Sales Rep Tips

sales statistics

, , , , , , , , , ,

100+ Sales Statistics Straight From Sales Teams

Where this data comes from

Every number on this page comes straight from sales reps, managers, and leaders. No recycled roundups, no stats borrowed from stats posts.

Most sales statistics articles pull the same third-party numbers from the same handful of reports, and half of them are hard to trace back to a real source. We wanted to know what sales teams actually think, so we asked them.

This page pulls from Factor 8’s State of Sales research: surveys of thousands of sales reps, managers, and leaders, with separate question tracks for each role. That lets us show where the three levels agree, and where they see the same team completely differently.

We also pulled in findings from two earlier Factor 8 studies on sales team retention and virtual selling. Those stats are labeled so you always know which study they came from.

Who we asked in our latest survey

Breakdown Respondents
Role Reps and individual contributors 31%, managers 32%, directors 16%, VPs and C-suite 21%
Function Sales and business development 21%, account executives 12%, account managers 11%, business owners 11%, sales enablement and training 11%, plus channel, field, inside and virtual sales, RevOps, and customer success
Company size 100 or fewer employees 54%, 101 to 1,000 employees 29%, 1,001+ employees 17%
Location United States 84%, Canada 6%, other countries 10%

How to read these numbers

Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so a few totals land at 99% or 101%. Some questions let people pick more than one answer, so those don’t add up to 100%. When a stat comes from one role’s survey, we say so: “reps,” “managers,” or “leaders.”

Feel free to borrow any stat on this page. Just credit Factor 8’s State of Sales research and link back here. (How to cite it is at the bottom.)

Jump to a section

Key sales statistics at a glance

Short on time? These are the 10 numbers that surprised us most.

Stat Why it matters
60% of reps say prospecting is the part of the sales cycle they struggle with most It beats every other stage combined
53% of reps say the phone books their meetings and closes their deals Yet reps put only 34% of their outreach into calls
62% of sales managers are experiencing burnout CRM updates and meetings drain them most
Only 4% of reps call their company’s sales training best-in-class 16% got no sales training at all
Only 16% of sales leaders are very confident in their training plan 14% answered “What training plan?”
71% of reps say they’re happier working from home 18% say hybrid, and only 11% say the office
0% of reps want more 1:1 time with their manager Their #1 ask is for their manager to fight for them (27%)
75% of reps are proud to tell people they work in sales And not one rep said they want out of sales
54% of sales leaders say sales cycles are taking longer 51% say budgets are shrinking
43% of reps say a lack of training or growth is the top reason they’d leave Only 8% say low pay

Six key sales statistics: 60% of sales reps say prospecting is the hardest part of the sales cycle, 53% of reps say the phone wins deals yet it gets only 34% of their outreach, 62% of sales managers are experiencing burnout, 4% of reps say their company's sales training is best-in-class, 71% of reps are happier working from home, and 0% of reps want more 1:1 time with their manager

The higher you sit in the org chart, the better the market looks. Leaders are optimistic. The reps talking to buyers every day are much less sure.

How sales teams feel about the market

  1. 56% of sales leaders say the selling market is better than last year, compared with 45% of managers and only 40% of reps.
  2. 29% of sales reps say the market is worse than last year, nearly double the share of sales leaders (15%).

Bar chart: 56% of sales leaders, 45% of managers, and 40% of reps say the selling market is better than last year

The top sales trends leaders are seeing

  1. 54% of sales leaders say sales cycles are taking longer, and 51% say budgets are shrinking.
  2. 41% of sales leaders say more decision-makers are involved in each deal.
  3. 41% of sales leaders say buyers do more research on their own and enter the funnel later.
  4. 38% of sales leaders say buyers are ghosting more often.
  5. 33% of sales leaders say outreach needs to be more personalized to get a response.
  6. 31% of sales leaders say deals are getting stuck in internal reviews and approvals.
  7. 26% of sales leaders say “doing nothing” is a growing reason they lose deals.
  8. 25% of sales leaders say customers want more proof and fewer demos.

Bar chart of the top sales trends leaders see, led by longer sales cycles (54%) and shrinking budgets (51%)

Where leaders are putting their budget

  1. 54% of sales leaders plan to put more of their budget into marketing and lead generation, their top priority.
  2. 41% of sales leaders plan to spend more on AI in, and 39% plan to spend more on people development and training.
  3. 38% of sales leaders plan to invest more in customer retention, and 34% plan to build better sales processes.
  4. Only 11% of sales leaders plan to spend more on travel, like in-person meetings, SKOs, and offsites.

What this means: Deals are slower, more crowded, and harder to win, and reps feel it first. When leaders and reps read the market this differently, forecasts and quotas drift away from reality.

Try this: Share these trend numbers with your team, then ask reps which ones they see in their own deals. With more decision-makers per deal, coach reps to multithread early instead of betting everything on one champion.

See the full report: The Current State of Sales →

Remote and hybrid sales statistics

Reps are happiest at home and say they sell more there. They also work fewer hours, which raises a fair question about what “productive” really means.

Where sales teams work

  1. 56% of sales reps work primarily from home, 25% work hybrid, and 18% work mostly in an office.
  2. 60% of sales managers say their teams work hybrid, 25% work mostly in an office, and only 15% run fully remote teams.
  3. 56% of sales leaders would prefer their teams work hybrid, 35% would prefer them 100% remote, and only 10% want them fully in the office.

Where reps are happiest and most productive

  1. 71% of sales reps say they’re happiest working from home, 18% say hybrid, and only 11% say the office.
  2. 60% of sales reps say they feel most accomplished and sell more at home, 24% say hybrid, and only 16% say the office.

Bar chart: 56% of sales reps work from home, 71% are happiest there, and 60% sell more there

How many hours reps actually work

  1. 45% of sales reps say they actively work 6 hours or fewer a day.
  2. 50% of remote sales reps work 6 hours or fewer a day.

Why reps like selling virtually

  1. 69% of sales reps say the biggest benefit of virtual selling is getting more done in less time or reaching more customers in a day.
  2. 13% of sales reps say the biggest benefit of virtual selling is better work-life balance.
  3. 15% of sales reps still prefer selling face-to-face over selling virtually.
  4. Only 4% of sales reps say virtual selling helps them close more deals.

What this means: Home wins on happiness and how productive reps feel. Fewer hours isn’t automatically a problem, as long as output holds up. The risk is managing to time on the clock instead of results.

Try this: Manage remote reps to outcomes, not hours: conversations held, meetings booked, pipeline created. Then protect their best hours for selling by cutting the internal meetings they already want less of (more on that below).

See the full report: The Current State of Sales →

Prospecting and cold calling statistics

Prospecting is the hardest part of the job. Reps put most of their effort into email, while the phone is what they say actually wins.

Where reps struggle

  1. 60% of sales reps say prospecting is the part of the sales cycle they struggle with most, four times more than closing (15%).
  2. 49% of sales leaders say prospecting is the top sales skill gap on their teams.
  3. 51% of sales managers say prospecting and outbound lead generation is their team’s top training need.

Effort vs. results by channel

Channel Share of reps’ outreach Share of reps who say it books meetings and closes deals
Phone 34% 53%
Email 40% 31%
LinkedIn 17% 11%
Text 9% 5%
  1. Sales reps put only 34% of their outreach into phone calls, yet 53% say the phone books the most meetings and closes the most deals.
  2. Email gets 40% of sales reps’ outreach, but only 31% of reps say it’s the channel that books the most meetings and closes the most deals.
  3. LinkedIn gets 17% of sales reps’ outreach, but only 11% of reps say it’s the channel that books the most meetings and closes the most deals.

Chart comparing sales reps’ outreach effort to results: phone gets 34% of effort but wins 53% of deals

What leaders and managers see

  1. 40% of sales leaders wish their reps would pick up the phone more.
  2. 38% of sales leaders say call confidence, like fear of the phone and low talk time, is a skill gap on their team.
  3. 32% of sales leaders say poor outbound call skills are a skill gap on their team.
  4. 41% of sales leaders most want to improve outbound prospecting effectiveness, from connect to meeting.
  5. 22% of sales managers say weak messaging is their team’s biggest challenge to hitting goal, and 16% say it’s a lack of outbound calls.

