Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount

• Self-Awareness: The Hidden Sales Skill

  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 consultative without being conscious. 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.

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• 3 Powerful Ways to Handle the “I’m In a Meeting!” Objection (Ask Jeb)

  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:

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• You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought (Money Monday)

  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.

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• You Need Sales Coaching

  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.

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  42:37
• Road Warrior Prospecting (Ask Jeb)

  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.

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About Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount