4 Lessons from Our Top Sales Conversations in Q2

Q2 gave us a lot of great sales conversations. These four taught us the most. Ashley Blount and Jeb Blount Jr. unpack what ties Mark Hunter's take on integrity, a hard-won deal recovery story, tactical language from Jeb Blount for reducing buyer friction, and a leadership lesson on empathy over sympathy. The lesson behind them: the right language, integrity, and mission are what turn conversations into long-term customers.📖 Purchase Jeb Blount's book, 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills👉 Download our free A.C.E.D. Buyer Style Playbook for Sales Professionals🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn!Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How do you know if your sales role is right for you? And how do you get better when you're the only rep on the team with no one to learn from?In this episode of Ask Jeb on the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount answers two questions from Gabriel, an early-career business development rep in Montreal working at a small startup.Jeb's advice: at the start of your career, you often have to take what you can get and be the best at it, even if it isn't the right fit. As you gain experience, stop chasing the right company and start choosing the right leader. And when there's no top performer to follow, master the fundamentals and build your own learning path.What You'll Learn:Why entry-level salespeople rarely know if a role is the right fit, and why a bad fit still teaches you somethingThe questions to ask yourself to discover which sales role fits you bestWhy the right boss matters more than the right company, and how it can mean up to 20% higher incomeHow to vet a sales leader during the interview processWhy loving the sales process matters more than loving the product you sellHow to earn your role progressionWhy "find the top sales rep and copy them" is not helpful sales adviceHow to build your sales skills without a team around you through networking groups, sales conferences, and training-Submit your question: salesgravy.com/askPurchase Jeb Blount's new book: 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales SkillsGrab your tickets for OutBound ConferenceFollow Jeb Blount on LinkedInFeatured Sponsor*If you're ready to upgrade your listening experience, go to go.fitnexa.com/gravy and use code GRAVY for $10 off your order.Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It’s easy to mistake motion for progress. But answering emails, updating the CRM, and sitting in internal meetings don’t generate revenue. In this episode of Money Monday, Jessica Stokes breaks down the concept of Golden Hours, the specific times during the day when prospects are most likely to pick up the phone or respond to outreach. She explains why protecting that time is one of the best revenue-generating decisions you can make in your sales career. Jessica also offers guidance to sales leaders on shielding their team’s selling windows from internal scheduling conflicts.📖 Purchase Jeb Blount's new book, 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills💻 Enroll in Sales Gravy University Courses with Jessica Stokes👉 Download our Sales Gravy Time Audit Log for Sales Professionals🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn!Featured Sponsor*If you're ready to upgrade your listening experience, go to go.fitnexa.com/gravy and use code GRAVY for $10 off your order.Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tony Morris wants you to say less so you'll win more. It's his mantra for prospecting. Tony sat down with Jeb Blount Jr. to discuss how he has reframed his process so that he's not focused on being the seller, but on helping people be the buyer. He shares his rule that every month without contact costs you a slice of the relationship, and why he sends prospects books, articles, and webinar links with no ask attached. This approach breaks through buyer resistance more easily and gets you better conversations with your prospects. Tony will be at Outbound this year talking more about his process and why focusing on curiosity over closing creates more opportunity.🎟️ Grab your tickets for OutBound Conference💻 Enroll in Sales Gravy University Courses with Tony Morris👉 Download our free A.C.E.D. Buyer Style Playbook for Sales Professionals🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn!Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

How do you actually know someone can sell before you've hired them, trained them, and found out the hard way?In this episode of Ask Jeb on the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount answers two hiring questions from Ramesh: how to find and hire the right salespeople, and whether that approach changes for a small company versus a large one.Jeb's answer: he's made the same hiring mistakes every leader makes, even after building a career on turning struggling sales teams around. Hiring is part process and part gut, there is no magic formula to get it right every time. The good news is you can stack the odds heavily in your favor with the right approach.What You'll Learn:How whether a role is heavy hunting, heavy account management, or a hybrid should shape who you hireWhere assessments fit into the hiring process and whyHow to build an assessment stack depending on the complexity of the roleHow to ask situational interview questions tailored to pushed past rehearsed answers Why bringing multiple people into the interview process catches what one person reviewing candidates alone will missHow a candidate's energy in an interview can mislead you if you don't weigh it against other signalsWhy small companies face higher hiring stakes than large companies, and how to protect yourself from a costly bad hireHow a long hiring cycle can cost you strong candidates to competitors who move fasterWhether you're building your first sales team or creating a hiring process at scale, this episode gives you a practical framework for making better hiring decisions.-Submit your question: salesgravy.com/askPurchase Jeb Blount's new book: 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales SkillsGrab your tickets for OutBound ConferenceFollow Jeb Blount on LinkedInOur Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Admitting your company needs sales leadership is one of the hardest calls a founder makes, and one of the smartest. Duff Tucker walks you through seven critical signs that your company has outgrown founder-led sales, from reps getting check-ins instead of real coaching to a forecast that's become a guess instead of a weekly discipline. Duff breaks down what each sign actually looks like and how to spot it in your own company. Showing even one of the seven warning signs is reason enough to consider bringing on a fractional sales leader.🖋️ Read When to Hire a Fractional Sales Leader: 7 Signs Your Company is Ready🧑‍💼 Learn more about Sales Gravy’s Fractional Sales Leadership Solutions💻 Enroll in Sales Gravy University Courses with Duff Tucker🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn!Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It sounds unusual, modeling an entire sales methodology off the principles of therapy. But it’s exactly what Jack Frimstone and Zac Thompson did, and it works. Jack and Zac, co-founders of the UK sales consultancy We Have a Meeting, sat down with Jeb Blount Jr. to break down this idea, which they discuss in their book, Sales as Therapy. They go over prospecting techniques that uncover real, often personal stakes behind a buying decision. They also discuss two tools that get more guarded prospects to open up.📖 Purchase Jeb Blount's book, 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills👉 Download our free A.C.E.D. Buyer Style Playbook for Sales Professionals🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn!Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What do you say when a prospect tells you "we already have someone who does that"? In this episode of Ask Jeb on the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount tackles this objection with Rob, an outside sales rep who runs into it constantly while prospecting door to door.Jeb's core message: the real problem is who you're talking to. When you lead with an offer like a free quote or free inspection, gatekeepers default to sending you to procurement, and procurement is where your sales dreams go to die. Change what you open with, and you change who you end up in front of.What You'll Learn:How asking the right questions leads you to the actual decision makerWhy procurement is where deals stall and how to avoid ending up thereWhy leading with "free" anything triggers defensiveness and routes you straight to procurementHow a short morning call block can turn cold door knocking into scheduled appointmentsHow to turn a local, relationship-driven value proposition into your strongest differentiator against larger competitorsA script for handling the "we already have someone" objection once you're in front of the right personWhether you're selling compliance services, B2B solutions, or anything where a gatekeeper stands between you and the real decision maker, this episode gives you a practical way to change who you're talking to before you ever have to overcome an objection.-Submit your question: salesgravy.com/askPurchase Jeb Blount's new book: 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales SkillsGrab your tickets for OutBound ConferenceFollow Jeb Blount on LinkedInOur Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Even the top sales reps can find themselves on the downward side of a spiral. Jeb Blount’s seen it happen many times, because he’s been there himself. Letting yourself fester in a sales rut can affect your attitude, your motivation, your team, and your job. In this episode, Jeb Blount explains how introspection and self-awareness can refocus your mindset and reroute your rut. He shares a time when his investment in himself brought him out of his rut and put him back on top of the team in just three months. 📖 Purchase Jeb Blount's new book, 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills👉 Download Our Free Goal Planning Guide for Sales Professionals🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn!Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

LinkedIn feels like too much work for a lot of professionals, but neglecting it completely leaves one of your best sales tools on the table. Daniel Disney sits down with Jeb Blount Jr. to break down why so many salespeople stay quiet on the one platform where their customers and prospects are logging in daily. Daniel shares his weekly three-post formula that spotlights his team, his customers, and his company. He emphasizes starting your posts with a hook and ending with a reason for people to engage. Lastly, Daniel and Jeb talk about OutBound and why it's the best investment you'll make in your sales career.🎟️ Grab your tickets for OutBound Conference💻 Enroll in Sales Gravy University Courses with Daniel Disney 👉 Download our free LinkedIn Profile Makeover Checklist for Sales Professionals🔗 Follow us on LinkedIn!Our Sponsors:* Check out Plaud AI and use my code JEB for a great deal: https://www.plaud.ai/jeb* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code SALESGRAVY for 20% off your entire order: https://www.trudiagnostic.com* Go to https://OmahaSteaks.com and use promo code BEEF at checkout for $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy