Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

One of the most effective points in the sales process to leverage video sales calls and virtual selling skills is the initial meeting. The initial meeting is first step in the sales process. It is the appointment you (or your sales development rep) set during outbound prospecting or from an inbound lead.

The objective of the initial sales meeting (often the first step in the discovery process) is three-fold:

An effective initial meeting should be about 30 minutes in length and no more than sixty. Your primary goal is to close for the next meeting (based on the complexity and length of your sales cycle).

In situations where the opportunity is not a good fit, poorly qualified, or the timing is wrong, you’ll want to walk away.

Sometimes the stakeholders will not have enough interest to move forward and won’t set the next meeting with you.

I disqualify between 30% and 50% of prospects on initial meetings and never move forward with the next step.

For example: If you conduct ten initial meetings over the course of a week, about half will advance to the next step. Depending on your closing ratio, 1-2 of those will move on to closed/won.

Of course, some delusional salespeople throw proposals at every prospect, regardless of qualification. This is a terrible drain on productivity and a waste of resources.

A good field rep can handle no more than ten face to face, initial meetings per week and still have time for other important sales activities such as prospecting, discovery calls, follow-ups, and presentations.

Most reps never even get close to ten a week. There just isn’t enough time in the day to do more. Driving to initial meetings, and other sales calls eats up the day.

But, that all changes when sales reps cut out the windshield time and shift initial meetings from in-person to video.

There are four benefits to shifting initial meetings to video sales calls:

For many field salespeople, the idea of conducting initial meetings via video, rather than in-person, seems un-imaginable. There is no doubt that in-person communication is more effective.

However, the efficiency you gain by shifting initial meetings to video sales calls more than makes up for not being there face to face. You’ll be able to conduct far more initial meetings, resulting in a bigger pipeline, and more sales.

The good news is video sales calls, are the closest facsimile to being there in person. Done well, they open the door to deeper relationships, understanding, emotional connections and trust.

In modern sales, speed matters. Blending virtual selling into your sales process makes you more agile. This allows you to move faster, become more productive, and shorten the sales cycle.

Learn more about virtual selling and improve your virtual sales skills with Jeb Blount’s blockbuster bestseller: Virtual Selling: A Quick-Start Guide to Leveraging Video, Technology, and Virtual Communication Channels to Engage Remote Buyers and Close Deals Fast

On part five of this Sales Gravy podcast series on sleep and sales performance, Jeb Blount (author of Sales EQ) and Jeff Kahn (CEO of Rise Science) discuss how sleep can help you deliver better sales presentations. You’ll learn the same technique that Jeff uses to help athletes lock in practice, improve memory, and reach peak performance.

On part four of this Sales Gravy podcast series on sleep and sales performance, Jeb Blount (author of Sales EQ) and Jeff Kahn (CEO of Rise Science) discuss the two laws of sleep.

Jeb and Jeff explore:

In part three of this Sales Gravy podcast series, Jeb Blount (author of Sales EQ) and Jeff Kahn (CEO of Rise Science) discuss the bad things that happen to you when you don’t get enough sleep, and how sleep impacts sales performance.

Scientists have been studying sleep and health for over 100 years. They have proven that without enough sleep your health, motivation, passion, and cognitive abilities deteriorate. The good news is you can instantly feel and perform better by simply getting enough sleep.

On part two of this Sales Gravy podcast series on sleep and sales performance, Jeb Blount (author of Sales EQ) and Jeff Kahn (CEO of Rise Science) discuss the impact of sleep on emotional intelligence and positive mindset.

You will be surprised to learn that the lack of sleep makes it more difficult:

Jeff says that walking into a sales meeting without enough sleep is the same as going in drunk.

You’ll learn that the sleep you get tonight is the beginning of your performance tomorrow.

On part one of this Sales Gravy podcast series on sleep and sales performance, Jeb Blount (author of Sales EQ) and Jeff Kahn (CEO of Rise Science) discuss how sleep impacts sales performance.

In every sales conversation, the person who exerts the greatest emotional control has the highest probability of gaining the outcome they desire.

On this bonus Selling in a Crisis Daily Sales Briefing, Jeb Blount and and Jeffrey Gitomer discuss what you should be doing now to get ahead of the curve and read for recovery on the other side of the coronavirus shutdown.

On this episode of the Sales Gravy podcast, Jeb Blount discusses entrepreneurship, self-reliance and why sales professionals need to view themselves as entrepreneurs with Duct Tape Marketing’s John Jantsch, the author of the new book, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur.

On this Selling in a Crisis Daily Sales Briefing, Jeb Blount discusses what salespeople need to be doing now to prepare to accelerate once the recovery begins.