What reps are experiencing

  1. 40% of sales professionals say prospecting research and calls are their biggest virtual selling challenge.
  2. 45% of sales professionals say getting prospects to engage is the hardest part of a prospecting call.

What this means: Reps hide in the inbox. Email feels productive, but the phone is what reps themselves say wins. Leaders see it too, and call confidence shows up as a real skill gap, not just a motivation problem.

Try this: Audit your cadence against the table above. If email outweighs phone, rebalance. Block daily call time, and build call confidence with short, regular role-plays on openers and the first 30 seconds.

See the full report: Sales Team Challenges and Skill Gaps →

Sales skill gap statistics

Leaders rarely blame talent or tools. Their top challenges are execution and process, and the skill gaps they see are fundamentals.

What’s stopping teams from hitting goal

  1. Inconsistent adoption and execution is sales leaders’ #1 challenge to hitting goal (24%), followed by the lack of a consistent sales process (21%).
  2. 12% of sales leaders say finding sales talent is their #1 challenge to hitting goal, and another 12% blame the economy.

Rep skill gaps, according to leaders

  1. 49% of sales leaders say time management and prioritization is a skill gap on their team, tied with prospecting as the most-cited gap.
  2. 43% of sales leaders say their reps struggle to uncover bigger opportunities in discovery, and 41% say reps can’t build and present value.
  3. 30% of sales leaders say their reps’ deals are stalling out.

Manager skill gaps, according to leaders

  1. 46% of sales leaders say their managers haven’t learned to stop being reps and lead the team.
  2. 44% of sales leaders say their managers don’t coach reps effectively, and 40% say managers struggle to drive accountability.
  3. 37% of sales leaders say their managers struggle with time management and delegation.

Bar chart of rep and manager skill gaps named by sales leaders, led by prospecting and time management at 49%

What leaders wish reps did more of

  1. 51% of sales leaders wish their reps would really listen and connect with the customer.
  2. 41% of sales leaders wish their reps would work on their sales skills, and 41% wish they’d follow through on what they say they’ll do.
  3. 32% of sales leaders wish their reps would follow the playbook, and 32% wish they’d update the CRM consistently.
  4. 11% of sales leaders wish their reps would “actually work 8 hours a day.”

The metrics leaders most want to move

  1. 41% of sales leaders most want to improve account expansion, like upsell and cross-sell.
  2. 35% of sales leaders most want to improve final close conversion, and 33% want shorter sales cycles.
  3. 27% of sales leaders most want new reps to ramp to quota faster.

What this means: The biggest gaps aren’t exotic. Time management, discovery, value, and follow-through are fundamentals, and on the manager side the gap is the jump from top rep to real leader.

Try this: Don’t try to fix everything at once. Pick one rep skill and one manager skill per quarter, train it, and have managers coach to it every week until it sticks.

See the full report: Sales Team Challenges and Skill Gaps →

Sales manager and coaching statistics

Sales managers are stretched thin. They’re burned out by admin and meetings, and the thing everyone wants more of, coaching, is what gets squeezed.

Manager burnout

  1. 62% of sales managers are experiencing burnout.
  2. CRM updates drain the most energy from sales managers’ days (23%), followed by internal meetings (18%) and forecasting (17%).
  3. Too many meetings is sales managers’ biggest daily frustration (28%), followed by admin overload (26%).
  4. 13% of sales managers say not having enough time to coach is their biggest daily frustration.

62% of sales managers are experiencing burnout, drained most by CRM updates, meetings, and forecasting

How much managers actually coach

  1. 40% of sales managers coach their reps fewer than 3 hours a week.
  2. 27% of sales managers say more coaching time is what they need most to fix their team’s biggest challenge, and 26% say better rep training.

What managers want from leadership and enablement

  1. 51% of sales managers want a clear sales process and methodology from leadership or enablement.
  2. 49% of sales managers want ongoing skills training for their team, and 44% want coaching frameworks for themselves.
  3. 42% of sales managers want shared accountability for their reps.
  4. 34% of sales managers want clear definitions of “what good looks like,” like playbooks and call scoring forms.
  5. 27% of sales managers want training for their own move into sales management.

