagement, and building a strong sales culture.

Their conversation covers a range of topics, including the evolution of sales and marketing, the role of relationships in modern selling, and driving pipeline growth through real connection.

Maintaining a focus on human relationships is a differentiating factor for sales organizations, especially in a world where technology seems to be pushing us further away from personal connection.

From a marketing standpoint, this emphasis on connection can be leveraged to generate leads and get more opportunities.

Ultimately, success in your sales organization depends on having the right people who not only understand what your product or service is designed to do, but also know its boundaries. In fact, this expertise is exactly what allows smaller sales forces to be nimble, show more appreciation for customers, and differentiate from their Goliath competitors.

This philosophy should be ingrained in your culture from top to bottom, from the way you recruit to the way you collaborate.

This focus on people is an important differentiator in marketing and go-to-market strategies, but when it is a key part of your DNA, competitors take notice.

In terms of customer experience, It’s not just about believing that the customer is always right, but rather prioritizing the customer above all else. This mentality should extend to sales professionals as well. It’s important to remember that a prospect is not yet a customer, but their emotional experience during their journey with you is a consistent predictor of outcomes more so than any other variable.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of a sales pitch? We all have at some point in our lifetime.

But which pitches do you remember? You probably remember the ones where the salespeople had an emotional connection with you.

Of course, the price had to be right and the product had to fit your requirements. But what made the difference was when the experience was memorable, and these memories accumulate over time.

It should be easy and enjoyable for people to do business with you. Each time a customer interacts with your organization, their experiences add up, which creates customer loyalty and long-term retention.

There has been a complete revolution in the last 20 years. Today, sales and marketing are more connected than ever before.

The pressure on CMOs to generate inbound leads and build the pipeline is immense. However, they are often measured against the success of the sales organization, which they have little control over. CMOs who recognize the amount of money spent on creating opportunities and bringing in leads understand that their ability to deliver on goals is impacted if they are not directly tied to the sales organization and driving their activity.

Similarly, if the sales organization is not giving feedback to the CMOs or not directly tied to them, they will also struggle to achieve their goals.

Some organizations make the marketing team solely responsible for generating leads, but it should be a team sport. Marketing should work toward a demand generation goal, but so should the sales team.

It’s not effective to simply lob marketing materials over the fence to sales— that’s not how partnerships are built. To achieve true partnership, start by aligning our goals and KPIs and then stack your initiatives accordingly.

Getting everyone working together is essential. Sales and Marketing are more likely to see the fruits of their combined efforts when both teams take accountability for revenue.

In recent years, it has become more challenging since we are all more distributed than ever before. Sales teams are accustomed to being on the road and visiting customer sites, dealing with forecasts and sending communications while on the go. Certain marketing functions, on the other hand, may not require as much travel.

The past couple of years have taught marketing teams that we all share a level playing field, because so many of us are working remotely.

This level playing field provided opportunities for agile organizations to take advantage of the situation.

A few years ago, SugarCRM introduced a competition called “Shark Week” to bring together marketing, business development, sales, partners, and others, to focus on driving pipeline together. They formed teams and had prizes throughout the day and at the end of the week, including top team and individual prizes.

This intentional effort to work towards shared goals was transformational in introducing a DNA into their culture for outbound prospecting that they previously lacked. They only saw a material difference in the results when they introduced a fun, competitive team approach to prospecting where everyone had skin in the game. Salespeople like to win, after all.

For their mid-market business, it generated two million dollars in revenue and only cost sixty thousand in prize funds. The return on investment was phenomenal for their organization.

Sales contests like Shark Week can be used as a training tool, but it also puts pressure on competitors. When everyone in the company participates, competitors’ phones are ringing with inquiries and they have to work harder to keep their business.

This presents an opportunity to gain a competitive edge, take their business, and grow your own in the process.

At the end of the day, nobody likes feeling pressured. As a salesperson, your responsibility is to find a challenge or pain point that you can help solve. Start by identifying the pain point and demonstrating to the customer how you can help.

Avoid conversations that focus solely on pricing or perks without an understanding of the core business problem. Put your ego aside and focus on how you can help the customer. Avoid a hard sell and instead focus on finding a pain point that you can confidently speak to. Don’t overlook the influencer in the decision-making process and make sure to communicate in a way that is meaningful to all involved parties.

When engaging with potential customers, think multi-channel and multi-layered. Decision-making committees are getting larger every day, so winning over the CEO or CFO is not enough. Make sure you are touching everyone involved in the decision-making process and doing it in a way that is meaningful to them. Ask them how they prefer to be communicated with and meet them where they are.

