Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

During a practice round at a major golf tournament recently, one of the players hit an exceptionally beautiful shot. A fan in the gallery exclaimed, "Man, I wish I could hit a shot like that!" The player walked over to the fan and said, tongue-in-cheek, "No, you don't."

The fan looked confused. "What do you mean?"

The player replied, "You don't want to hit a shot like that because that means hitting a thousand balls a day, every day, for the next 20 years. That's what it takes to hit a shot like that."

And that's true for pretty much everything you want to accomplish life—whether it's playing golf, the piano, selling, investing, or mastering AI. If you want to be elite, you have to do a lot of repetitions of the same thing to reach the top. 

Adopt The Mamba Mentality

You've got to practice constantly. And this is what a lot of people miss. See, the truth is you can have anything in life you want—pretty much within reason—as long as you're willing to do the boring work.

You know what separates Warren Buffett, the greatest investor of our generation, from other investors? He's read over 100,000 financial statements in his lifetime. Think about that. 100,000 financial statements. That's not exciting work. That's not sexy. It is sitting alone, poring over numbers, analyzing balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, day after day, year after year, decade after decade. But that boring work made him one of the richest people on the planet.

Or look at Kobe Bryant. Kobe was famous for his "Mamba Mentality" which meant showing up at 4 AM to practice, hours before his teammates. It meant shooting thousands of the same shots over and over. His trainer once said Kobe would practice one simple move 700-800 times in a single session. Not 10 times, not 50 times. 700-800 times. The same move, over and over and over again. That's the boring work that made him a legend.

Going out to the driving range and hitting a thousand balls with your seven iron is one of the most boring things you can possibly do. Crap, hitting 50 balls with your seven iron is boring. But that's what separates the top performers from the low performers—they're willing to do the boring things.

Top Performers are Always Working at It

In sales, top performers are constantly studying. I meet them all the time. They show up in my seminars, read my books and listen to my podcasts. They’re taking courses on Sales Gravy University. They invest in learning and practicing every single day. 

When we run role plays, they jump right in. They recognize that, yeah, that's boring work. But you've got to do the boring things, the repetitive things, to get what you want. 

Be Careful What You Wish For

So the questions you have to ask yourself when you make that wish for what you want or set a goal is:

How bad do you want it?

Are you willing to do the work? 

Are you willing to make the sacrifice? 

Are you willing to grind day in and day out? 

Are you willing to do all of boring reps that nobody ever sees in order to reach the very top? 

Success is Paid for In Advance With Boring Work

You can accomplish anything once you accept that the price for success is paid for in advance. The price of admission to the elite levels of any profession is doing the boring work that most people aren't willing to do. Let me give you an example from my own life.

Years ago, when I was starting out in my sales career, I made a commitment to make 100 cold calls every single day no matter what. Rain or shine. Good mood or bad mood. Whether I felt like it or not. You know first hand that cold calling is not exciting work. It's tedious, repetitive, and rejection dense. Honestly, most people—including my boss—thought I was nuts. 

But those 100 calls a day allowed me to out perform and out earn all of my peers. It made me the top sales rep in my fortune 200 company. It bought houses, made me wealthy, and eventually gave me the platform to write books, speak on stages and build Sales Gravy.

The Michelangelo Principle 

I like to think about it as the Michelangelo Principle. You know the story—someone once asked Michelangelo how he created his masterpiece David from a block of marble. And he replied, "I just chipped away everything that didn't look like David."

Excellence works the same way. You chip away at your limitations through practice and repetition. Every cold call you make chips away at your fear of rejection. Every role play you participate in chips away at your awkwardness around handling objections. Every book you read chips away at your ignorance about your industry or your craft.

The Invisible Work Nobody Every Sees

It's not glamorous. Nobody's going to film you making your hundredth cold call of the week and post it on social media. Nobody's going to celebrate you for doing pre-call planning on a Sunday evening. You are not going to give you a standing ovation for waking up an hour early to invest in professional development before work.

This is the invisible work that no one ever sees. The small, seemingly insignificant actions, performed consistently over time, yield massive results. This is the Law of Cumulative Impact.

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 28 medals, trained for 5 straight years without missing a single day—even on Christmas, even on his birthdays. His coach said that by training 365 days a year, Phelps gained a 52-day advantage over competitors who took Sundays off. Those single days compounded into the most dominant swimming career in history.

The problem is, most people quit before the compound effect kicks in. They do the boring work for a week, maybe a month, don't see immediate results, and give up. They never experience the exponential growth that comes from consistent, boring effort applied over years.

Embrace Discomfort

Look at Tom Brady. For 23 seasons, he was typically the first player to arrive at the facility and the last to leave. At 44 years old, he was still doing the same boring drills he did as a rookie. 

His former teammate once said that Brady would spend hours studying game film that most quarterbacks would skip over. While other players were enjoying their off-seasons, Brady was working with his receivers on timing routes. While they were taking vacation, he was perfecting his footwork. That commitment to uncomfortable, boring work is why he has seven Super Bowl rings.

But that discomfort? That's where growth happens. It's like working out. If you've ever done any serious physical training, you know that muscle growth happens when you push past comfort. When your muscles burn, when you feel like you can't do one more rep—that's precisely when you need to do one more.

Sales excellence works the same way. When you're tired of practicing your pitch, do it five more times. When you're dreading making another cold call, make ten more. When you think you think you've prepared enough, do more.

Get into the habit of Eating the Frog. "Do the thing you least want to do first thing in the morning." That thing you're avoiding is exactly what you need to do to move your career and income forward.

Tedious Discipline is Your Competitive Edge

Recently I was working with a sales team.There was this one rep, Mike. He was middle of the pack—not terrible, but not stellar either.

During our training, I emphasized the importance of research and reading to develop industry knowledge. Most of the team nodded along, but Mike took it to heart. He committed to spending 15 minutes each morning specifically to gain a better understanding of his industry and grow his business acumen. 

Six months later, I got an email from Mike's sales manager. Mike was now the top performer on the team. His close rate had doubled. His average deal size had increased by 40%. All from a simple, boring discipline of spending 15 minutes learning about his industry. .

When I called Mike to congratulate him, he made a confession. He said, "Jeb, to be honest, I hated doing the research at first. It was boring and felt like a waste of time. But after about two months, I started noticing patterns and understanding my customers better. Discovery calls went deeper. I saw opportunities to help them that I would have missed before. My customers gave me a seat at the table because they viewed me as an expert."

That's how the boring work transforms. What starts as tedious discipline eventually becomes your competitive edge.

There is No Such Thing as Natural Talent

Before going any further, let's address the myth of natural talent. I hear it all the time: "Oh, she's just a natural salesperson." "He is a born closer." It’s pure BS. I've coached plenty of "naturals" who failed because they relied on charm instead of working to master the craft. 

True sales excellence isn't about what you were born with—it's about process and skills. And skills are built through the discipline to do the boring, repetitive work.

Take Jerry Rice, widely considered the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. Was he the most naturally gifted athlete? No. He wasn't the fastest, strongest or the tallest. But his work ethic was legendary.

His off-season hill training program was so grueling that teammates who tried to join him would literally vomit. He would run the same routes thousands of times until they were perfect. He would catch hundreds of balls after practice when everyone else had gone home.

That's not natural talent—that's an unnatural commitment to doing the boring work. The truth is that repetition is the mother of skill. 

Greatness Has a Price

Before the Beatles became famous, they played over 1,200 live shows in Hamburg, Germany. They would play eight hours a night, seven days a week. That's over 10,000 hours of practice in just a few years. That's what made them the Beatles—not just natural musical ability,

Here's the brutal truth: Self-awareness is the ultimate sales skill.

We obsess over skills like closing techniques, objection handling, and prospecting cadence. But self-awareness is the real make-or-break. Self-awareness is the lever that separates ethical, high-performance sellers from out-of-touch order takers.

If you’re not self-aware, you’re leaving money on the table and damaging trust.

Sales Without Self-Awareness is a Wrecking Ball

Let’s get honest. Lack of self-awareness is a deal-killer. It’s what causes reps to:

Over-talk and under-listen

Project their objections onto the buyer

Miss subtle cues because they’re too focused on a static script

Push when they should pause

This isn’t just a skill gap—it’s a blind spot. When you don’t know how best to connect with your prospect because you’re not listening—that’s a dangerous place to sell from.

Self-awareness is your internal compass. Without it, you can’t navigate objections, establish trust, or conduct a real discovery conversation. You can’t be Here's the brutal truth: Self-awareness is the ultimate sales skill.

We obsess over skills like closing techniques, objection handling, and prospecting cadence. But self-awareness is the real make-or-break. Self-awareness is the lever that separates ethical, high-performance sellers from out-of-touch order takers.

If you’re not self-aware, you’re leaving money on the table and damaging trust.

The Ego Trap: Overconfidence Kills Awareness

It might seem counterintuitive, but your biggest blind spot in sales might be your own ego.

Close a few deals, and suddenly you stop prepping, shortcut discovery, and assume you know the buyer. That’s when self-awareness can tank.

Confidence is good until it turns into arrogance. When you stop reflecting, stop asking questions, and stop listening, you lose your edge. Sales is a what ’s-happening-today game. Yesterday’s win doesn’t guarantee today’s deal.

Top sellers stay humble enough to ask:

 “Did I connect, or just perform?”

 “Am I guiding, or just trying to sound impressive?”

“Does my solution fit their problem, or am I just trying to land a quick deal?”

The most crucial part of self-awareness? Checking your mindset—and your overconfidence—before it derails a lucrative deal.

Ego says you’ve got it handled. Self-awareness asks if that’s really true.

Only one of those gets you to President's Club.

The Two Lanes of Emotionally Intelligent Awareness

Awareness in sales isn’t just about having “emotional intelligence” and keeping arrogance in check. It’s about two critical lanes:

1. Seller Self-Awareness

You must know how your tone, presence, and mindset affect the buyer. That means recognizing when:

You’re chasing approval instead of guiding decisions

You’re hesitating out of fear of rejection

You’re overexplaining because you're insecure

You're emotionally reacting instead of staying neutral

Top sellers audit themselves for these moments constantly. They ask: 

"Was I too defensive there?"

 "Did I listen or just wait to talk?" 

"Am I showing up with certainty or neediness?"

A self-inventory is no picnic. But this self-audit allows the elite to stay composed, curious, and in control—especially when things get tense.

2. Buyer’s State Awareness

A self-aware seller is tuned in. They're not just listening to what is said, but why it’s being said, and what isn’t being said at all.

Consultative selling is all about sensing, so it’s:

Knowing when a buyer’s guard is up

Being alert to when they’re overwhelmed

Learning when they’re intrigued but afraid to say yes

Watching the micro-expressions

Noticing the shift in tone

The best lead by aligning with the buyer’s state. By understanding the buyer’s motivations, emotional triggers, and decision-making pace, self-aware sellers engage in deal-making, not manipulation. 

Self-Awareness Might Be New to You

So there’s no doubt self-awareness nets meetings and closes deals. But here’s the problem: Most sellers have never been coached to insightfully reflect. 

They’re trained on scripts, not self-regulation. They’re told to “just make the calls,” but not how to manage the emotions that come with rejection, hesitation, or being ghosted.

It’s easy to understand the challenges. Not everyone is naturally wired to be self-reflective. Many think confidence means speaking first, talking fast, and sounding “impressive.” But what buyers respond to—what makes real deals happen—is slowing down, paying attention, and showing up with awareness instead of ego.

Want to change? Practice more, seek more feedback, and become coachable. Spend time reflecting on past sales and buyer needs. Most importantly, listen—to buyers, mentors, and yourself.

How to Build Awareness (Because It’s Not Optional Anymore)

If you want to become more self-aware in sales, start with these actionable items:

Record Your Calls – Listen back not to critique performance, but to observe how you show up. Were you tense? Rushed? Defensive? Detached?

Ask for Feedback Often – From your coach, your peers, even your buyers. How do people feel when they interact with you?

Track Emotional Triggers – What rattles you in a sales conversation? Is it a certain objection? A tone of voice? A personality type?

Practice Presence – Before each call, take 60 seconds to breathe and ground yourself. Think: Where are my feet? What am I doing right now? How can I be more present for my buyer?

Rainmakers are Masters of Self

The best sellers aren’t just good at tactics. They’re masters of self. They can read the room, check their own ego, and adapt in real time, because they’re paying attention to what actually matters. They’re watching their buyer, keying into clues about their mindset, and putting the prospect’s needs first.

If you want to become a consultative, trusted advisor—and sell with ethics, excellence, and compassion—start by turning inward. That’s where the real work begins.

And the best part? Self-awareness is a skill. That means it’s trainable. It simply demands intention.

So look honestly into the mirror and start turning your self-awareness blind spot into an asset.

Ready to double-down on your self-awareness and set a goal to become a more consultative seller? Download our FREE Sales Gravy Goal Planning Guide here.

If you're doing any kind of cold calling or prospecting, you'll eventually hear this objection: "I'm in a meeting right now." Paul Wise, a heavy cold caller from Normandy, France, targets product managers at software companies and says that nine times out of ten when he gets a decision-maker on the phone, they claim to be "in a meeting."

Three Ways to Handle the "I'm in a Meeting" Prospecting Objection

As I explained to Paul, how you respond in that moment can make or break your opportunity to move forward.

First, let's acknowledge something important: If someone is genuinely in the middle of an important meeting, they typically don't answer calls from unknown numbers. The fact that they picked up your call suggests they might not be as unavailable as they claim.

That said, they might be between meetings, heading into a meeting, or simply using this as a brush-off technique. Regardless of their true situation, you need an objection handling strategy.

Based on my conversation with Paul, here are three effective approaches to handle this common situation:

Approach #1: The Quick Pitch Strategy

This is what Paul has been doing: When he gets someone on the phone who says they're in a meeting, he delivers his DMX (Decision Maker Express) pitch as quickly as possible, then tries to secure a meeting.

Paul mentioned this sometimes works for him. He gets the meeting scheduled, then works hard to ensure they show up by engaging with them on LinkedIn, sending follow-up emails, and basically "surrounding" them with touch points.

The upside: You've got them on the line, so why not take your shot? The downside: Rushing through your pitch can make you sound desperate and reduce your effectiveness.