What leaders want from managers

  1. 52% of sales leaders want their managers to coach reps more often, and 52% want them to hold reps more accountable.
  2. 41% of sales leaders want their managers to drive consistent execution of the sales process.

What reps want from their managers

  1. 0% of sales reps want more 1:1 time with their manager.
  2. 27% of sales reps say the #1 thing they want is a manager who fights for them, with better territories, tools, and training.
  3. 16% of sales reps wish their manager gave them better call and skills coaching.
  4. 65% of sales reps rate their manager “better than most” or better, 16% call them “totally average,” and 19% rate them a 1 or 2 out of 5.
  5. Sales managers say the elevated status and responsibility is what they love most about the job (19%), followed by coaching their people (16%).

The sales coaching gap: 52% of sales leaders want managers to coach more often, 40% of managers coach fewer than 3 hours a week, 27% of managers say they need more coaching time, and 0% of reps want more 1:1s

What this means: Reps don’t want more 1:1s, they want better ones. Leaders want more coaching, managers want more time and a framework to do it, and reps want a manager who has their back. Everyone is asking for the same thing from different seats.

Try this: coach by rep category, not on autopilot. In Factor 8’s Call Coaching 201 course, managers sort reps into categories and set coaching frequency by need:

Rep category Who they are Coaching frequency
N (new) Still ramping, too soon to tell skill and will About once a week
B Consistently hits quota but is seldom the star About once a week
A Consistently beats quota, engaged, strong skill and will Every two weeks, when they want or need it
C Hit or miss on quota, gaps in skill or will Every two weeks
D Well below quota, likely on a performance plan About once a month, scheduled last, in groups of up to 3

A few more rules from the course: aim for 50% of a manager’s time spent coaching, book 45-minute sessions so there’s a 15-minute buffer between them, and keep at least an hour of “floor time” with the team daily. Great call coaching means a live or recorded call is present, the conversation is two-way, there are 3 people or fewer, and every rep walks out with personal feedback.

See the full report: Sales Training, Coaching, and Development →

Sales training statistics

Reps want more training, but most of what they get isn’t working. Reps don’t rate it, leaders don’t trust their own plans, and too much of it doesn’t stick.

How reps rate their sales training

  1. Only 4% of sales reps say their company’s sales training is best-in-class.
  2. 22% of sales reps say their company’s sales training helped them get started and keep growing, and 13% say it only prepared them for their first 3 months.
  3. 46% of sales reps say their company’s sales training wasn’t good, including 13% who rated it “about as effective as an ejector seat in a helicopter.”
  4. 16% of sales reps got no sales training at all.

Bar chart of how sales reps rate their training: only 4% say best-in-class and 16% got no training

How confident leaders are in their training plan

  1. Only 16% of sales leaders are very confident in their rep and manager training plan.
  2. 84% of sales leaders aren’t fully confident in their training plan, and 14% answered “What training plan?”
  3. 8% of sales leaders would “rather hire my teenager to train the team.”

What frustrates leaders about training and enablement

  1. Low tool adoption is sales leaders’ biggest frustration with training and enablement (48%), followed by low buy-in for training (35%).
  2. 21% of sales leaders say “nothing sticks” when it comes to sales training, and 21% say it’s hard to prove ROI.
  3. 21% of sales leaders say their sales training doesn’t feel customized to their team.
  4. 10% of sales leaders say they have no idea what their enablement team does.

What reps want more (and less) of

  1. 79% of sales reps want more training and coaching.
  2. Asked to pick the one thing they want more of day to day, 29% of sales reps chose sales training, tied with better tools, while only 7% want less training.
  3. 49% of sales reps want fewer internal meetings, and 25% want fewer internal emails.

What this means: Reps aren’t asking to be left alone. They want training that actually helps them sell, and fewer meetings that don’t. Leaders know their plans have gaps, and “nothing sticks” is what happens when training is a one-time event.

Try this: Treat training as a habit, not an event. Tie every session to a skill reps use this week, have managers reinforce it in coaching, and measure the behavior, not just completion.

See the full report: Sales Training, Coaching, and Development →

Sales retention and career statistics

Salespeople love sales. Whether they stay at your company comes down to growth, burnout, and leadership, and rarely pay.

Do salespeople still love sales?

  1. 75% of sales reps are proud to tell people they work in sales, 25% say “not really,” and 0% would rather say they clean portable toilets. (It was an option.)
  2. 75% of sales reps want to build their career in sales, 25% aren’t sure, and not one said no.
  3. 61% of sales managers want to stay in sales leadership long-term, 39% aren’t sure, and not one said no.

Will they stay at your company?

  1. Only 55% of sales reps want to build their career at their current company, 40% aren’t sure, and 6% say “no way.”
  2. 78% of sales managers want to stay and grow at their current company, 19% aren’t sure, and 3% say “hard pass.”

Why reps would leave

  1. 43% of sales reps say a lack of training or a clear growth path is the top reason they’d leave their current role.
  2. 25% of sales reps say burnout would make them leave their current role, and 16% say bad leadership.
  3. Only 8% of sales reps say low pay would make them leave their current role.

Why managers would leave

  1. 40% of sales managers say a lack of training or career growth is the top reason they’d leave, nearly double low pay (22%).
  2. 21% of sales managers say bad leadership would make them leave their current role.

lack of training or growth is the top reason sales reps (43%) and managers (40%) would leave

What leaders get wrong about retention

  1. Sales reps and managers both rank training and skill development as the #1 thing that keeps them at a company.
  2. Sales reps rank compensation #5 on their list of reasons to stay, while sales leaders rank it #1.
  3. 39% of sales reps who left their last job cited poor culture or bad leadership, but only 14% of sales leaders think that’s a top reason people quit.
  4. In an earlier Factor 8 study, 48% of sales reps say a lack of training, coaching, and career growth would be the #1 reason they’d leave their current company.

What this means: For reps, growth beats pay. The same goes for managers. Either way, the 40% of reps who “aren’t sure” about staying are the ones a clear development path can keep.

Try this: Map a visible career path for every role, then show reps the skills that get them to the next level. Ask your “not sure” reps directly what would make them stay. Most leaders guess wrong.

See the full report: Sales Team Retention →

AI in sales statistics

AI is already part of the daily sales job at every level. Reps lean on it most to write, and almost never to practice or build their skills.

How many salespeople use AI at work

  1. 49% of sales reps use their company’s AI tools every day, along with 46% of sales leaders and 44% of sales managers.
  2. 22% of sales reps use their own AI tools because their company hasn’t provided any, and 21% of sales leaders do too.
  3. Only 4% of sales reps don’t use AI at all, and 0% said they don’t want to.

The AI tools sales teams use most

  1. ChatGPT is the most-used AI tool in sales at every level: 80% of reps, 79% of managers, and 69% of leaders who use AI use it.
  2. 38% of sales reps who use AI use Microsoft Copilot, and 35% use Gemini.
  3. 21% of sales leaders say their teams use Gong, twice the share of sales reps (10%), and 19% say their teams use Claude.
  4. 25% of sales managers who use AI use Agent.ai, 25% use Allego, and 19% use Ambition.

Top 5 AI tools by role. Reps: ChatGPT 80%, Copilot 38%, Gemini 35%, Gong 10%, Agent.ai 5%. Managers: ChatGPT 79%, Agent.ai, Allego, and Copilot 25%, Ambition 19%. Leaders: ChatGPT 69%, Gemini 33%, Copilot 29%, Gong 21%, Claude 19%

What salespeople use AI for

  1. 55% of sales reps use AI most for writing scripts and emails, and 13% use it most to summarize calls.
  2. Just 5% of sales reps use AI most for prospecting, 2% for role-playing, and 2% for coaching.
  3. Sales managers use AI most to write scripts for their reps (25%) and their own emails and messages (19%).
  4. 63% of sales leaders say their team uses AI to write messaging, and 62% use it to summarize sales calls and take notes.
  5. 51% of sales leaders say their team uses AI to support prospecting.
  6. Only 19% of sales leaders say their team uses AI to improve rep coaching, and 11% use it to coach managers.