Sales and marketing alignment can be achieved when there is a dedicated focus on setting shared goals and KPIs, promoting a team sport mentality, and encouraging collaboration and communication across departments.

Likewise, with outbound prospecting, a team effort is essential for building pipeline, and every member of the organization needs to contribute. By identifying customer challenges and demonstrating how a recommended product or solution can help solve them, sales professionals can build trust and create value for their customers.

When sales organizations focus on the customer experience, build a strong sales culture, and promote collaboration and communication across departments, they can drive pipeline growth and set themselves up for long-term success.

Learn more about how to deliver a legendary customer experience, stand out in a saturated market, and align sales and marketing efforts on Sales Gravy University.

In this podcast, Jeb Blount and Amy Franko discuss the importance of modern sellers having strong business acumen and an ownership mindset. They emphasize the value of being able to provide insight to executives based on knowledge of their organization, rather than regurgitating information that can be found online. They also discuss the importance of discipline and habits in maintaining success as a salesperson, especially when working from home. Finally, they touch on the rebirth of field sales and the importance of building strong relationships with leadership.

The truth is that there are core basic activities that every salesperson must perform.

Modern sellers have elevated these skills, honing the craft of selling to rise above their competitors and sell differently – and better.

When Amy was doing research for her new book, The Modern Seller, she noticed a particular set of skills that stood out from the rest in terms of indicators of success for salespeople. There are the “everyday skills” of prospecting, presenting, negotiating, and closing. Then there are five skills that modern sellers consistently do better than others, and are clear differentiators.

Through Amy’s career and observations, she has found that mastering these five skills is key to standing out as a top seller. Whether you are an individual seller or a leader building these skills in yourself or your team, these are skills that you should prioritize for the future.

One of the biggest challenges for sellers today is the level of business acumen that they are expected to have. It’s not just about having a feature-benefit-price conversation anymore. Instead, sellers must study the client’s business and industry to have more in-depth, business-oriented conversations.

Modern sellers need to display a level of business acumen that other sellers may not possess, or they may need to focus on improving these skills. Ultimately, a modern seller is someone who truly differentiates themselves and stands out for their clients.

The best sellers out there cannot be separated from their product or service because they are a crucial factor in the equation of their client’s success.

Business acumen is essential to connect with clients and demonstrate the value of your services or products in addressing their individual and unique business challenges, issues, and opportunities.

In longer cycle sales, where the complexity is higher, simply providing a standardized proposal deck is not be enough to stand out. Instead, you need to be able to build a bullet proof business case that clearly demonstrates ROI. This requires the ability to show the actual outcomes that the client can expect by implementing your service or product, and how it will impact their business.

If you excel at building relationships and connecting with people, but are unable to articulate how you can help their business, build a compelling business case, or provide guidance in finding an alternative path, then your efforts will be in vain.

Being able to build relationships while also having a high IQ about your client’s industry and their specific business is crucial. In addition to having a high IQ and emotional intelligence, understanding your clients’ industry and business, there is also the value of a high effectiveness quotient.

Being effective means analyzing the tactics that you use in your sales week and determining exactly how they help your clients.

One of the key differences between modern sellers and those who came before is their focus on both efficiency and effectiveness. They know how to achieve the greatest possible outcomes in the shortest amount of time possible.

One of the reasons why modern sellers have a high TQ (technical quotient) is their ability to leverage technology and information. This allows them to spend more time with people and be more efficient with their time. They adopt and adapt technology to their particular situation, while still prioritizing the human-to-human connection that is essential in sales.

What separates the highest performing salespeople from other sellers is the ability to use technology effectively and use the right tools to take their performance to the next level. Embracing technology and the right tools can move you from being an A player to a top performer. Remember that though technology is advancing at a rapid pace, it should never overshadow the importance of the human element in sales. Customers buy the salesperson first, then the product or service.

First, take a look at your relationship with your direct manager and leadership team. Do you have a healthy and connected relationship with them? By building strong relationships with your leaders, they become more aware of your work and are less likely to be unaware of what you’re doing. This is one way to ensure good communication with your superiors.

Another important factor is developing effective habits and discipline in your daily routine. Are you focusing on the right strategic activities? If you are, and you track your progress as needed, your leadership will recognize your efforts, which can significantly contribute to exceeding your quota.

Being a modern seller requires discipline, good habits, and following a sales plan. These fundamentals will help you work towards achieving excellence. However, you must also have the internal drive and motivation to pursue excellence.

You must take ownership of your day, your sales life, and be willing to make the necessary sacrifices to be successful.

Working from home and being in front of clients is a privilege, and when you view it as such, along with your desire to be excellent, you will have the internal fire and motivation to do what needs to be done.

You can learn more about what it takes to be a modern seller, how to be more agile, and develop an entrepreneurial approach to selling in Amy Franko’s courses on Sales Gravy University.

In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount and David Newman, author of Do It! Marketing and Do It! Selling, discuss exactly how to connect and engage with decision makers and avoid the “middle management trap”. One of the most effective approaches that salespeople can leverage to close bigger deals is using interviews as a sales strategy to gather intelligence, build relationships, and connect with high-level decision makers. Through asking penetrating questions and providing valuable resources, consultants and salespeople can establish themselves as experts and earn the right to have pivotal conversations with their top prospects.

As a sales professional, you face a simple choice.

Stay put or go out and do something. Believing that “if you build it, they will come” is a fallacy.

Planning is essential, but without conversations, it won’t lead to success. It’s time to take action and start having those conversations.

Shake hands and create familiarity with your voice, face, and message. This way, when people see you, they will recognize you and remember your message. This is where serendipity happens.

The key message of David’s new book, Do It! Selling is that without action, there will be no results. Leads do not come out of the blue. Sometimes these leads may seem serendipitous, but they actually result from the actions you take to create an environment conducive to generating leads.

If you consistently put in effort, the universe has a way of rewarding you, but it won’t reward you for simply waiting for success to come to you. Waiting around for leads to come to you is a reactive approach.

Instead, you need to be proactive and actively seek fresh targets on a regular basis.

For those who are a bit reluctant to sell, David presents a new definition for sales: ‘Are you sending enough invitations to a conversation with enough of the right people about how you can help them?’ This conversation may not always lead to a commercial relationship, but results in an introduction or referral.

Sometimes, the person may not be the right fit at the moment, but they may come back in the future with an opportunity to work together. Therefore, it’s important to put fresh prospects on your radar daily by sending enough invitations to a conversation with real people whom you can help, with the intention of opening a conversation and seeing where it goes.

Enter the Three P. R. Game Plan, which stands for Personalized, Professional, Public Relations. This is not the same as traditional public relations involving press releases and media interviews. Instead, it consists of three components: speaking, publishing, and social media.

Speaking is the first leg of the Three P. R. strategy, which involves generating leads and sales through speaking engagements. This can include speaking in person to groups, participating in podcasts, live streaming, or creating short video emails to send to prospects.

This doesn’t mean publishing a book, but rather creating articles, blogs, cheat sheets, and other content that is relevant and valuable to your target market. These pieces help establish credibility and expertise.

Being active on online platforms where your target market is already engaging helps raise your visibility and shareability. This can include social media platforms, blogs, portals, communities, and forums.

By implementing the Three P. R. strategy, you can generate more leads and increase your visibility, credibility, and shareability. Remember, it’s important to put fresh targets on your radar every day to keep the momentum going.

Every salesperson, whether you are a consultant, solopreneur, or work for a big company, faces the challenge of identifying their target audience and the different layers of people to target within that audience. we are living in a time of insane volatility and uncertainty, so The target audience is constantly moving and changing. Your ideal qualified prospect (IQP) is not static. Finding the money is a problem in a world where everything is changing.

Here are three frameworks you use to identify where the money is in a changing landscape.

As you go through this process, keep in mind that not only must your prospects have the ability to pay, but they must also be eager to pay for our services. It’s not enough that they have a budget; they must have an urgent, pervasive, and expensive problem that they are willing to pay a premium fee to solve.

This is why it is crucial to choose a target market with financial viability. Otherwise, we may waste our time talking to people who desperately need our services but cannot afford them.

Did you know that you can use interviewing as a prospecting channel, especially when you want to meet people in the C suite?

The goal is to gather intelligence, build relationships, and connect with high-level C-suite executives whom you might not be able to reach otherwise. These individuals are often behind multiple layers of security, and their emails and phone calls are screened.

During the interview, start by asking about their biggest successes. Focus on the positive at first to build trust and rapport before moving on to more difficult topics. Ask about their unique insights or nuggets of information that only they know, and the best advice they’ve received on the topic. Then, transition to their next goals and challenges, asking what they’re currently working on and what obstacles they’re facing.

The magic of the interview is not in the interview itself or even the publishing of the interview. It’s in the follow-up touch points after the interview. This includes sending a handwritten thank-you note, an email with the finished article, and giving the interviewee the opportunity to make any changes or updates to the article.

Make sure to follow up every 7 to 10 days, continuing to offer helpful information and solutions to their challenges. By the sixth or seventh touchpoint, you will have positioned yourself as an expert and authority in your industry and earned the right to have a pivotal conversation with them. For example, you could say, “Hey Jeb, we’ve been talking a lot about your challenges with problem A, problem B, and problem C. I believe I can help you in a more formal manner. Would a short chat be worth your time?” Often, the answer will be yes.