When to use it: If you have a high-energy personality and can deliver a compelling, concise pitch without sounding rushed, this approach can work. It's especially effective if you have a solid follow-up strategy to ensure they show up to the meeting.

Approach #2: The Acknowledge and Pivot Strategy

Instead of trying to pitch someone who's claimed to be busy, simply acknowledge their situation and pivot directly to scheduling:

"I totally expected you to be in a meeting and not able to talk. That's exactly why I called—to find a time that's more convenient for you. Why don't I send you a meeting invite for Thursday at 2:00, and then we can get together when you do have time to talk?"

This approach demonstrates respect for their time while simultaneously accomplishing your objective of setting an appointment.

What happens next reveals a lot:

If they agree to the meeting, you've accomplished your goal without the rushed pitch.

If they ask, "Who are you again?" they're actually signaling they have more time than they initially let on.

If they say they're not available Thursday, they're engaging in a scheduling conversation—which means they're interested enough to find an alternative time.

When to use it: This works particularly well when you sense the prospect is genuinely busy, but they might be interested with the right approach. It's respectful, professional, and surprisingly effective.

Approach #3: The Non-Complementary Behavior Strategy

This is my personal favorite because it uses psychology to your advantage.

When the prospect answers with high energy, saying they're busy or in a meeting, don't match their energy. Instead, deliberately slow down and use a calm, relaxed tone:

"Totally get that. I figured you would be busy. Look, I only have two questions."

Then—and this is critical—be quiet. Let the silence do the work.

If they truly have no time, they'll hang up. But most won't. Instead, they'll likely say something like, "Okay, but go fast."

Now you need to ask a question that gets them engaged—something they can easily answer that reveals qualification information:

"How many data points are you connected to in your current configuration?"

The magic happens in what follows:

If they answer quickly and try to end the call, say: "That's exactly why we need to get together. Let me send you a meeting invite for Thursday at 2:00."

If they slow down and give you detailed information, you've got them talking. Ask another question and build momentum.

The key to this approach is using non-complementary behavior—when they speed up, you slow down. This pattern interrupt makes you stand out from every other salesperson they've encountered.

When to use it: This approach works best when you sense the prospect isn't actually as busy as they claim, but is using "I'm in a meeting" as a reflexive defense mechanism.

Reading the Situation Matters

Regardless of which approach you choose, pay close attention to how they respond to your first question:

If they answer slowly and thoughtfully, they likely have more time than they initially claimed

If they're genuinely rushing, respect that and pivot to scheduling

If they hang up immediately, you've lost nothing—they weren't going to talk anyway

The best strategy depends on several factors:

Your personal style: Paul has a high-energy, engaging personality that makes the quick pitch approach viable for him. Know your strengths.

Your results: As I told Paul, if what you're doing is working, keep doing it. If your show rate for meetings is poor, try a different approach.

The prospect's tone: Listen carefully to how they say "I'm in a meeting." Sometimes their tone will tell you which approach is most likely to succeed.

Test and measure: Try all three approaches with different prospects and track your results. The data will tell you which method works best for your specific situation.

How you handle this moment separates average salespeople from top performers. The best reps have multiple strategies ready and know when to deploy each one.

Remember, in sales, objections aren't roadblocks—they're detours that lead to the same destination. Master these three approaches to the "I'm in a meeting" objection, and you'll turn what most salespeople see as a dead end into a pathway to more meetings and more deals.

Want more sales tips and strategies for overcoming prospecting objections? Download Jeb Blount's FREE Objections Book Club Guide

Self-talk, what you say to yourself internally, manifests itself in your outward attitude and actions. As any elite athlete will tell you, the mental games you play with yourself between your ears will make or break you. When all things are equal, mindset is one thing that separates winners and losers.

This is one of the reasons that I love golf so much. Once you understand the basic mechanics of the golf swing the only thing that really matters is mindset. On every shot your ability to focus, calm your mind, and remain mentally disciplined is the thin line between brilliance and disaster. Allow the wrong thoughts to creep in and before you know it you’ve shanked your shot into a water hazard. 

You Become What You Think

In golf and in sales, you cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought. 

Self-talk is crazy powerful. You become what you think. When you expect to win, you’ll win far more often than the person who believes they are going to lose. When you learn how to block out negative thoughts and inputs and remain focused on your process you’ll consistently out perform those who don’t. 

Understanding this is crucial in these crazy times full of volatility, uncertainty, negativity and divisiveness. In this environment where everything can hit the fan in an instant on any given day, it is super easy to become mired in stinking thinking. 

Beware of Stinking Thinking

Stinking thinking is the toxic inner soundtrack that loops in your head after a bad conversation with your boss, seeing a negative story on the news or social media, a lost deal, a bad quarter, or hitting five straight voicemails on cold calls. It’s every “Nobody answers the phone anymore,” “No one’s buying in this economy,” or “I’m just not cut out for sales.”line you feed yourself. It’s catastrophizing. It’s victim-talk.

Imagine the impact on your mindset when your internal conversation is constantly filled with negativity. It’s the mental equivalent of leaving a half-eaten tuna sandwich in your backpack for a week—eventually the smell becomes unbearable.

Mindset drives attitude, attitude drives behavior, and behavior drives outcomes. When stinking thinking settles in:

Your Reticular Activating System—the brain’s spam filter—starts looking for evidence you’re doomed, and sure enough, you find it.

Call reluctance skyrockets. You protect your fragile ego instead of filling the pipe and asking confidently for the sale.

Every “maybe” sounds like a “no,” every objection feels personal, and every tiny setback reinforces the lie that you’re stuck.

Left unchecked, that negative monologue becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your pipeline shrinks, numbers dip, confidence tanks, and pretty soon you’re blaming the market instead of owning the mirror.

Thoughts are Just Choices

The good news is that thoughts are just choices. You control your mindset. You have the ability to flip the switch from victim to driver. From rain barrel to rainmaker. 

What you must never forget is that momentum follows mindset, not the other way around. Manage your self-talk and the results follow suit. 

When your self-talk turns negative, take control and change it. Learn to replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations and statements. Get in the habit of looking in the mirror and answering the question: “What can I control right now?” Focus on that. 

Knowing vs Doing

Now, here’s the rub, everybody knows self-talk matters. Socrates hammered on it. Marcus Aurelius journaled about it. Your grandmother probably told you to “stop being so negative.” The concept of mental discipline isn’t new, it’s universal.

But intellectual agreement and day-to-day execution are two very different zip codes. You can post quotes from every Stoic on LinkedIn and still spend the morning telling yourself, “I’ll never hit quota in this economy.” Knowledge without application is just trivia.

So flip the switch from knowing to doing. The instant a negative phrase spins in your head—“This deal is DOA,” “The client hates our price,” “I’m terrible at cold calls”—pause and label it: stinking thinking. Then replace that rotten thinking with a power statement tied to action. “I’m terrible with cold calls.” becomes “Each dial sharpens my skills and makes me stronger.”

Be ruthless about this exercise. Set an hourly chime on your phone if you have to. Negative thoughts are squatters; the longer they occupy space, the harder they are to evict. Kick them out in real time and your attitude will gain altitude.

