Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

Jeb Blount
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Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

Jeb Blount is the bestselling author of 16 of the most definitive books ever written for the sales profession. He believes that Sales Professionals are the Elite Athletes of the Business World. On the Sales Gravy podcast Jeb teaches you how to open more doors, close bigger deals, and rock your commission check.

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Best Sales Podcast Conversations From 2024

    In this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, take a look back at the best insights from the year. These moments aren’t just memorable, they’re actionable advice that sales professionals can take into 2025 to thrive in an ever-evolving landscape. Key Takeaways: This year reinforced a crucial truth: the fundamentals of sales never go out of style, but adapting to the environment around you is key. Buyers are sharper, busier, and more discerning, which means the best salespeople need to work smarter and harder to stay ahead. Here’s what stood out from our conversations this year: – Objections Are Opportunities: Objections aren’t something to avoid, they’re invitations to build trust. When a buyer pushes back, it’s a sign they’re engaged. Instead of sidestepping concerns, lean into them. Acknowledge the issue, ask thoughtful questions, and use the conversation to demonstrate your understanding of their needs. – Relentless Prospecting Wins Deals: The deals you close tomorrow start with the work you do today. This year, we discussed the importance of consistent prospecting and how staying disciplined with your outreach pays off. Whether it’s calls, emails, or social touches, keeping your pipeline full is the foundation of success. – Empathy Drives Connection: In a crowded marketplace, standing out often comes down to how well you connect with your prospects. Leading with empathy and emotional intelligence helps uncover the real problems you can solve. Listening, not just to respond, but to understand, creates trust and sets you apart from competitors. – Simplify the Process: A complicated sales process creates unnecessary barriers for your buyers. Instead, focus on making every step clear and straightforward. Simplify presentations, eliminate unnecessary details, and provide actionable next steps. Buyers are more likely to move forward when it feels easy to do so. – Consistency Is King: Talent might get you started, but consistency is what keeps you winning. Showing up daily, sticking to your routines, and doing the small things consistently makes a big difference over time. Success in 2025 will be about maintaining that focus, even when motivation dips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k2hJ3pyNBU Thriving Under Pressure with a SEAL’s Strategy In high-stakes sales situations, maintaining composure is crucial. Drawing from his extensive military experience, retired Navy SEAL Master Chief Stephen Drum emphasizes the importance of preparation, adaptability, and mental resilience. By implementing a structured approach—commit, prepare, execute, and reflect—sales professionals can enhance their performance under pressure. This method enables individuals to stay focused, adjust to changing circumstances, and continuously improve their strategies. Physical Fitness Fuels Sales Success Josh Hulsebosch dives into how physical fitness directly impacts sales performance by enhancing energy levels, mental clarity, and resilience. Maintaining a "proud posture," standing tall with shoulders back and chest open, not only boosts confidence but also improves breathing and communication, essential for effective selling. Prioritizing regular exercise, proper nutrition, and adequate sleep equips sales professionals to handle the demands of their role, leading to increased productivity and success. It’s Not About You—It’s About Them The moment you realize sales isn’t about you is the moment you start winning. Too many salespeople and entrepreneurs fall into the trap of making their pitch the center of the...

    28 min

  2. 4 DAYS AGO

    Reflection vs Regret | Money Monday

    For me, the last full week of the year has always been the chance to pause, take a break from the grind of selling, and really think about what happened over the past year—the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you are anything like me and do the same, there are two ways to look back on your last twelve months. You can do so with regret or reflection. These two opposing lenses are vastly different in the way they affect your view of where you’ve been and where you are going. Regret Let’s start by unpacking regret. Some of you are already feeling regret about goals you missed, deals you lost, opportunities that slipped through your fingers, or the people in your life you may have let down. Regret is that feeling you get when you look back on something you did (or didn’t do) and wish you could change it. In many ways, regret is similar to worry, except it’s focused on the past instead of the future. Worry is about what might happen; regret is about what already happened. That’s a big distinction. Although you can turn worry into action and change the future, you cannot rewrite the past. No amount of regret changes history. All it does is create a feedback loop in your mind where you keep reliving your mistakes, misses, and failures over and over again.   Stuck in the Endless Loop of Regret   I’ve observed so many people get stuck in this endless loop of regret. They keep lamenting, "If only I had . . ." * "made that call,” * “handled that prospect differently,” * “taken that chance,” * “been there or done that.” Those “if only's” can paralyze you. They sap your energy, crush your confidence, and keep you from moving forward. On one hand, regret can push you to change—you don’t want to feel that kind of pain again, so you work hard to avoid repeating the same mistakes. On the other hand, regret can become a debilitating emotion that drags you into an exhausting and useless mental loop of “would’ve, could’ve, should’ve.” But no matter how many times you complete that loop, it doesn’t change the outcome. It becomes an emotional anchor that weighs you down as you start the new year. Reflection Reflection, on the other hand, is entirely different—and far more productive. When you reflect, you detach from your emotions with objectivity to look at your entire body of work from the past year. * You’re asking the questions, “What went well? What didn’t go so well? What did I learn?” * You consider the wins that made you proud and the moments you’d rather forget. * You figure out why you won so you can repeat those winning behaviors. * You extract value from the lessons of failure. Reflection isn’t about punishing yourself for what went wrong. It’s about gaining clarity on why it went wrong—and what you can do about it next time. Reflection Creates Awareness Reflection also helps you find gratitude in unexpected places. Maybe there’s a hidden lesson in overcoming an obstacle or perhaps you gained a new perspective because a challenging person came into your life. It’s important to realize that each decision you made over the past year shaped your present circumstances. But you are not defined by these circumstances, only by how you respond to them. Reflection creates awareness. Where there is awareness there is the potential for change. Awareness is like the sun, anything it touches has a tendency to transform. The bottom line is that reflection is about learning, growing, and transforming. Regret is stagnation. Why Reflection Matters at Year-End The reason I’m talking about the impact of reflection as we close out this yea...