Even if it doesn’t pay off immediately, the person you interviewed will never forget that you thought their perspective was important, and they may loop back around to you in the future.

Want to learn more about targeting your idea qualified prospects and connecting with hard to reach stakeholders? You’ll find more than 1000 hours of professional development content for modern sales professionals and leaders on Sales Gravy University.

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 toughest sales challenges. Some of their questions include: standing out in a final round interview process, targeting and selling into larger accounts, losing to a competitor, and ways to contact hard-to-reach stakeholders on LinkedIn. Whether you’re a solopreneur, small business owner, sales professional, you’ll take away powerful strategies to advance your career, grow your business, or land your dream account.

To leave a lasting impression during a presentation in your final round of interviews, use a strategic approach. A useful tactic is to speak last, also known as the availability bias.

In a final presentation interview, demonstrating ROI is crucial, especially in today’s economy. Use a business case to showcase the value you bring. Start by discussing what you discovered during the discovery phase, the problems you faced, and the future state after your program is implemented. Highlight values that are important to individual stakeholders, like personal outcomes and emotional outcomes such as peace of mind and trust in the vendor. Be sure to make your case using business language, not just marketing brochures, and support it with math.

To provide a value framework, follow these steps: articulate the problem you discovered, make a recommendation to solve it, and describe the outcomes your recommendation will generate in terms of measurable business outcomes, personal outcomes, and emotional outcomes. Use the audience’s language and be specific. By following this structure, you’ll help the audience absorb information more effectively.

Scaling up into larger businesses can be overwhelming, but the first step is to take action. While hitting singles may be easier, it’s important to pursue bigger opportunities to gain experience selling larger deals.

However, it’s also important to not overlook the value of smaller deals and to have a consistent pipeline of singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. This helps de-risk your pipeline and income while providing opportunities for growth and a bigger income.

To reduce risk in your pipeline, it’s crucial to have strong qualifying mechanisms and a solid understanding of a potential client’s fit with your company. Identifying decision-making roles and stakeholders is also essential.

When pursuing a deal, it’s important to build an unassailable business case for why your company is the right choice. This involves mapping out every detail and identifying potential challenges and solutions.

Finally, use murder boarding to identify potential obstacles and develop strategies to overcome them. By the time of the final presentation, you should feel confident that the client has already made the decision to do business with you.

In summary, take action, carefully qualify leads, and focus on strategy for each deal. Surround yourself with knowledgeable individuals who can assist with awareness and strategy. With the right deals in your pipeline and discipline to work your strategy, success is achievable.

Small companies often lose customers because they don’t value them enough. In fact, studies show that 70% of the time, when a loyal customer switches to another business, it’s because they felt unappreciated. Competitors use this as an opportunity to ask the right questions and find weaknesses in your business.

If they discover mistakes or billing issues, the buyer may become defensive and turn to the competition. As a smaller company, it can be difficult to save the deal when you have limited resources and other priorities. Meanwhile, the competitor has already done the math and convinced the stakeholder group to switch.

To win big deals, you need to create distance between the customer and the incumbent vendor. I recommend taking a course on Sales Group University called “competitive displacement selling” for guidance on how to do this. Start by assessing the strength of the incumbent vendor and look for ways to highlight any issues or concerns.

Personalized service is a selling point for small companies, especially when competing against larger competitors. However, don’t take your customers for granted. There are always salespeople waiting for you to slip up. Stay in touch with your customers, even if it’s just once a month, to show them that you care. If you do make mistakes, apologize and be patient. It may take time to earn back their trust.

If you want to connect with a stakeholder and are struggling to capture their attention, there are a few steps you can take that will help you stand out. First, create a short video that explains how your skills or services can help them achieve their business goals.

You can upload the video directly to LinkedIn.

CEOs are primarily interested in making money, so be sure to emphasize how your approach can help them get from point A to point B.

Next, follow up with a handwritten letter to their office.

Reiterate the same points you made in the video in a letter format. Put the letter in an envelope, add postage, and send it. To make it more impactful, consider using an overnight mail service like FedEx.

This way, when the CEO receives the envelope and sees that it’s important, they are more likely to read it. Handwritten notes are affordable and effective, so it’s worth incorporating them into your outreach strategy.

Avoid sending LinkedIn messages too frequently, but give yourself a year to engage with this person, as relationship-building is a long-term effort. Keep trying until you receive a definitive “no.”

Remember, circumstances can change, and they may need your services in the future. If that happens, it would be a significant win for you and worth the effort.

Another thing to keep in mind is the importance of checking your message.

If you’re not getting any engagement despite sending lots of content, people may lose interest. To grab their attention, start by showing that you can relate to them. Instead of beginning with something like, “Hey, I want to talk to you because…”, try starting with something like, “I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be the CEO of a software company in today’s world, where it’s hard to find people who can code at a high level.”

This approach instantly captures their attention and shows that you’re thinking about their specific situation.

After you’ve established a connection, make a value bridge that connects the problem or issue to how you can help them. For instance, you could say something like, “Here’s what I do in this situation – I help companies with this. I don’t know whether or not I’m a fit for you, but wouldn’t it at least make sense for us to get together so I can ask a few questions and learn more about you to see if it makes sense for us to keep talking?”

Keep your goals in mind as you prioritize your outreach efforts. Identify a list of 10 to 25 dream accounts, which are your top priority prospects. Share this list with your team and start targeting them with a variety of tactics, such as monthly mailings. Adjust your plan every year as you learn what works and what doesn’t. It’s impossible to maintain the same level of intensity with every opportunity, so it’s essential to set priorities.

Consider incorporating other parts of the sequence, such as phone, voice, video, and written messages in addition to LinkedIn. Handwritten notes or in-person meetings can also be effective, especially if the people you’re reaching out to are local. In-person prospecting is making a comeback and people are generally receptive to it.

A Mastermind Group is a peer-to-peer mentoring group where individuals come together to help each other solve their problems and improve their lives or businesses. It is a powerful tool for personal and professional growth.

Sales Gravy Mastermind Groups are an excellent way to improve your sales skills, become a more effective leader, or solve problems. Our masterminds are facilitated by a Master Sales Trainer and include additional training resources to build on group discussions. You can learn more about Mastermind Groups and how they can help you reach your goals here.

Looking to go beyond a mastermind group and get one-to-one personalized coaching? Well, we have a free guide to help you identify the right coach for you. Download HERE

On this episode of the Sales Gravy podcast, Ulysses Price, filling in for Jeb Blount, interviews Chris Beall, CEO of ConnectAndSell. ConnectAndSell is a software service that helps salespeople initiate conversations with prospects. Beall explains how market dominance and the humble cold call are connected. His prospecting philosophy requires the salesperson to build trust and demonstrate curiosity, master the first few seconds of the conversation to create emotional buy-in, and avoid triggering psychological reactance. By breaking down the conversation and practicing each part in training, sales reps can improve their skills and conduct more successful sales conversations.

Cold calling is still one of the most effective ways of reaching potential customers, but it can be a daunting task for many salespeople, especially when you don’t know where to start.

To start a conversation, we need to gain someone’s trust. Without trust, they won’t listen to us, and we won’t get far. When we make a cold call, the person we’re speaking with only wants to end the conversation while keeping their self-image intact. If they didn’t care about their self-image, they would just hang up. So we have a small window of opportunity to gain their trust— just seven seconds.

In those seven seconds is to help the other party see that we see the world through their eyes. We call it tactical empathy. Secondly, we need to demonstrate to them that we’re competent in solving a problem they have right now. Their problem could be me, but I can always offer to go away in exchange for something.

You want them to listen to you, so you make that offer. For example, you might open the call with a statement like:

“I know I’m an interruption. Can I take 27 seconds to tell you why I called?”

By saying this, you’re self-indicting right at the beginning. That’s what the other party is already thinking about you. You beat them to the punch. As a seller, it’s essential to establish trust with your audience, especially in B2B sales. Eventually, they have to trust you more than they trust themselves and view you as the expert. This is why the first seven seconds are crucial in establishing trust with your audience. Do it wisely, and they will trust you forever, but try selling to them, and you’ll lose their trust in an instant.

Then comes the pitch:

“We’ve made a breakthrough that eliminates the waste and frustration that hinder your best sales reps from being effective on the phone. My call today is to request 15 minutes of your time to share this with you. Do you have your calendar handy?”

Sounds easy, right? But it’s not. The waste is economic, and the frustration is emotional. That’s because frustration triggers the part of our brain that causes us to lash out. Be careful not to trigger anger and instead, use a tone of voice that shows you understand what frustration means.

You want to connect with your listener on an emotional level and build trust. Remember, your voice is more important than your words. Use it skillfully to deliver emotional information and show that you truly get them, their needs, and their challenges and want to help solve them together.

There are two things that make a calibrated caller. First, they become very comfortable using a psychological framework, which I’ll call a script framework. They get good at it and become comfortable with it.

The framework consists of several steps: throwing yourself under the bus, making your voice playful, leading with curiosity instead of value, and insisting that the person take the meeting.