The Trouble With Doom Scrolling 

One of the challenges you face in today’s environment is that you’re under a constant barrage of negativity from external forces on social media, in your news feed, on coming through the speakers of your car. When you are reading, watching, listening to, and scrolling through negativity it will shape your mindset and self-talk

Attention is currency. News organizations and social media platforms make money by selling your attention to advertisers. They know that the easiest way to grab your attention is with bad news. Their entire apparatus is set up to take advantage of the way your brain works. 

In the mornings you wake up and, like a moth to a flame, you are drawn to your phone. You roll over and open your news app or social media app. Instantly you are immersed in negativity. As you watch news, scroll through your news apps, and follow the chatter on social media you feel panic and fear. Your mind turns to the worst-case scenarios. Rather than focusing on what you can control, you dwell on doom and gloom.  

Perhaps the most depressing aspect of modern society is the news. Disaster is always the story of the day. As they say: “If it bleeds it leads.” Spending an hour watching a cable news channel or scrolling through a social media feed will leave you in need of an antidepressant and a therapist. And the more you watch, the more addictive it becomes. 

So stop. Turn it off. Put your phone down. Right now. Putting an end to this destructive and negative input will have an immediate, positive impact on your attitude. You will feel better and your belief system will strengthen.

8 Ways to Improve Your Mindset Right Now

Focus on what you can control. Here are eight things you can do right now to mind your mindset. 

Block at least 15 minutes on your calendar every day for professional reading.

Listen to an audiobook while you take a walk or exercise. 

Take an online course on Sales Gravy University.

Listen to motivational and professional podcasts. Podcasts are free and the content is amazing. 

Spend 10 minutes each day in silence for spiritual contemplation or prayer. Get focused and anchor your mindset.

Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes every day. It doesn’t matter what you do. Just get up, get moving, and break a sweat.

Eat a well-balanced diet and never skip breakfast.

Go to bed early and get enough sleep.

Posture is a Shortcut to Mindset

One of the fastest attitude-adjustment hacks on the planet sits right on top of your spine. Stand up and roll those shoulders back. Plant your feet like you own the ground beneath them. Lift your chin so your eyes are on the horizon, not the floor. 

Do that and—bang—your biochemistry follows orders. Cortisol (the stress hormone) drops, testosterone edges up, and your brain gets a fresh hit of confidence. Harvard research calls it “power posing.” I call it common sense. You can’t slouch like a question mark and expect to sell like an exclamation point.

The next time you’re about to dial a prospect, step out from behind the desk, stand tall, and smile so wide you can feel it in your ears. Your voice will warm up, your pace will steady, and the person on the other end will hear a pro who believes in their own value. Same thing before a big presentation or a tough negotiation—straighten up, breathe from the diaphragm, and let your body tell your mind, “We’ve got this.” Your prospects will feel the difference, and so will you.

Misery Wants You to Join the Team

It's also crucial that you understand that misery loves company, and it desperately wants you to join the team.

Picture a lone crabber easing across the bay at dawn. He hauls up a wire trap, shakes the catch into a five-gallon bucket, and keeps working his line.

Before long, one ambitious crustacean decides he’s not sticking around for the boiling pot. Claw over claw, he inches up the plastic wall—almost free. But every time he reaches the rim, the other crabs latch on and drag him back to the bottom. No escape. No hope. Everyone loses.

These days there is plenty of misery to go around. Miserable people whine about the economy, inflation, prospects, customers, too-few leads, and that no one is buying. They complain about the company, the commission plan, and the boss. 

Negative, miserable people grab you with their claws and pull you down into the bucket with them. Pretty soon the words coming out of your mouth are negative too. You’ll start to believe that you are stuck in that bucket and there is no way out. You’ll begin to feel contempt for your company, customers, and boss. 

Proximity is Power

You and your mindset are a composite of the people you spend the most time with. Hang out with people who have a negative mindset, and they’ll destroy yours. 

Start by excusing yourself from negative conversations. Just walk away. Seek out people who build you up rather than tear you down. Connect with people who see opportunity in adversity. 

Stick close to peers who bang out their call blocks every morning, the ones that consistently hit their number, the rainmakers who accept no excuses and believe that they alone control their destiny. Their pace becomes your pace. Their standards become your standards. Your mindset will quickly shift from impossible to possible. 

Mindset and momentum have a tendency to rub off. Remember,

Let’s kill the myth: sales coaching isn’t just for newbies or underperformers. 

It’s for closers, leaders, and the ones who want more—more pipeline, more wins, more control over their career. If you're in sales, you need coaching. Period.

This isn’t feel-good fluff. Sales is a performance sport. Every high-performance athlete has a coach, and every inspiring performer has a mentor for a reason.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, needs a coach. From the elite to the desperate, everyone can benefit from guidance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCOY793fA5E

1. The Desperate: The Bottom 20%

You know who you are. You’re missing quota—again. Every call feels heavier, your confidence is tanking, and you’re out of answers.

Here’s the truth: you don’t need more time—you need better habits, tighter processes, and someone to call out your excuses. You need guidance.

Sales coaching forces you to stop guessing and start fixing. A good coach will rip the blinders off: Are you dodging the phones? Are you hesitating at the close? Are you talking too much and listening too little?

You're not going to claw your way out of the bottom 20% by working harder. You get out by working smarter, with someone who’s done it before and won’t let you off the hook.

Find yourself a coach—do it now—before the hole you’ve dug gets any deeper.

2. The Mediocre Middle

You’re not bottom of the pack, but you’re not standing out either. You’re just … fine. Quietly average. Here you are, coasting on a couple of decent months, dodging attention, not making waves, paying your bills but treading water accomplishment-wise.

And that should scare you. This is not where you want to be.

This is where most reps stay stuck—not because they don’t care, but because they don’t change. Coaching breaks the cycle of complacency. It’s the flashlight in the dark that shows you exactly what’s holding you back. Weak discovery? Inconsistent follow-ups? Soft closes?

You don’t need a miracle. You need fresh eyes and someone who pushes you past the edge of “fine.”

Seek out a coach who’s been there and knows how to break through the ceiling you’re trapped under.

3. The Ultra High Performer

You’re already top tier. You’ve pushed your way into the 5%. President’s Club. You’ve got the trophies, the income, and the T-shirt to prove it.

So why do you need coaching?

Because the best never stop training. They don’t rest on wins—they refine, seek out marginal gains, and build muscle when others relax. Coaching helps you identify the 2mm adjustments that turn a winner into a legend.

The ultra-high performers I’ve seen who get coaching consistently shorten deal cycles, multiply referrals, and close with precision. The ego stays in check, the mindset stays sharp, and the momentum stays up. They’re breaking into enterprise-level sales on the regular.

The moment you stop chasing growth is the moment someone else starts catching up.

Your ideal coach has climbed to the top of the mountain themselves and is willing to help you scale it, too.

4. The Solopreneur

You’re running a business, selling the service, delivering the product, and following up with the clients. You’re building the plane mid-air.

But let’s be real—most solopreneurs need some help to truly master sales. With your passion, you’re the best sales rep for your product you’ll ever have—but right now, you’re winging it.

“Coaching helps you build a real sales process—consistent outreach, confident pricing, and predictable revenue. 

You can’t afford wasted time or wasted energy. A coach helps you cut distractions, stop chasing bad-fit leads, and finally build the kind of pipeline that scales with you.