    12 min

  3. 19 DEC

    The Art of Outreach: Strategies for Modern Sales Prospecting feat. Alex Niswander

    In this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, discover how Alex Niswander used the Fanatical Prospecting framework to maximize outreach and build meaningful client relationships. Learn about creative touchpoints, High-Intensity Prospecting call blocking (HIPs), and actionable tips to fill, move, and close your sales pipeline effectively. Key Takeaways: – Multiple Touchpoints for Better Engagement: Combining weekly calls, text messages, and video messages in a month-long sequence creates many cell phone interactions, helping to maintain visibility with prospects. – Text Messaging as a Follow-Up Tool: Texting becomes effective later in the process, especially after leaving voicemails or sending emails, as it creates a softer approach to earning a prospect’s time rather than jumping in and selling immediately. – Personalized Video Messages: Video messages create an opportunity to add a human touch to prospecting by showing prospects there’s a real person behind the outreach. – Call Blocking to Maximize Productivity: High-Intensity Prospecting (HIP) sessions involve short, focused sprints of 15-30 minutes dedicated to making as many calls as possible, ensuring consistent and impactful outreach. – The 90-Day Prospecting Payoff: Prospecting efforts often show results after 90 days, emphasizing the importance of daily consistency to maintain a steady pipeline of opportunities. – Building Respect Through Personalization: Small gestures, like sending photos or handwritten notes, help prospects feel valued, making them more likely to engage and build trust with the salesperson. – Balancing Sales Activities: Effective prospecting balances three essential activities—filling, moving, and closing the pipeline—to ensure steady progress and avoid periods of downtime or overwork by planning your time effectively. – Fundamentals Still Deliver Results: Basic strategies, like leaving business cards or sending physical mail, remain effective over time.  – Creativity in Prospecting: Unique and memorable approaches, such as sending coffee with a note, can differentiate outreach efforts and leave lasting impressions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzhdC4YwflA The Power of Multiple Touchpoints When it comes to prospecting, repetition, and persistence are the name of the game. A well-structured outreach plan includes multiple touchpoints, particularly through cell phone communication. Over a month, combining calls, text messages, and video messages can result in many meaningful interactions. Each touchpoint serves to maintain visibility with prospects and gently guide them toward engagement. Using Text Messaging Effectively Texting has become a more accepted form of communication, especially post-COVID. While it may not be appropriate for the first interaction, texting later in the process can be effective. The goal of these messages is to earn a prospect's time rather than immediately sell a product or service. For example, following up on a voicemail with a polite and informative text can soften the approach and make the interaction feel less intrusive. Video Messaging for a Human Touch Video messaging is another way to connect with prospects. Including a short, personalized video message in a text or email can make outreach more human and relatable. It doesn't require additional content, recording and sending a video version of a voicemail can have a significant impact. Video messages show prospects that there is a real person behind the communication, which can increase the likelihood of securing a meeting. Expanding Communication Channels

