The struggle of prospects going silent after initial interest is a common pain point in sales. The discussion highlights the importance of maintaining leverage by ensuring a fair value exchange during the sales process. By not giving away too much information for free, you preserve your negotiating power. Strategies for keeping prospects engaged and managing expectations are also shared, helping sales professionals avoid the dreaded ghosting phenomenon. Tune in for actionable insights that can transform your sales approach!
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Big Mac Sales Leverage Analogy
Jeb uses the analogy of offering money to go get a Big Mac to illustrate sales leverage.
When the value offered is low, the task isn't enticing, but higher value changes behavior.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Protect Your Sales Leverage
Never give away your proposal or pricing information for free; it kills your leverage.
Use your leverage to control the sales process and build relationship before sharing detailed info.
insights INSIGHT
Power Dynamics in Sales
Prospects usually have more power because they have more alternatives.
Leverage is needed to level the playing field and make prospects engage.
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The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Closing and Sales Negotiation Tactics that Unlock YES and Seal the Deal
Jeb Blount
INKED is a sales-specific negotiation primer that addresses the challenges faced by sales professionals in today's market. The book provides strategies, tactics, techniques, and human-influence frameworks to level the playing field against savvy buyers. It emphasizes the importance of emotional discipline, preparation, and understanding power, leverage, and motivation dynamics in negotiations. The book includes actionable advice and real-world examples to help sales professionals improve their closing rates and negotiate more effectively[1][2][5].
Fanatical Prospecting
The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling
Jeb Blount Jr.
Fanatical Prospecting is a detailed guide that explains the importance and methods of prospecting in sales. The book outlines innovative approaches to prospecting, including the use of social media, telephone, email, text messaging, and cold calling. It emphasizes the need for a balanced prospecting methodology to avoid sales slumps and keep the pipeline full of qualified opportunities. Key concepts include the 30-Day Rule, the Law of Replacement, the Law of Familiarity, the 5 C’s of Social Selling, and various frameworks for effective prospecting. The book is designed to help salespeople, sales leaders, entrepreneurs, and executives improve their sales productivity and grow their income by consistently and effectively prospecting[1][3][5].
Sales EQ
How Ultra High Performers Leverage Sales-Specific Emotional Intelligence to Close the Complex Deal
Jeb Blount Jr.
In 'Sales EQ', Jeb Blount emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence in sales, highlighting that emotions play a crucial role in decision-making rather than just rational logic. The book explains how top sales performers use four key pillars of Sales EQ: empathy, self-awareness, self-control, and sales drive. It also discusses the alignment of sales, buying, and decision processes, the use of micro-commitments, and the answering of critical questions that stakeholders ask themselves during the sales process. Blount provides practical advice on mastering the psychology of influence and managing emotions to achieve ultra-high sales performance.
Brian Kemski wants to know how to stop prospects from ghosting him. He asks a question that plagues salespeople everywhere: "What can I do about prospects who go through the process, seem interested, and then disappear into the witness protection program after I give them my information?"
If you've been in sales for more than a week, you know exactly what Brian is talking about. You have a great discovery call, you build rapport, you send over your proposal or pricing...and suddenly—radio silence.
The prospect ghosts you, leaving you frantically checking your email every five minutes and wondering what the hell happened.
In this Ask Jeb episode of the Sales Gravy Podcast I'm going to teach you how to prevent it.
You Gave Away Your Leverage for Free
During our conversation, I asked Brian to consider what he'd do if I offered him $100 to go get me a Big Mac. He wasn't interested. When I upped it to $200, he started considering it. At $500, he was ready to make the trip.
Why? Because at $500, the value exchange made sense to him.
Your sales information works exactly the same way. Your pricing, specs, and solutions have real value. When you hand them over without getting anything in return—especially before completing your sales process—you're essentially giving away hundred-dollar bills for free.
And once you give away all your value, the prospect has no more reason to talk to you.
Understanding Power and Leverage in Sales
In most sales situations, your prospect has more power than you do because they have more alternatives than you. They can choose your competitors or simply decide to do nothing.
The only way to level the playing field is through leverage—something you have that they want because it provides value to them.
It's like that hurricane example I gave Brian: If there's a hurricane in Miami, all the power is out, and you're the only person selling ice, you have all the power because there are no other options. But in normal business situations, your prospect has plenty of options, which gives them power.
Your information is the leverage that gets prospects to "dance to your tune." Once you give that away without getting anything in return, you've surrendered all your power.
Your Sales Process Should Be a Value Exchange
Here's what your sales process should look like instead:
Use discovery calls to build value: Ask questions that help prospects think differently about their problems. Create insights they can't get elsewhere.
Meet multiple stakeholders: Insist on speaking with everyone involved in the decision. This builds relationships across the organization and prevents ghosting.
Present your proposal in person: NEVER email a proposal. Your proposal meeting should be a closing meeting where you're getting a yes or no.
Look for engagement at every step: If prospects aren't willing to invest time and effort in your process, they're showing you they aren't serious.
Each step of your process should involve the prospect giving something (usually time and information) to get something from you. This creates what psychologists call the "investment effect"—the more effort people put into something, the more they value it.
The RFP Trap
The clearest example of giving away leverage is responding to RFPs without conditions. When you fill out all that information and send it without meeting the decision-makers, you'll rarely hear back.
My approach? "I'm not filling out all that information until you meet with me." If they want your solution badly enough, they'll meet. If they don't, you've saved yourself hours of wasted time.
I practice what I preach, but I'm not perfect. Just last November, I spent 12 hours on a proposal I knew had little chance of closing because I'd skipped steps in my own process. I gave away my leverage for free, and they ghosted me—exactly as I predicted they would.
I have to relearn this lesson once or twice a year. Maybe you do too.=
Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount 