If you want to play a bigger game, you’ve got to start selling like a pro—not an amateur.

Go land a coach who’s as committed to making you a top-tier sales rep as you are to your business.

5. The Sales Leader

You coach your team, run the numbers, and lead the meetings. You’re trying to hit your own number while calling all the plays. So who’s coaching you?

Sales leaders need a different kind of pressure. A coach helps you rise above the daily chaos and lead with vision. They help you recognize your blind spots, develop your people faster, and build a culture where coaching is the norm, not a rescue mission.

If you're not growing, your team won't grow. If you're not learning, they're not learning. You can’t preach growth if you’re not showing it—and that includes being coachable.

You want your reps to invest in themselves? Start by investing in yourself first.

Sales Coaching is Absolutely Necessary

If you're in sales and you're not getting coached, you're leaving deals, dollars, and development on the table. Coaching is the edge that keeps you ahead—not the crutch you reach for when you're behind.

It builds skill, confidence, and the consistency that separates the average from the elite.

If you're still thinking, "Do I really need coaching?"—you’re already answering your own question.

You don’t need to wait until you’re struggling. You need to decide you’re worth it—because staying the same is the most expensive decision you can make.

Ready to stop winging it and start winning it? Get a coach. Get serious. Download our FREE How to Find the Right Coach guide.

Kyle, a field sales rep from British Columbia, is struggling with a common prospecting challenge: how to consistently prospect when you're constantly on the move.

Kyle's situation likely resonates with many of you in outside sales. He described his typical day—starting at job sites at 7:30 AM, running between appointments, sending proposals from his truck, and working from Starbucks in between meetings. Sound familiar?

He had read my book, Fanatical Prospecting, where I advocate for dedicated time blocks for prospecting. But Kyle's reality made traditional time blocking nearly impossible. So what's a field rep to do?

What follows is the advice I gave Kyle, cleaned up and expanded so every field seller, territory manager, and outside sales road warrior can put it to work—right now.

Focus on Activity Count, Not Time Blocks

If you're in Kyle's shoes (or truck), here's my advice: Stop obsessing over time and start focusing on activity counts.

Instead of trying to carve out a rigid one- or two-hour block, set a daily activity goal. For someone in Kyle's position, committing to 30 quality outbound touches per day is likely sufficient. In my early days, I personally made 100 dials daily, no matter what—but you need to find your number.

It's amazing what you can accomplish in small pockets of time. Got 10 minutes between appointments? You can make 10 dials. These micro-prospecting sessions add up throughout your day.

Instead of asking, “How do I find two uninterrupted hours?” ask, “How many outbound touches do I need to hit my pipeline goal?”

Reverse-engineer your math. If 30 dials typically create two meetings—and two meetings a day keep your funnel fat—commit to 30 dials, period.

Activity over chronology. Whether you burn those calls in one block or in six five-minute bursts between site visits doesn’t matter. Hitting the activity target does.

Prospecting is like push-ups: the muscle only cares that you completed the reps, not whether you did them all at once.

Practical Fanatical Prospecting Implementation for Field Reps

Here's how to make this work in the field:

Set up your list the night before: Don't waste precious morning energy building your call list. Have everything ready to go when you start your day. A pre-built list eliminates the mental drag of figuring out who to call while you’re juggling mud, invoices, and traffic.

Use the gaps: Those small windows between appointments are prospecting gold. Five minutes here, ten minutes there—use them.

Capture information efficiently: Most calls will go to voicemail. For the ones who answer, quickly note any important information to input into your CRM later. Don't try to update your CRM in real-time between every call.

Be safe: Obviously, don't text and drive. Pull over if you need to take notes or send follow-up messages.

What Kyle is experiencing is common for outside sales professionals. You can't prospect the same way as an inside sales rep with a dedicated desk and phone. Your office is your vehicle. Your desk is wherever you can find a flat surface. Your schedule is dictated by customers and job sites.

Create a Mobile Prospecting Kit

Salesforce is great—when you have stable Wi-Fi and two hands on a keyboard. Field reps need something that works when the LTE bars dip to one.

Print or export your list with phone numbers and a skinny note column.

Hyperlink mobile numbers in a notes app so a single tap dials the next contact—no scrolling, no fumbling.

Use a hands-free auto-dial app (tons exist) if local regulations allow. Safety first; quotas second.

Capture notes on paper or dictate voice memos. At day’s end, batch-enter critical intel into your CRM. Perfect data hygiene is optional; capturing deal-moving facts is mandatory.

Rule of thumb: Log information, not activity. Managers love call-count metrics, but conversations and follow-up triggers win deals.

Prospect in the Micro-Moments

I built my career on a simple principle: five dials fit in five minutes.

Waiting for the site supervisor? Dial.

Stuck at a railroad crossing? Dial.

Early for lunch with a GC? Dial.

If you rinse and repeat ten times a day, that’s 50 dials—without ever blocking a formal hour. Your smartphone is a Swiss Army knife; flip out the prospecting blade at every lull.

Respect the Platinum Hours—But Redefine Them

Kyle also asked about "platinum hours" for prospecting in the construction world. This is where understanding your market's rhythm becomes crucial.

Kyle noted that contractors and builders are easier to reach in the morning, while homeowners are more accessible in the afternoon. This creates a "sandwich" with potentially lighter activity in the middle of the day.

This midday lull is your opportunity. Use this time to build lists, handle admin work, and prepare proposals. Unlike the evening when you're exhausted from a full day in the field, these midday hours could be your most productive for planning and organizing your prospecting efforts.

Another strategy: dedicate time on Sunday evenings to build your entire week's prospecting list. Create a master list of 100 names and work through it all week, making adjustments as needed when new leads come in.

Creating a Predictable Pipeline

Consistent prospecting—even in small chunks—creates a predictable pipeline. For field reps, this approach is actually more sustainable than trying to force traditional time blocks into an already chaotic schedule.

When you hit your daily outbound touch goal consistently, you create a steady stream of new opportunities flowing into your pipeline. This prevents the feast-or-famine cycle that plagues so many field sales professionals.

Remember, it's not about how much time you spend prospecting—it's about how many quality touches you make each day. Set your number, stick to it religiously, and watch your pipeline grow.

Prospect the Way Your Territory Demands

Kyle’s biggest burden wasn’t time—it was guilt. He felt like a prospecting slacker because he wasn’t doing textbook blocks. Let me settle it:

If your role is to be on-site talking to buyers, that is high-value selling time.

The goal of prospecting is pipeline, not calendar purity.

Flexible, numbers-driven activity beats rigid, time-driven blocks every day of the week.

Give yourself permission to sell the way your territory demands. Outside sales is messy, chaotic, and wildly fun. You’ll spill coffee on contracts, burn through playlists, and hunt for cell service in cornfields—but none of that excuses an empty pipeline.

If you're like Kyle—constantly on the move but committed to growth—focus on activity goals rather than time blocks. Your truck becomes your prospecting command center, and those small gaps in your day become opportunities to move your business forward.

Keep hustling. Keep prospecting. And at the end of the day, when it is time to go home, always make one more call.

Want to set more appointments from the road? Download our FREE guide 25 Ways to Ask For the Appointment on a Cold Call

On this Money Monday, we're going back to Augusta where Rory McIlroy finally won The Masters and in doing so gave us 5 lessons for chasing and achieving dreams. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t clean. It was gritty, emotional, and one of the most unforgettable moments in sports history. 

Rory stepped onto the first tee looking calm, focused. Like a man who’d been here before, and this time, was ready to finish it. He was 12-under. Two shots clear. It was his tournament to lose.

Then it unraveled almost immediately. A loose drive. Bad bounce. Scrambled recovery. Double bogey. That kind of start can break a player, especially at Augusta National, especially when the stakes are this high. But this year would be different.

Here are five lessons we can learn from Rory Mcllroy's journey to immortality at the Masters:

Lesson #1: Pressure Doesn’t Break You—It Reveals You

That double bogey on the first hole could’ve crushed him. It has crushed players before. It’s crushed him before. But this time, Rory leaned into the moment.

In sales, the pressure hits you just as fast. A lost deal, a missed number, or an impossible quarter. You don’t get to run from it. You fail to the level of your habits, your mindset, and your preparation. What shows up when you’re squeezed is your true game.

Lesson #2: Respect the Long Game

Rory didn’t panic; he recalibrated. He birdied 3, then 4. No showboating. No hero shots. Just control. He played tight through the front 9. His game wasn’t flashy—just steady. He didn’t chase. He didn’t press. Rory played smart. He trusted the process and took what the course gave him. He didn’t win with a miracle chip. He won with patience. Tempo. Smart decisions. He trusted the process.

That’s how deals close. That’s how pipeline builds. You qualify. You follow up. You show up again. And you earn the right to close when the buyer’s ready—not when you’re desperate to sell. Trust the process, be consistent, and believe in your system.

Lesson #3: How You Lose Matters More Than How You Win

But the Augusta National did what the Augusta National always does—it tightened its grip.

The 11th is long, brutal, and unforgiving. His approach caught the small bumpy hills that line the green side fairway and scuttled left. The ball screamed toward the left pond and stopped just short. Rory was able to make the save for bogey.

"Amen Corner," he must have whispered to himself, exasperated. Rae’s Creek was, again, waiting on 13—and it got him. His 89-yard chip landed short and skipped into the water. Another bogey.

He was slipping. You could see it in his face. The sweat. The searching for focus. The doubt that has haunted his Masters’ history creeping in around the edges. The crowd got quiet. Could it be another collapse.

On the 15th, after his tee shot put him left of the fairway blocked by three Georgia Pines, Rory stood at the top of the hill—one of the last true scoring chances on the course.

He pulled a 7-iron for 220 yards. A high, arching draw that tracked perfectly, landing soft on the right side of the green and rolling to within five feet of the pin. Rory bounced down the fairway to the green, walking on clouds. The crowd enveloped him in a unified chant.

Then he landed another birdie on 17. Suddenly, he was back to 11-under—tied with Justin Rose, who was charging from behind with a 66 and had the crowd buzzing.

18 was Rory’s chance to seal it. But his second shot found the bunker. The blast out was clean, but the putt too strong. He missed. The gallery groaned. Another Masters heartbreak? Was this all too much to fight in one day? Did he have one more, two more, three more holes? 

But Rory didn’t show frustration or melt down. He reset and walked back to the tee box for the playoff with Rose. For years, Rory has taken losses on the chin. No excuses. No drama. Just class.

Grace matters. Your mindset matters. Clients see that in sales. They notice how you act when the deal doesn’t go your way. They remember how you lose. That memory could be the reason they give you another shot later.

Lesson #4: The Loudest Cheers Come From the Longest Roads

Playoff. 18, Holly. One more time. Rose struck first—a solid approach to 10 feet. Then Rory stepped up—and he flushed it. The ball hit the backstop behind the pin, checked, and rolled to four feet.

And then he made the putt! Years of pressure came off his shoulders. Sure he had won, but in that second, it felt like we all had won.

After fifteen tries, finally, Rory McIlroy was wearing the Green Jacket. Not gifted—earned. The patrons at the Augusta National erupted.

They weren't just cheering a shot. They were releasing years of tension, releasing heartbreak, waiting and what-ifs. They’d been on this ride with him.

If you want that kind of response in sales—loyalty, referrals, reputation—you have to let people see your journey. Let them see the hard stuff: the missed quotas, the tough quarters, the grind, and they way you pick yourself up and dust yourself off when you lose. Then, when you finally win, they’ll cheer.

Lesson #5: Legacy is Earned Over Time

Rory didn’t become great on Sunday. He became great over years of showing up—through doubt, defeat, and disappointment. Sunday was just the moment that made it official.

In sales, legacy isn’t built on one quarter. It’s built on how you carry yourself through a hundred difficult conversations. It’s built on follow-ups, follow-through, late nights, and early mornings. Lean into grind and do the work. And when your moment comes it won’t feel like luck. It’ll feel like validation.

Final Thoughts

I saw Rory win The Masters. But what I really saw was what greatness looks like when it refuses to quit. You just have to keep showing up.

Now go take your swing. And remember, when you’ve been taking punches all day. When you’re tired, worn out and ready to pack it in. Pick yourself up and will yourself to make one more call, because that’s how champions win.

Every dream needs a plan. Get yours started on the right path with our FREE Goal Planning Guide.

You crushed your quota. Commission check hits the account. 

Your first instinct? Celebrate! You earned it, right?

Not quite. You’ve earned a reward, sure. But if every check disappears faster than a cold call prospect can hang up the phone, then you’re just renting a lifestyle.

Here’s the truth: Top sales pros don’t just sell like professionals—they manage their money like professionals. They know the high of a commission check can’t replace long-term financial freedom.

I’ve got the financial low-down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Da7U2PviPI

1. Don’t Spend It All in One Place—Or All at Once

When a big check hits, it’s tempting to splurge. New watch. Fancy dinner. Extra drinks on you.

But here’s the catch: commission highs come and go. Quarters fluctuate. Markets shift. Now more than ever, you can’t treat every paycheck like a lottery win.

Try this instead:

Split your check. A solid money rule: 50% to lifestyle, 30% to savings/investments, 20% to debt.

Set auto-transfers. Remove temptation. Have a percentage automatically move to savings or investments the minute you get paid.

Living below your means is how you avoid feeling broke—even during dry spells.

2. Build the "Oh Crap" Fund

Sales is high-risk, high-reward. One quarter, you're crushing it, the next you're staring down a dry pipeline and a mortgage payment.

Enter your emergency fund.

This isn’t optional—it’s survival. Ideally, you want 3–6 months of living expenses saved in a separate account, untouched unless it’s a true money emergency.

Having this cushion keeps you from making desperate decisions when things get tight—and keeps your mind clear to prospect fanatically.

3. Debt Doesn’t Care About Your Commission

Credit cards. Car payments. Student loans.

Debt is a silent killer of long-term wealth. And the more you make, the more it sneaks in. Why? Because it’s easy to think, “I’ll just pay it off with my next check.”

Then the check comes. And goes.

Start taking control:

List your debts. Highest interest first.

Choose a strategy. Snowball (smallest balance first) or Avalanche (highest interest first). Stick to it.

Automate payments. No missed due dates. No excuses.

Pay with cash. And stick to it. If you can’t afford to pay for it all now. You can’t afford it, period.

Freedom means having money that belongs to you—not a credit card company.

4. Your Future Self is Counting on You

It’s easy to feel invincible when you’re 25, 30, 35—closing deals, stacking checks.

But time moves fast. And if you don’t start investing for the long haul, future-you will be making cold calls at 70.

Start with your 401(k) if your company offers one—especially if there’s a match (that’s free money). If not, look into IRAs or Roth IRAs. Even small monthly contributions grow massively over time thanks to compounding interest.

The earlier you start, the easier it is. The later you start, the harder it gets.

5. Plan, Don’t Wing It

You wouldn’t wing a sales call with a high-value prospect, right? The same goes for your finances.

You need a plan.

Set financial goals. Pay off $10K in debt. Save $20K this year. Max out your Roth IRA.

Track your spending. Use an app or spreadsheet. Know where every dollar goes.

Meet with a financial advisor. Let a pro help map the path.

Sales success without financial structure is just noise. You work too hard to have nothing to show for it in the end.

6. Discipline is Freedom

This isn’t about deprivation. It’s about choice.

When your money’s right, you can:

Stop chasing bad deals.

Invest in coaching, property, or your own business.

Sleep well, knowing you're not one missed quota away from panic.

The people who look rich often aren’t. The people who stay rich? They play the long game.

Protect the Bank Account

You already know how to grind. You already know how to win.

Now it’s time to build a life where that effort creates lasting freedom—not just fleeting dopamine hits. Take control of your finances like you take control of your pipeline.

Don’t just close deals—build wealth.

Make your financial goals part of your sales goals. If you don't know where to start, download our FREE Goal Planning Guide!

Ross from Houston faces a common challenge in channel sales: how do you create brand preference for your product when you’re selling through distributors who carry multiple competing lines and competitors who undercut your price?

His company builds industrial dust-collection equipment and ducting, but they don’t sell direct—meaning they rely heavily on distributors, contractors, and engineers to choose their brand over cheaper alternatives.

Below, you’ll find key insights on how to drive more “pull-through” sales to your channel partners and convince every stakeholder—from designers to installers—to pick your product.

Why Pull-Through in Channel Sales Matters

When you sell through distribution, you lose a lot of direct control. Your product is on the shelf (literally or figuratively) alongside competitors, and the distributor or contractor can often steer buyers toward any brand they choose. Pull-through happens when the end user, contractor, or engineer specifically requests your brand—making your distributor the middleman who fulfills the preference you created.

Educate & Collaborate With Specifiers

Ross’ sales team already does lunch-and-learn sessions with engineering firms. Those engineers create the specs that contractors must follow, so if your product is “baked in” early, that’s a massive advantage later when the contractor goes shopping. But the real test comes when the contractor or installer sees a cheaper alternative on the distributor’s line card.

Key Steps:

Educate engineers on the deeper value and functionality of your product, so they’ll insist on it in their specs.

Collaborate with contractors. Even if they’re not the final decision-maker, they can heavily influence whether your premium line or a cheaper knockoff is chosen.

Brand Preference vs. Price Objections

The toughest hurdle for a premium brand is the classic price objection. If the competitor’s line undercuts you, how do you prove your extra value?

Unearth the Real Cost of Going Cheap. Show specifiers and end users the Total Cost of Ownership—that cheaper or less-robust solutions can lead to higher maintenance, safety issues, or inefficiencies down the line.

Highlight Success Stories. Gather testimonials or case studies from buyers who saved time, boosted reliability, or lowered total cost of ownership by choosing your brand.

Create Tools and Guides. Develop clear documentation or ROI calculators that help buyers see beyond sticker price—especially useful if the distributor’s rep isn’t fully equipped to present your value.

Dealing with the Distributor as a Gatekeeper

You can do all the contractor or engineer training you want, but if the distributor’s inside salesperson steers a buyer to a cheaper product, you still lose. That’s why building the distributor relationship is non-negotiable.

Action Items:

Train the Distributor’s Sales Reps. Show them exactly how to pitch your brand’s advantages, from installation ease to long-term reliability.

Reward Them for Advocacy. If possible, offer spiffs or incentives when they successfully sell your line. In some cases, highlight how your product can reduce their support headaches and returns, making their life easier.

Co-Sell on Big Deals. Bring major opportunities to the distributor, or volunteer to go on key calls together. When you help them close deals, they become more loyal to you.

Get Proactive and Strategic

One pitfall in channel sales is that your rep can become just a “help desk” for the distributor—always fixing problems instead of actively driving new deals. But a proactive approach can turn that support into a competitive edge:

Offer On-Site or Virtual Coaching. Whenever the distributor or contractor hits a snag, your rep steps in, demonstrating expertise. This builds trust and brand loyalty.

Balance Support with Hunting. While your reps should help, they also need time to create demand among engineers, contractors, and end users. If their entire day is spent resolving small issues, they’ll miss bigger opportunities.

Combine Marketing and Sales Efforts

To truly differentiate your product, marketing must work hand-in-hand with sales. You need targeted content—white papers, case studies, videos, ROI calculators—that highlight your product's unique benefits. Ensure your sellers share these assets during lunch-and-learns, in prospecting emails, or at trade shows.

Possible Tactics:

 Webinars. Showcase how your product solves real problems more effectively than DIY or cheaper alternatives.

Distributor Portal. Provide easily accessible resources (FAQ sheets, training modules) that help the distributor’s reps pitch your product with confidence.

Customer Spotlight Videos. Interview customers who switched from cheaper knockoffs to your premium brand—and never looked back.

Putting It All Together

Ultimately, it’s about controlling the narrative and making sure every stakeholder sees the bigger picture. You’ve got to hammer home: “Sure, there’s a cheaper widget over there. But ours wins on performance and total cost of ownership.” If you can get that message across in channel sales early—before anyone starts price shopping—then you’ll have a far easier time at the final point of sale.

Building pull-through demand in a channel sales environment requires a multi-pronged approach. You must:

Educate so your product is specified from the start.

Convince users that your brand is worth the investment and eliminates future headaches.

Equip distributors with simple, persuasive messaging that helps them advocate for you over the competition.

Demonstrate unwavering support and expertise whenever they need it.

When done right, this synergy creates a ripple effect. Engineers specify your line, contractors request it by name, and distributors become your ambassadors. Follow this playbook consistently, and watch how quickly “we’ll consider your product” turns into “that’s the only product we’ll consider.”

If you're facing a sales or leadership problem and have a question for me, head over to to salesgravy.com/ask and we'll get you on the show.

There is a big challenge in today’s marketplace that’s popping up left and right for sales professionals—Decision Deferment Objections.

If you’re running into stakeholders who say, “Let’s just hold off a bit,” “We need more time,” or “We want to wait until the market settles,” then we're going to dive into why this is happening and, more importantly, how you can handle these sales objections with confidence and skill.

Turbulent Times Breed Buyer Fear

The market is swinging like a pendulum on steroids, and it’s making everyone skittish. You’ve got tariffs, trade wars, and a spike in economic uncertainty.

Buyers read The Wall Street Journal or check their news feeds, and the headlines scream “Turmoil!” They panic. So they defer decisions, walk away from deals, or play the “wait and see” game.