    49 min

  4. 16 DEC

    Sell More With a Personal Business Plan | Money Monday

    Over the past two months, the team at Sales Gravy has been working hard on our business plan for next year. Like so many other companies, we build an annual business plan because we need to know where we’re going and how to get there.  We’re not leaving our fate to chance. Our business plan is the compass that helps us navigate and stay on track to reach our goals.   Randomness is the Enemy of Effectiveness But what about you? Have you ever stopped to think that you need the exact same thing for your upcoming sales year? Without a plan, it’s easy to drift and fall into randomness—just waking up every day and hoping something good happens.  But here’s the deal: Randomness is the enemy of effectiveness.  If you don’t set a clear direction, you’ll never hit the target you’re aiming for. You’ll be like a boat without a rudder—drifting and, eventually, ending up someplace you never intended to go.  Yogi Berra said it best: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”  Trust me, “someplace else” isn’t where you want to be at the end of next year. Adopt a CEO Mindset The difference between average salespeople and top performers often comes down to one key mindset: top performers don’t act like employees; they think like entrepreneurs. The moment you start treating your territory as if it’s your own business, your mindset changes. You stop feeling like a cog in the wheel and start seeing yourself as the driver, not the passenger. Your company shoulders the big financial risks—providing you with the product, the brand, and the support. But you own your market, solve the problems, and build relationships that turn into revenue. You own your time and results. That’s the entrepreneurial mindset.  Creating Your Personal Business Plan Starts With A Vision To create your personal business plan, you start your vision.  Where do you want to be a year from now?  What do you want to accomplish in your territory or area of responsibility? What income do you want to earn? What awards do you want to win?  What does winning look like?  Define it. Get crystal clear. Then think about your values.  What do you stand for?  What kind of impact do you want to make? What kind of relationships do you want to build?  How will you show up for your clients, team members, and company every single day? Once you’ve nailed this down, put your strategy in place.  Break your territory into logical quadrants so that you know where you’ll be investing time each day.  Identify the industry verticals that have the highest potential. Pinpoint your ideal customers.  Segment your prospects and customers into High Potential, Medium Potential, and Low Potential.  Create a list of your top ten dream accounts, 25-50 conquest accounts, and 100-500 high-potential and medium-potential targeted accounts. This will help you attack your territory with a targeted vs random approach.  Identify your key competitors and do an analysis of each of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Then do the same for yourself. Define your daily battle rhythm, disciplines, and activities that drive pipeline growth.  Get intentional about your priorities and how you manage your calendar. After all, time is your greatest asset and as the CEO of you, your time is money.  Once you have clarity on your vision and strategy, get granular. A vision without action is just a fantasy.  Break Your Personal Business Plan Into Small Steps to Success Break your plan down into achievable goals.

    12 min

  5. 12 DEC

    Making Sales Connections with Craft Beer feat. Kirk Richardson

    In this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount, Jr. welcomes Kirk Richardson, author of Craft Beer Country, to dive into the world of craft beer, exploring trends, challenges, and the rise of IPAs. Discover how the craft beer industry has blended innovation and tradition to become a cultural phenomenon. Key Takeaways: – Resilience in Craft Beer Market: Despite challenges in the beer industry, craft beer gained a 13% increase in market share in 2023, weathering the storm better than large-scale breweries. – Significance of Hops: Hops, a core ingredient in beer, play a vital role in flavor, aroma, and shelf life. Varieties include aroma, bittering, and dual-purpose hops, each contributing to unique brewing profiles. – Historical Roots of Sours: Sour beers trace their origins to Belgium, where open fermentation with wild yeast created distinctive flavors, making them one of the oldest beer styles still enjoyed today. – Seasonal Beer Preferences: Beer choices often align with the seasons, with lighter options like sours and lagers favored by many in warmer months and darker stouts and porters during colder seasons. – Challenging Stereotypes: While there is often some misconception around craft beer enthusiasts, the craft beer experience is accessible and welcoming, offering something for everyone regardless of expertise. – Cultural Significance of Brewing: Brewing dates back thousands of years, with craft beer continuing traditions like those of ancient Egypt, where beer was used as both sustenance and currency. – Breweries as Social Hubs: Breweries cater to diverse personalities, providing spaces for extroverts to socialize and introverts to enjoy solitude, fostering connections and memorable experiences. – Storytelling in Craft Beer: The industry thrives on the stories of its people, from the challenges of sourcing ingredients to the inspirations behind unique brews, enriching the craft beer community. – Navigating Supply Challenges: Craft brewers often face supply chain hurdles, particularly in sourcing specific hops, yet their creativity and adaptability in dealing with these issues are often what drive the industry forward. – Craft Beer’s Universal Appeal: With its wide range of styles and flavors, craft beer continues to bring people together, celebrating diversity in taste and creating lasting bonds through shared experiences. https://youtu.be/r_7XsernY7Y?feature=shared The Role of Craft Beer in Modern Culture Craft beer holds a unique place in today’s beverage market, offering a blend of tradition, innovation, and community. With its roots deeply embedded in history and its appeal growing across diverse audiences, craft beer has become more of a cultural experience than just a drink. Craft Beer’s Market Growth and Resilience The beer industry has faced significant challenges in recent years, from shifts in consumer preferences to economic pressures. Despite this, craft beer has demonstrated resilience, gaining a 13% increase in market share in 2023. While larger breweries have struggled, craft beer’s ability to innovate and connect with its audience has allowed it to thrive. The Essential Role of Hops Hops, one of beer’s four primary ingredients, are integral to the brewing process. They contribute to the beer’s flavor, aroma, and longevity. Brewers use different types of hops (ex. aroma, bittering, and dual-purpose) to craft a wide range of styles. However, the supply chain for hops can be unpredictable...

    1 hr

  6. 10 DEC

    Sell More With This Year End SMB Closing Tactic

    Learn how to sell more at the end of the year by helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) reduce their tax bill while making strategic investments in their company on this Money Monday episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast. If you’ve been looking for a way to hit or exceed your annual quota, qualify for President's Club, or simply earn a bigger paycheck or bonus, focusing on SMBs in the final weeks of the year might give you the edge you need. SMBs are Motivated to Reduce Taxes In the United States there are millions of SMBs and the vast majority of these businesses are what we call pass-through organizations for tax purposes. This means that the owners or partners in these businesses report the profits on their personal tax filings. Unlike big companies, small companies don’t have the luxury of rolling profits over to the next year. So whatever they made this year, they have to pay taxes on. As the calendar winds down SMB business owners are often motivated to invest in products, services, and software solutions in order to reduce taxable income. In other words, if a business has shown strong profits throughout the year, its owners might be keen to spend some of that money on improving their operations, expanding their capabilities, or streamlining their processes—right now—rather than hand over a large chunk of their profits to Uncle Sam come tax season. Business Owners Hate Paying Taxes To understand why this year-end period is so critical, let’s get into the mindset of a small or medium-sized business owner. Unlike large enterprises with multiple departments and complex accounting strategies, SMB owners are often personally invested in the company’s financial results because those results are essentially their income. It’s how they pay their mortgage and put food on the table. For this reason, they watch their revenue and expenses closely. As the year comes to an end, they’re looking at their bottom line and thinking about the upcoming tax bill. For many of these business owners, profit is a double-edged sword. Don’t get me wrong, they want to make a profit. But at some point, too much profit triggers a much higher tax bill. If there is one thing I know about small and medium sized business owners its that they hate taxes. They are always looking for ways to legally minimize their tax liability. One easy and productive way to do this is to make fully or partially depreciable investments in the business before December 31st. That could mean buying new equipment, software, training packages, or services that will not only improve the business long-term but also reduce taxable income for the current year. An Urgent Need to Spend As a salesperson, the key takeaway here is that your prospects have a natural, time-bound incentive to spend. If you can position your product or service as the right investment at the right time, you might find it easier to close those deals that seemed just out of reach during the rest of the year. And by the way, if you are dealing with decision-makers who are pushing off decisions to next year, this is a great way to get past that objection. Framing Your Business Case I want to be clear though that most businesses are not going to spend money for the sake of spending money. Savvy business owners want to reduce taxes and do the right thing for their company. Therefore, you can’t just be transactional. You still must follow the sales process and build a bridge to the...

