Show Notes
Getting screened out of sales jobs by AI before a human even looks at your resume? In this episode of Ask Jeb on the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount answers a question from Nick, who is trying to move from the rail industry into a sales career and keeps getting screened out by applicant tracking systems. Jeb's answer is simple: stop treating your job search like an application and start treating it like a prospecting campaign. Nick's rail industry background is the exact expertise that companies selling into that industry are looking for. Jeb breaks down how to identify those companies, use LinkedIn and local networking to get in front of the people who make hiring decisions, and shares a real world example of an in-person walk in that landed a interview in just a few minutes. What You'll Learn: Why resume screening and AI applicant screening systems disqualify non-traditional candidates before a human ever sees their resume How to identify companies that sell into your current industry and use your expertise as a shortcut into sales Why treating your job search like a prospecting campaign beats just sending in applications How to use LinkedIn, your network, and local business owners to get directly in front of hiring managers How walking in the door instead of submitting a resume can change the outcome entirely
Whether you're pivoting from a specialized industry or just trying to get noticed instead of filtered out, this episode gives you a practical playbook for getting in front of the right people in your search for a sales role. - Submit your question: salesgravy.com/ask Purchase Jeb Blount's new book: 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills Grab your tickets for OutBound Conference Follow Jeb Blount on LinkedIn
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More from Sales Gravy: Jeb Blount
Ask a prospect about their challenges and you’ll get the same answer every other seller heard that week. Marcus Chan, Founder of Venli Consulting, joins Jeb Blount Jr. to break down the questions elite reps ask instead, the ones that tie a problem to real consequences and lead buyers to discover latent pain on their own. Marcus walks through an oil change story every rep will recognize and explains how this shift helped his SMB team grow average deal size roughly fourfold.
If you can’t figure out who makes the buying decision, every cold call starts with a guess. In this episode of Ask Jeb on the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount answers a question from David, a business development rep making a high volume of cold calls daily into a highly technical market. His challenge: how much research is enough before you dial, and how do you find the right contact when the decision maker could be an engineer, a project manager, or the CEO? Jeb’s answer starts with a mindset shift. Prospecting and research are separate jobs, so block time for each and never do both at once. He then walks David through an ABCD list system that moves every lead toward fully qualified, so your first call block goes to appointment-ready prospects and the rest of the day builds tomorrow’s list. What You’ll Learn: How to find the decision maker when job titles don’t tell you who buys How to get the gatekeeper to give you the contact you need within the organization Why separating prospecting time from research time protects your call blocks How to sort prospects into A, B, C, and D lists so every call has a clear goal How to build qualifiers that tell you when a lead is ready for an appointment Why multithreading matters in complex sales How to use AI tools to help you build a local prospecting list in minutes How to build an ideal customer profile with your team to stop setting unqualified appointments Why every new piece of information counts as a win for SDRs and BDRs - Submit your question: salesgravy.com/ask Purchase Jeb Blount's new book: 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills Grab your tickets for OutBound Conference Follow Jeb Blount on LinkedIn
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What should you say on a cold call to book the appointment? In this episode of Ask Jeb on the Sales Gravy Podcast, Jeb Blount takes a question from Ryan, a real estate agent in Brooklyn, New York, who prospects expired listings and FSBOs and wants to know how to structure his because statement to land more meetings. Jeb’s advice is to get direct. An expired listing came off the market because it didn’t sell, so call it like it is, lead with the value you bring, and ask for the meeting with a specific time. When getting in front of the seller wins you the listing most of the time, the call has one job: book that meeting. What You’ll Learn: How to write a because statement that books appointments on cold calls Why passive openers and permission-based questions invite objections How to use the prospecting pyramid to organize your call list Why FSBO prospecting is a relationship you nurture until the seller is ready Why in-person meetings convert better than phone conversations How to ask for the appointment assumptively - Submit your question: salesgravy.com/ask Purchase Jeb Blount's new book: 90 Days to Level Up Your Sales Skills Grab your tickets for OutBound Conference Follow Jeb Blount on LinkedIn