Decision deferment objections are a natural consequence of fear. People want to avoid making the wrong move. It’s easier to hit the pause button than to commit to something they’re not 100% sure about. That fear, in many ways, is irrational. But it’s a brick wall that will shut down your deal if you let it.

So how do you avoid letting hesitation, stalling, and decision deferment kill your deals during market uncertainty?

It starts with a fundamental truth: to succeed in this environment, you must sell better. Because when people are fearful, indecisive, or uncertain, how you sell matters far more than what you sell.

Why Buyers Pull Back and Defer Decisions

In uncertain and volatile times, mistakes come with severe penalties. A stakeholder who chooses the wrong vendor, invests in the wrong technology, or commits resources too soon might put their entire business or career at risk.

So they freeze. They put it off. They say, “We’ll need a little more time to think about it,” or “We need to run the numbers again,” or “Let me talk to my boss.”

If you haven’t uncovered real fears, addressed them, and methodically advanced the deal, you’ll hit a wall of deferment decision objections at maximum force. That’s why I often sound like a broken record—but repetition is the mother of skill. The basic steps to closing in an uncertain market are fundamental:

Execute your sales process flawlessly

Consistently ask for micro-commitments to advance the sale

Present a compelling, airtight case for change

Ask your stakeholders to make a decision confidently and without hesitation

Handle objections with empathy

Closing Is Not a Single Moment in Time

A lot of sales reps treat the close as one magic moment—like flicking a switch. But in reality, closing is a series of micro-commitments that happen throughout the sales process. Every time you get a commitment to a next step, your buyer to leans in just a bit more, and you set the stage for a final “yes.”

When times are normal, a halfway-decent rep can skip a few steps and still get deals across the finish line. But in a crisis or uncertain market, that sloppy approach falls apart.

You must consistently get micro-commitments and keep advancing—because if you let the ball drop even once, you’ll give your stakeholders an opening to stall or back out with objections like “We going to hold off,”  or “We’re just going to stick with what we have until the economy gets better.”

Tough Objections? Check Your Upstream Sales Process

For this reason, if you are getting hammered at the close with brutal objections, it usually means you made mistakes earlier in the process.

So instead of obsessing over how to wordsmith your objection rebuttals, you might need to re-examine how you qualified and sold from the get-go. Tough objections at the 11th hour are typically a symptom of an earlier problem.

So, what do you do?

Qualify better upfront—Are these the right prospects? Are you sure they have a budget, authority, need, and timeline? Is there a compelling reason for them to change?

Ensure you’re dealing with real decision makers—If you’re stuck with “influencers” who keep punting it up the chain, guess what? You’re in for a bumpy ride.

Surface concerns early—If you wait until the end to discover that your buyer has major financial fears, you’ve already lost.

Get the Truth on the Table Early

That brings us to one of the most important sales tactics in uncertain times like these. It is absolutely crucial that you get buyer worries, fears, and potential objections out in the open and on the table as soon as possible. That means you need deeper discovery and the courage to ask tough questions like:

"What are you most afraid of?"

“How do you see the current market volatility impacting your decisions?”

“What’s your biggest concern about moving forward right now?”

“If you don’t address this problem soon, what do you think might happen?”

It takes confidence and tact to get your stakeholders talking openly about concerns—and yes, you’ll risk hearing truths that might scare you or them. But the alternative is to bury your head in the sand and get blindsided at the last minute when they say, “We’re gonna wait till next quarter.”

The Emotional Barrier: Fear of Conflict and Rejection

Asking the hard questions is where many reps falter. Let’s be honest: nobody likes conflict. And direct questions can feel confrontational. We worry, “What if they shut me down or I push them away?” So we back off, we tiptoe around real issues, we avoid pressing them on timelines or next steps. That might keep the conversation calm, but it sets you up for a big heartbreak later.

The biggest agony in sales is pouring time, energy, and emotion into a deal—only to lose it at the finish line when a stakeholder reveals an objection that, had you known about it weeks ago, you could have handled.

This is why you must push through your own discomfort and bring hidden fears to the surface early. It’s infinitely less painful to deal with them upfront than to discover them at the worst possible moment.

Deal With Sales Objections Head On

There’s a quote I love from philosopher Julian Baggini: “If you believe you are right, then you should believe that you can make the case that you’re right. This requires you to deal with serious objections properly.”

I can’t think of a better summary of what it takes to handle decision deferment objections. If you truly believe your offering is the best path forward, it’s your duty to address your buyer’s fears, hesitations, and perceived alternatives.

You’ve got to want them to put every worry on the table so you can tackle it head-on. Sure, you’ll get your nose bloodied sometimes. But if you’re truly confident in your solution, you’ll find a way to show your buyer why moving forward makes sense—even in choppy waters.

Common Decision Deferment Objections

Most of the objections you’ll face during times of uncertainty are decision deferment objections like:

“Give us a few days to consider your proposal.”

“We’d like to run this by the entire team before we commit.”

“We’re going to hold off for a month and see what happens with the economy.”

“We want to compare a few other vendors before making a decision.”

“We’re just not ready to make a long-term commitment right now.”

“We decided to give our current vendor one last chance.”

The reality is that they are afraid so they’re stalling. They’re not saying “no” outright; they’re saying “maybe,” “later,” or “we’ll see.” And that’s the tricky part. Because “maybe” can feel like a small open door, but it’s actually a massive speed bump that can drag your deal out indefinitely if you accept it and walk away.

5 Steps to Overcome Decision Deferment Objections

That's why when buyers hit you with decision deferment objections, you need a systematic approach to help them break through their fear. Use this five-step framework:

Relate

Start with empathy. This isn’t about agreeing with their reasons, but acknowledging them as a human. “I get where you’re coming from, and it’s smart to be cautious.” That’s it. No discounting their worry, no jumping into a debate. Just letting them know you’re listening.

Why? Because they’re braced for you to argue or push. By empathizing, you lower their guard and show you’re on their side. It also buys you a moment to compose yourself and think strategically before responding.

Isolate

You want to make sure there aren’t multiple hidden objections. If they say, “Let us think about it,” is that the only issue, or are they also worried about budget, timelines, or a preference for a competitor? Gently probe: “Aside from needing more time, is there anything else holding you back?” The last thing you want is to solve one problem only to be ambushed by a bigger one later.

Clarify

Never assume you know exactly what they mean. Always take a moment to clarify their objection.  When they say: “We need to run the numbers.” Maybe they really do need a cost breakdown, maybe they doubt the ROI, or maybe they’re afraid of something else. Ask open-ended questions: “When you say you need to review the math, how do you mean?” Good clarifying questions unearth the real meaning behind the words.

Minimize

Now that you know the real deal, you want to minimize their fear by reconnecting them to their desired outcomes. Remind them of the pains they wanted solved, the benefits they hoped to gain, and how your solution addresses that. Show them the math if needed, demonstrate ROI, and paint the brighter future. By focusing on what they stand to gain—and the cost of doing nothing—you shrink the size of their fear while maximizing the benefit of moving forward.

Ask

Finally, ask again. Your buyer won’t do the job for you. The key is asking with relaxed, assertive confidence because your confidence gives them confidence to push past their fear and make the right decision.

Buyers are Jumpy, Be Ready For It

Look, times are unstable. Buyers are jumpy.