    12 min

  7. 5 DEC

    How to Blend AI Automation with Human Connection in Sales feat. Keith Peiris

    In this episode of The Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount interviews Keith Peiris, CEO of Tome, to discuss how AI is transforming sales, from prospecting and building lists to crafting personalized emails and uncovering hidden opportunities. Key Takeaways: – Understanding Strategic Alignment is Key: Successful enterprise sales go beyond impressing with technology. It is essential to understand a prospect’s business strategy and align solutions with their key initiatives. – Effective Discovery is More Important than the Demo: Sales success hinges on understanding what the prospect cares about and tailoring the conversation around their needs. – Vetting Opportunities Saves Time and Resources: It's not enough to have an excited champion. The real question is whether the solution aligns with the company’s strategic goals and can gain executive buy-in. – Develop a Point of View (POV) Before Outreach: Instead of waiting for a meeting, develop a POV on why a prospect needs your solution and use that to guide outbound efforts. – Human Relationships Still Matter Most: AI can accelerate research and help craft messaging, but building trust and making prospects feel understood and valued remain the most consistent predictors of sales success. – Outbound Prospecting Must Be Consultative: Hunting effectively requires approaching prospects with a well-researched, consultative mindset rather than relying solely on automated, impersonal outreach. – Over-automation Leads to Diminished Trust: Prospects can easily detect AI-generated emails, and overuse of automation can lead to being blocked by potential clients. – Sequencing Tools Must Be Used Thoughtfully: Sequencing tools are valuable when used for multi-touch, multi-channel strategies, but they should complement, not replace genuine human outreach. These tools can be effective if used for synchronous and strategic touches, like personalized emails, calls, and handwritten notes. – Slow Prospecting Wins: AI has accelerated email prospecting, but the resulting automation flood has led to blocking and decreased trust. Personalized, thoughtful prospecting, where each touchpoint is meaningful, stands out, and builds credibility. – Sales Leaders Are Banning AI-Generated Emails: Sales leaders are increasingly banning AI email tools and automated SDR platforms due to the damage they cause to domain reputation and customer trust. Thoughtful, human-crafted communication is becoming a necessity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsMpNvHYqo The Balance Between Technology and Human Connection The sales industry has evolved significantly over the past few years, and a major driver of this change is artificial intelligence (AI). Tools that automate prospecting, communication, and customer insights have become a standard part of the sales process. While AI offers immense advantages, it's not a magic bullet. Success in sales still requires a balance between leveraging technology and maintaining human connection. As companies race to adopt AI-powered tools, many salespeople have fallen into a common trap: over-automation. The temptation to let AI handle everything, from prospecting to follow-ups, is strong. After all, these tools can send hundreds of emails, automate responses, and even draft messages that mimic human speech. However, over-reliance on automation has led to new challenges. The Pitfalls of Over-Automation One of the biggest issues with over-automation is the flood of generic, AI-generated emails and messages. These communications often lack personalization and fail to connect with prosp...

    51 min

  8. 2 DEC

    The Unused Budget Strategy to Sell More at the End of the Year

    In this episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast, I highlight a key sales opportunity as we approach the final stretch of the year. There is no doubt that this has been a strange year, right? With the election, inflation, and so much uncertainty a lot of businesses held back on spending – even though, as a whole, the economy was pretty good.  Now that the election is over, these same businesses have a budget left over that they need to spend before the end of the year. Buyers are in a Good Mood The good news is the executives and owners who run these businesses are suddenly in a very good mood.   Over the past few weeks, I’ve been in multiple states and cities asking business leaders how they are feeling now that the election is over. The responses have been overwhelmingly positive. People are feeling good. Many are enthusiastic about the economy. Most tell me that their sales are up following the election.  How to Look for Unused Budget With a Simple Question I’ve also had my sales team calling our customers and asking specifically about the unused budget that needs to be spent by the end of the year. The strategy is working. We have the largest pipeline we’ve had in years and have inked more big deals in the last three weeks than we have in the last three months with more to come.  Last week, I was out with a field sales rep, and we called on one of his large conquest accounts. The rep was frustrated because every proposal he’d given them had stalled in the pipeline. He said, “I just can’t get them to pull the trigger and make a decision.”  Before walking in I coached him to ask his contact, “How do you feel about business now that the election is over?”  After asking this question, his contact, the director of operations lit up—business was booming he said. Many of his customers who’d had their hands tied by budget constraints were now spending.  Four hours after our visit the contact called to say that his boss had given him a budget to spend by the end of the year and placed an order for almost a million dollars. Prime Time for Unused Budget So here’s the deal: if you’re in sales, now is prime time. What you need to do is pick up the phone, call your existing customers, your inactive customers, and even your closed/lost deals from earlier this year, and simply initiate a conversation. So, here’s the moral of this story. If you’re in sales or a business owner, now is the time to reach out to your customers. Engage them in a dialogue about how they’re feeling post-election, and find the money that's out there and needs to be spent by the end of the year.  Keep it Simple Don’t overcomplicate this. Initiate the conversation by asking about their post-election outlook. This will naturally lead to discussions about their immediate needs and leftover budget and how your product, service, or software can help them utilize their remaining budget effectively. Move fast because the clock is ticking. Once this year is over, today’s leftover budget will be gone forever. ACE your next sales conversation with our FREE guide to buyer communication skills. Download Here

    4 min
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Hosts & Guests

About

Jeb Blount is the bestselling author of 16 of the most definitive books ever written for the sales profession. He believes that Sales Professionals are the Elite Athletes of the Business World. On the Sales Gravy podcast Jeb teaches you how to open more doors, close bigger deals, and rock your commission check.

Information

  • Creator
    Jeb Blount
  • Years Active
    2007 - 2024
  • Episodes
    269
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Jeb Blount, All Rights Reserved
  • Show Website
    Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

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