What leaders want AI to do

  1. 60% of sales leaders want AI to help their reps find leads, and 57% want help with prospect research.
  2. 56% of sales leaders want AI to improve their reps’ email and social outreach, and 52% want help qualifying leads.
  3. 51% of sales leaders simply want AI to save their reps time.
  4. Only 24% of sales leaders want AI to coach their reps.

AI writes the email, it doesn’t build the skill: 55% of reps use AI most to write scripts and emails, 13% to summarize calls, and 2% to role-play. 43% of sales leaders say inaccuracy is their top AI concern, 17% worry about skill erosion, and 57% say AI may replace parts of training but not rep skills

Concerns about AI in sales

  1. Inaccuracy is sales leaders’ top concern about AI in sales (43%), far ahead of skill erosion (17%) and compliance (13%).
  2. Only 8% of sales leaders worry most about AI replacing humans, and 19% have no AI concerns at all.

Will AI replace salespeople?

  1. Only 18% of sales reps are worried about AI taking their sales job.
  2. 37% of sales leaders think AI will replace some of their reps: 24% within 3 years and 13% in 5 to 10 years.
  3. 56% of sales leaders hope AI won’t replace their reps, saying human interaction is better, and 8% say flat out it won’t.

Will AI replace training and coaching?

  1. 78% of sales reps don’t want AI to replace their sales training.
  2. 44% of sales managers hope AI replaces sales training and coaching, double the share of reps (22%).
  3. 35% of sales leaders think AI will replace manager coaching, 44% say it will help but not replace it, and 21% hope it never does.
  4. 57% of sales leaders say AI may replace parts of sales training, but not rep skills.

Four stats on AI replacing salespeople: 18% of reps worried, 37% of leaders expect it, 44% of managers hope AI replaces training, 78% of reps don’t

What this means: AI is great at drafting. It can’t teach a rep how to open a call, run discovery, or handle an objection. Reps use AI mostly to write and almost never to practice, and leaders’ top worries are inaccuracy and skill erosion. That’s why most leaders (57%) say AI may replace parts of training, but not rep skills. If a rep doesn’t know what good looks like, AI just helps them send more of the wrong thing, faster.

Try this: Use AI to speed up the work and training to build the skill. Teach reps what a great email, opener, and discovery call sound like, so they can judge, edit, and customize what AI writes instead of sending it as-is. Then use AI for the practice reps rarely do today, like role-play, and keep managers coaching.

See the full report: All State of Sales research →

What these sales statistics mean for your team

Across 125 stats, the same six stories keep showing up.

  1. Prospecting is the hardest part of the job, and reps are underusing the channel that works. 60% of reps struggle most with prospecting, and 53% say the phone wins the most deals, yet it gets only 34% of their outreach. Rebalance the cadence and build call confidence.
  2. Leaders and reps see different markets. Leaders are optimistic, reps are worried, and leaders misread why people leave. Ask your reps directly, then compare their answers to your assumptions.
  3. Managers are the bottleneck, and they’re burned out. 62% of managers are burned out, meetings and admin top their frustrations, and leaders still want them coaching more. Cut the noise, give them a framework, and protect coaching time on the calendar.
  4. Reps want more training, but most of what they get isn’t working. Only 4% of reps call theirs best-in-class, and only 16% of leaders are very confident in their plan. Make training continuous, specific, and reinforced by managers.
  5. Growth keeps reps, and pay is rarely the reason they go. A lack of training or growth is the top reason both reps and managers would leave. Show every rep where they can go next and what skills get them there.
  6. AI speeds up the work, but it doesn’t build the skill. 55% of reps use AI most to write scripts and emails, only 2% use it most to role-play, and leaders’ top concerns are inaccuracy and skill erosion. Pair AI with training so reps know what good looks like.

Seeing your team in these numbers? We can help. Contact us today.

How to cite these sales statistics

Please use them! Attribute findings to Factor 8’s State of Sales research and link to this page or the specific report.

Example: According to Factor 8’s State of Sales research, 60% of sales reps say prospecting is the part of the sales cycle they struggle with most.

Explore the full reports

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


Blog Images - Factor 8 (5)

, , , , , ,

Why Account Managers Aren’t Growing Revenue

Here’s a fun test to run with your account managers, ask them to fill in two blanks:

“I have ____% of my best customer’s wallet share. I am ____% sure.”

