Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

On this Sales Gravy Quick Tip, Jeb Blount reveals the real secret to superstar sales success. The good news is it's obvious and within your grasp.

On this episode of the Sales Gravy podcast, Jeb Blount (author of INKED) and Darryl Praill (CMO of Vanilla Soft) discuss the new paradigm and mash-up of sales and marketing. If you want to engage more prospects, build a bigger pipeline, and close more sales, then you'll want to pay attention to and heed Jeb's and Darryl's advice. There are new rules for sales and marketing. Sales professionals who embrace these rules will thrive. Those who don't may soon go extinct.

Many so-called "sales experts" are quick to tell you that they have the one path to prospecting salvation or the top secret for making sales prospecting easy. Run away from these charlatans as fast as you can! There is no one way and there is no secret. The key to effective sales prospecting, is adopting a balanced prospecting methodology that spans across all prospecting channels. Balance gives you the highest statistical probability of getting in front of the right prospect, with the right message, at the right time.

Get Jeb Blount's New Book INKED: The Ultimate Guide to Powerful Closing and Sales Negotiation Tactics that Unlock YES and Seal the Deal At the strategic level, sales negotiation is like a chess game, but at the tactical level, it’s like playing poker. The parties hide their emotions behind poker faces in an attempt to obscure the strength of their real hand - keeping their cards close to the vest. The most effective way to get a peek at those cards is to keep your ears open and your mouth shut. Listening builds deep emotional connections with other people. The more you listen, the more connected your stakeholder will feel to you. As this emotional connection deepens, emotional walls crumble. As the walls come down, they talk more. The more they talk, the more they reveal. This gets you below the surface and lets you access their cards. Listening is where effective sales negotiators earn their stripes.

Projecting, which is all too common for salespeople, will cost you dearly at the sales negotiation table. A few years back, my wife and I bought our dream home. It was on a stretch of farmland—exactly what we’d always wanted. We both knew in our hearts that it would be the last home we ever bought. This was where we planned to spend the rest of our lives. This house, however, had to be completely remodeled. The work was so extensive that the contractor estimated that it would take eighteen months before we could even move in. Through the years, Carrie and I had remodeled eleven houses. Each time, we’d done the work on a tight budget and made sacrifices with want we wanted so we stayed within budget. This time, though, we had the budget to create the home that we wanted. We promised ourselves there would be no shortcuts and no compromises. We planned to do it right. After months of work, we were finally finishing up the bathrooms, and it was time to order the glass doors for the showers. The representative for the glass company met us at the house. We carefully explained exactly what we wanted. He gathered measurements and took notes. Jeb's New Book INKED Teaches You to Become a Master Sales Negotiator The last stop was the bathroom in our master bedroom. He collected the measurements and started writing up the order. As he did, a worried look crossed his face, and he shook his head. Then he looked up said, “You know, all this custom work is going to be really expensive. Are you sure you don’t want to go with our standard doors? It will save you a ton of money.” He clearly missed that the walls and floors of the newly remodeled bathroom had  freshly installed imported marble costing more than $30,000. Rather than up-selling and showing us even more options, he was negotiating down, projecting the size of his wallet on us instead of focusing on the size of ours. Projecting, which is all too common for salespeople, will cost you dearly at the sales negotiation table. When you negotiate with the size of your wallet, you routinely apologize for your prices, give concessions without being asked, and decide for your buyers what they can afford.

Talented sales leader Chris McDonough joins Jeb Blount to discuss why avoiding objections is foolish, reducing buyer resistance, managing emotions, and techniques for handling objections. They explore prospecting objections, red herring objections, micro-commitments, and the fear of rejection in sales while emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence and strategic approaches.

On this Sales Gravy Quick Tip, Jeb Blount reveals a tried and true technique for closing your next sale.

On the final episode of our podcast series on Why Introverts Can Sell, Jeb Blount (Inked) and Mathew Pollard (The Introvert’s Edge) discuss why emotional resilience is a requirement for introverts in sales. Then they reveal the introvert's super power and how this makes introverts better salespeople than extroverts. Listen to Part One of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Two of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Three of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Four of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Five of Introverts Can Sell

On part FIVE of our podcast series on Why Introverts Can Sell, Jeb Blount (Inked) and Mathew Pollard (The Introvert’s Edge) discuss the pursuit of happiness and why knowing what makes you happy is one of the keys to success for introverts in sales and life. Listen to Part One of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Two of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Three of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Four of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Six of Introverts Can Sell

On part FOUR of our podcast series on Why Introverts Can Sell, Jeb Blount (Inked) and Mathew Pollard (The Introvert’s Edge) discuss a powerful technique that introverts and extroverts may leverage, in emotionally charged situations, to make better, rational decisions. Listen to Part One of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Two of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Three of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Five of Introverts Can Sell Listen to Part Six of Introverts Can Sell