The reps are trained to lead with value, but the resonance comes from leading with curiosity to see if somebody is curious enough to take a meeting. Insisting that the person take the meeting requires a kind of confidence and belief in the value of the meeting, which isn’t equal across all reps. You need somebody who can do the whole thing, who can throw themselves under the bus, make their voice playful, go to curiosity, and insist they take the meeting.

A calibrated caller is somebody who has proven they can do all of that work in a cold call, which we call an ambush call, and they can do it in any topic or product area. They’re not dependent on the message, just a belief in the potential value of the meeting for the person they’re talking with.

Learning to cold call can be really challenging. Cold calling is associated with several issues. One of the problems is that until you can use your voice effectively under pressure, it can be problematic. People on the other end can detect insincerity and uncertainty in the same way that wolves can smell fear. Therefore, it’s essential to overcome this hurdle.

How can you do it? By practicing under pressure. Live calling is an excellent way to practice. It’s also important to keep the cycle time of practice in mind. Here are the four steps to learning how to make effective cold calls that convert.

The first stage is getting the opener right. This is where the seller needs to grab the prospect’s attention within the first few seconds of the call. Using a playful, curious tone encourages the prospect to want to hear more.

The second stage is getting the curiosity message out. This is where the seller needs to pique the prospect’s interest and make them curious about what the seller has to offer. Using a storytelling approach will help you to build a narrative that will engage the prospect and make them want to learn more.

The third stage is learning how to handle objections. As you well know, the best objection is the one you don’t get in the first place. Avoid objections by staying away from value-based statements that could make the prospect feel like they are not doing their job well. Instead, he suggests using a curiosity-based approach that focuses on the prospect’s needs and pain points.

The fourth stage is asking for the meeting and sticking to your guns. This is where the seller needs to be confident in the value of the meeting they are offering. They need to deeply believe that the meeting will provide potential value to the prospect, even if they never do business together. By sticking to their guns and asking for the meeting, the seller can build trust with the prospect and establish a relationship that could lead to future business opportunities.

This approach to cold calling focuses on building trust with the prospect and understanding their needs. By using a curiosity framework and deeply believing in the potential value of the meeting being offered, salespeople can master the art of cold calling and achieve great success in sales.

Mastering cold calling requires a well-thought-out approach that takes into account the prospect’s needs and unique challenges. According to Chris Beall, the purpose of a cold call is to establish trust with the prospect. This can be achieved by using a curiosity framework to build a narrative that will engage the prospect and make them want to learn more.

By following the four-stage process outlined by Beall, salespeople can master the art of cold calling and achieve great success in sales. The first stage is getting the opener right, followed by getting the curiosity message out, learning how to handle objections, and finally, asking for the meeting and sticking to your guns. By using a curiosity-based approach and deeply believing in the potential value of the meeting being offered, salespeople can build trust with their prospects and establish a relationship that could lead to future business opportunities.

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 in building and leading a successful sales team. Starting as the second employee of the company, she has been instrumental in its growth to a team of a thousand and counting. The organization offers inpatient substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, and a mental wellness application called Nobu. Walsh shares insights on the importance of trust, relationships, and professional development in nurturing and retaining sales talent, as well as the challenges and opportunities of pivoting to virtual selling during the pandemic.

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 leader, sales enablement professional, or training facilitator, you will want to tune in for their conversation about keeping learners engaged and using feedback to improve enablement initiatives.

As for salespeople, you’ll find out why it’s critical to continue advancing your skills and investing in yourself throughout your sales career.

As part of Sarah’s role, she is responsible for curating enablement for over 2000 individual contributing sales reps for Adobe, globally. She either finds or creates the information that their sales reps need to perform their jobs more effectively.

Adobe, like hundreds of other companies that we work with at Sales Gravy, invest in sales enablement and training for one simple reason— to increase sales, sellers need to continually increase their skillset.

Sales training and enablement isn’t just for new hires. Salespeople must not only master the basics and fundamentals of selling, but in order to see continued success and growth, it is crucial that they advance their skills— long after the onboarding process has concluded.

One of the frustrations that sales enablement leaders face is hearing dissent from salespeople who think they know everything and don’t need to learn more.

This way of thinking is dangerous. Sales as a profession is changing constantly, especially with the never-ending advances in technology.

To make your number and stay ahead, you need to be adept with these new technologies and always be looking for opportunities to expand your knowledge when it comes to your product, your competition, and the selling tools at your disposal.

You might be instructed or advised to join a team-wide training session or read a book as part of a team book club. And you might think, “There’s nothing new here.”

The truth is, this cynicism is holding you back. Almost everything we learn, everything that’s presented to us, someone has already thought of.