The first number will be all over the map. The second number is the one that hurts.

These are reps who know their customers’ kids’ names. Their vacation plans. Their coffee orders. Ask them what percent of that customer’s total possible spend is coming to them, and it’s a guess.

That’s the problem in one sentence: relationships alone don’t grow wallet share.

The Two Things Holding Your Account Managers Back

After 20 years of training account managers, I can tell you the gap almost always comes down to two things.

They don’t know where the growth is. They can’t see which accounts have room to grow, which are tapped out, and where the wallet share actually sits.

They don’t know how to start the conversation. Even when they spot an opportunity, bringing up expansion with someone they’ve served for years feels awkward. Salesy. Risky to the relationship.

READ: Why Your Customer Care Agents Should Be Upselling

This usually isn’t an effort problem. Your AMs are spending plenty of time with customers. They’ve simply been trained to serve and protect the account, not systematically grow it. Nobody ever showed them how to do this part of the job.

The 80/20 Trap

You know the rule: 80% of revenue comes from the top 20% of accounts.

Here’s the part nobody talks about. In plenty of account management teams, most of the AMs’ time goes to those same top accounts. Serving them, fixing orders, checking in, renewing.

So most of the team’s time is protecting revenue you already have. Meanwhile, the rest of the book might not have been meaningfully reviewed in a year.

Some of those accounts are small and will stay small. Others have far more potential than their current revenue suggests. Your AMs need a way to tell the difference.

That’s where the growth is hiding, in two places specifically:

  • Wallet share in the top 20%. You probably don’t have all of it. See the quiz above.
  • Potential in the bottom 80%. Some of those accounts are small for a reason. Others have more opportunity than anyone realizes because the team has been judging them by current revenue instead of future potential.

READ: How to Build an Account and Lead Qualification Strategy

“But we already get most of their business”

Do you? Here’s what customers have actually told our clients when they finally asked:

  • “I didn’t even know your firm did that.”
  • “A buyer before me set up that relationship.”
  • “As a rule, we spread our spend between at least three vendors.”
  • “Everyone here loves you, but we weren’t sure how else we could use you.”

Ouch. Every one of those is money sitting on the table at an account you already serve. Your customers spend all day thinking about their business, not your product catalog. Even the ones who love you.

Growth Is A Skill, Not A Personality Trait

The good news? Both problems are trainable.

Finding the growth means teaching AMs to qualify and categorize their book by potential, not by current revenue. Spoiler: your biggest accounts today usually aren’t your biggest growth opportunities.

From there, we teach eight specific lanes to grow wallet share:

Every account has at least two or three of these open. Your AMs just need to know to look.

Starting the conversation means giving them the words. We teach an ask that leads with why it matters to the customer, adds a little humor or vulnerability, and lands the request without a whiff of desperation. Something like:

“I realize I know more about your family than your company at this point. If I don’t understand your goals and operations, I can’t make the best recommendations. Can we spend 10 minutes talking business?”

Once the customer agrees, your AMs also need to know which discovery questions will uncover priorities, gaps, upcoming initiatives, and additional ways to help.

That’s not salesy. That’s consultative selling. Done right, the ask adds value to the relationship instead of risking it.

For The Leaders Reading This

If you saw your team in this post, trust me, you’re not alone. I hear it from sales and revenue leaders every week: great relationships, flat account revenue.

The fix isn’t a pep talk or a bigger quota. Skills beat motivation, every time.

Our account manager training walks reps through exactly this: how to find the growth in their book, how to categorize accounts by potential, and how to open the wallet share conversation with confidence.

Clients who’ve trained their AM teams with us have seen 67% growth in legacy accounts. One team uncovered $500K in new pipeline during the first week of training.

Explore our account management training or reach out and we’ll help you find the right fit for your team.

Your account managers already have the relationships. Let’s teach them what to do with them.

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


AI sales voicemail scripts

, , , ,

How to Use AI to Write Sales Voicemail Scripts

Nobody ever returns calls when they don’t receive a voicemail.