The important part of taking in information, even if it’s something you knew already, is the chance to reconfigure your thinking. In sales, we apply the fundamental basics of how we interact with people, from soft skills to how we develop our products, to different contexts and circumstances.

Products, services, and software change, and we must learn to navigate those changes out of necessity. In training, you might learn a concept or hear a practical piece of advice you’ve heard before, but you can get a new perspective on existing knowledge because it’s presented or applied in a different context.

Learning is never wasted.

Your company likely provides training opportunities, so it’s wise to take advantage of them.

Workshops, even virtual ones, are delivered in a live format and watching a recording won’t provide the same benefit. Attending training sessions live or in person allows you to learn from your coworkers, share ideas, and expand your way of thinking.

Investing in your education and training is important, because it makes a difference. At Sales Gravy University, we have 30,000 users, most of whom work for small companies that typically don’t have a significant training budget.

These users are paying their way to get educated because they believe in the value of training.

If you work for a larger company that pays for training, it’s already provided for you.

It’s free, so why not take it?

Even when you’re looking for a new job and a potential employer asks, “What have you done to advance your career?” answering “nothing” because you haven’t taken advantage of available training opportunities seems like a waste of time and effort for everyone, especially in sales.

If you’re not improving, you’re wasting your time and effort. Passing on the opportunity to take company-provided training is self-destructive. So why not make the effort to improve yourself and your own personal bottom line?

Investing in yourself is crucial because sales skills, especially soft skills, can deteriorate over time. Selling involves doing discovery, interacting with people, asking questions, dealing with rejection, handling objections, sales strategy, and adapting to change, all of which are perishable skills.

Bad habits can develop, and even subtle changes can have an impact. Most sales training is designed to help you get back to the basics. If you work for a company like Adobe, where innovation and software changes happen frequently, knowing their products inside and out is essential.

To effectively engage with your customers, you must be able to ask meaningful questions, understand what matters to them, and demonstrate how your solution aligns with their desired outcomes. Without knowledge of the product, your learning and expertise will be useless.

Even if you have a deep understanding of the product, if you are unable to communicate its value to others, your knowledge will be wasted. It’s essential to know how to effectively communicate the information to others, as that is ultimately your job.

It’s the responsibility of sales leaders, trainers, and enablement professionals to help salespeople build and maintain an open mindset towards continuing their learning.

One of the best ways to approach this, especially for individuals who are particularly hesitant or even resistant to attending or participating in training, is by giving them options. Not everyone is going to have a naturally instilled drive to take every opportunity to learn something new and expand their skills.

Truly meeting learners where they are means giving them the information in a modality that is most conducive to their preferred learning style, whether it’s through a podcast, a book, or in-person training.

At scale, this could mean implementing a system where learners can subscribe to a class of their choosing, enroll, and stack and blend training in different ways. No matter how they want to consume the training, there’s something for everyone.

To keep learners engaged in the classroom, they need to receive the kind of training and facilitation that works best for them. The only way to know what is working for some people and not working for others, is by asking for feedback.

You or your organization may already do this in the form of surveys and assessments. These are a couple of examples of feedback in practice. However, this might prompt mostly negative reactions and comments that aren’t necessarily productive.

If people don’t tell you what’s working for them, you won’t know. Instead of fielding complaints about why your salespeople “hate” being in training, studying materials, or taking assigned courses, ask them what they want to see more of. Ask learners what they like, or what their preferences are.

Perhaps the content is rich, but too overwhelming and they would like shorter, video-based content because they learn better visually.

Or for some learners, a workshop session would be more helpful for a chance to role play or ask questions in real time.

Take this feedback with a grain of salt, but by opening the door to feedback, you will discover whether you’re meeting your audience’s learning preferences, and if not— how to get there.

The innovative Sales Gravy University sales training platform gives on the go individuals and entire teams easy, affordable access to the world’s top sales trainers in both live and on-demand courses. Now you can learn how to win in sales anywhere, anytime, and on any device. 

On this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount sits down with Robin Hills, a business psychologist and expert in emotional intelligence from the UK.

Emotional intelligence is a concept that Daniel Goleman launched and popularized approximately 30 years ago.

Robin began his career in sales in the 1980s and has been selling consistently ever since. Although he no longer holds the title of salesperson, he proudly wore that badge for well over a quarter of a century.

Today, Robin’s company Ei4Change (Emotional Intelligence 4 Change) coaches and trains individuals and organizations on emotional intelligence, positive psychology, and neuroscience in the workplace.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to combine your thinking with your feelings in order to build high-quality relationships and make authentic decisions. While it is a simple concept, it can be difficult to execute, particularly in situations with intense emotions or pressure.

Relationships and decision-making play a crucial role in this process. It is essential to have high-quality relationships with people you can turn to and say, “Hey, I’m having a bad day. Can we talk about something other than work? Or do something together that can take my mind off things and help me get back to it tomorrow?” This allows you to step away from the situation and take a break.

Salespeople, in general, are mentally resilient and must demonstrate high levels of emotional intelligence in order to be effective.

Field-based salespeople, who may not work in an office, often need to motivate themselves and have an inner drive to sell to their clients.

Salespeople handle a lot from customers and clients, and have good and bad days like everyone else. Emotional intelligence in sales involves understanding and managing your own emotions to influence the emotions of others.

Emotions are a natural reaction to our environment, and we cannot control their occurrence. However, we can choose how we respond to them.

Emotions prepare our body mentally and physically for events, and the intensity of emotions compounds with each event. At a certain point, emotions can become so intense that making a simple, effective choice becomes difficult.

Experiencing fear, for example, is not something that we can control or prevent.

In such moments, we are faced with a choice: do we react irrationally to our fear and potentially put ourselves in danger, or do we use the presence of our emotions as information to assist us in productive, clear decision-making?

We can choose to become immobilized, paralyzed, or act out in self-destructive ways. and we can choose to handle our emotions, turn them into something constructive, and create positive outcomes.

This is where mental resilience comes into play. When under pressure and stress, mental resilience — the ability to go from setback to comeback — becomes essential.

Having the right relationships and support network is crucial, especially in sales when you are faced with difficult emotions like rejection, fear, and stress every day. When you need help, don’t hesitate to turn to your network for support.

It’s also important to establish a relationship of trust with your manager during good times, so that you can have a discussion about handling challenges when necessary.

In general, opening up to someone about a problem you are dealing with can be helpful. You may have heard the oft-quoted saying, “A problem shared is a problem halved.”

Consider talking to your spouse, friends, or colleagues at work. Who in your network can provide support for you when you need it? Who can you provide support to in return?

Having a support group of people to talk to is a great idea. It gives you a much needed space to have cathartic conversations because sometimes, it’s crucial to vent and express frustrations.

Unfortunately, it’s easy for these groups to turn into complaining sessions rather than support groups. Complaining is like misery’s mating call. The more you complain, the more negative you become, and misery loves company.

This is especially true on sales floors, where people can start to believe that all buyers are liars, leading to poor decisions in the sales process and more misery.

When bad things happen, it’s important to talk about it and not hold onto it. However, it’s equally important to have constructive conversations about what happened and what the next steps should be. Know when to draw the line and redirect the conversation towards something positive.

This is why you should turn to the people in your support network who can help you make good decisions, such as your manager who can remind you of your strengths as a salesperson.

Don’t allow cynicism to destroy your faith in the systems and processes that, statistically speaking, will result in more wins than losses if executed consistently.

We should view our emotions as something to be handled intelligently in order to build quality relationships and make authentic decisions.

If you have a bad sales day, have coping mechanisms and practice in place to help rebuild your confidence so that you can make the next sale effectively.

Remember that you wouldn’t have the job if you weren’t good at what you do.

Reflect on what made you successful and identify how you can replicate that success. These are questions that only you can answer, but you can also seek support from people who can offer you the right guidance and encouragement.

When faced with a problem, our internal voice can start chattering away, often negatively, which can have a massive impact on our ability to stage a comeback.

Affirmations may seem metaphysical to some people, but the important thing is to interrupt negative self-talk.

Sometimes, you just have to accept that there will be times when you need to take a break. There may be nothing anyone can do or say. You just have to make the decision that enough is enough and get away from the situation.

Other times, you may need to force yourself to keep going because you need to prove to yourself that you can do it and you’re strong enough to deal with the circumstances.

In sales conversations and situations, the person who exerts the most emotional resilience usually has the highest probability of achieving their desired outcome.

A breakdown in emotional resilience when things go wrong, or when you perceive that they are going wrong, can seriously impact your ability to make an income.

Sometimes, when you are stuck in a negative headspace, it can help to say something nice to somebody. You have to change the words that you are saying and hearing in order to fix the little messages you are telling yourself internally.

If you don’t manage that internal message, the words you say to yourself could be your worst enemy. They can break down your resilience and tear it apart more than anything else.

Replacing your negative inputs with positive outputs can help you disrupt any spiraling and get you back on track, using your emotions in a constructive way.

Jeb Blount’s bestselling book Sales EQ: How Ultra High Performers Leverage Sales-Specific Emotional Intelligence to Close the Complex Deal helps guide salespeople through the many hurdles that many struggle with in building authentic relationships with prospects. Download our free Sales EQ Book Club Guide HERE.