The reality is, most sales voicemails don’t get returned either. The good news? A few small changes can dramatically improve your odds. 

Somewhere along the way, sellers started treating voicemail like a lost cause. They call, get sent to voicemail, sigh dramatically, hang up, and log the activity like it counted.

Except it didn’t.

If you’re already making the call, leave the message. A voicemail may not get you a callback every time, but it gives you another touch, another brand impression, and another chance to sound like a real human instead of another sales rep hiding behind email.

The trick is knowing what to say.

Here’s what makes a sales voicemail worth returning, plus how to use AI to write custom voicemail scripts faster.

DOWNLOAD: Sales Voicemail AI Prompt [Cheat Sheet]

First, Don’t Pitch in Your Voicemail

A voicemail has one job: get the prospect to call you back.

That’s it.

Nobody ever bought anything over voicemail, so please don’t cram your entire value prop into one sad little recording. Your voicemail is not a podcast. It’s not a demo. It’s not your chance to explain your platform, your differentiators, your awards, your customer stories, and your “quick reason for reaching out.”

The goal is not to sell.

The goal is to create enough curiosity, relevance, or urgency that they think, “Fine, I’ll call them back.”

That means your voicemail should:

  • Produce a callback
  • Leave a positive brand impression
  • Leave a positive YOU impression
  • Create a little guilt, in the classiest possible way

Yes, guilt works. Ask the Catholic Church, or any seller who has politely, cheerfully, and consistently followed up until the prospect finally says, “I know, I know, I owe you a call.”

Why Voicemail Still Matters

Voicemail feels old-school, which is exactly why it can work.

Everybody is sending emails. Everybody is sending LinkedIn messages. Everybody is using AI to write the same overly polished, wildly generic outreach.

Fewer sellers are picking up the phone. Even fewer are leaving a message.

That’s your opening.

Every voicemail is a brand impression. If you don’t leave one, it’s like buying a billboard and leaving it blank. You paid for the call. You did the work. Finish the touch.

A good voicemail does not need to do a lot. It just needs to remind the prospect that you exist, give them a reason to call back, and make it easy to do so.

What Makes a Good Sales Voicemail?

A strong sales voicemail should be simple enough to understand while someone is walking into a meeting, checking their email, or pretending they are not screening you. Let’s be honest, they probably are.

A good voicemail should:

  • Be under 30 seconds
  • Start with the prospect’s first name
  • Be easy to understand
  • Sound upbeat and cheerful
  • Assume the prospect will call back
  • Repeat your phone number twice, slowly
  • Use a SWIIFT℠ value or lever
  • Ask only for a return call
  • Create curiosity instead of dumping information
  • Sound natural, confident, and human

A good voicemail should not include:

  • A product pitch
  • A feature dump
  • A long value proposition
  • “Just checking in”
  • “Touching base”
  • “Introducing myself”
  • “Following up”

Those phrases are where callbacks go to die.

The 4 Types of Sales Voicemail Scripts That Work

There are four types of voicemail scripts that consistently work better than the classic “Hi, just wanted to follow up on my email” situation. Please, let’s leave that one in the corporate trash heap where it belongs.

1. The Lever Voicemail

A lever voicemail uses a person, relationship, company history, previous conversation, customer connection, or relevant piece of context to make the message feel warm.

Example:

“Hi Bob, this is Kelly with Factor 8. Sarah on your team asked me to give you a call, and I promised I would. Call me back at 800-555-1234. Again, Kelly at 800-555-1234. Talk soon.”

This works because it tells the prospect, “This is not totally random. There is a reason I’m calling.”

2. The Mystery Voicemail

A mystery voicemail is short. Almost annoyingly short. That’s the point.

Example:

“Hi Bob, Kelly here. Call me at 800-555-1234. Again, I’m at 800-555-1234.”

That’s it.

No pitch. No explanation. Just enough curiosity to make them wonder what you want. Mystery works best when you already have some relationship, account history, or reason they may recognize your name.

3. The Value Voicemail

A value voicemail uses one SWIIFT℠ value to create a reason to call back. SWIIFT℠ stands for “So, What’s In It For Them,” and the key is choosing one value buyers actually care about.

The SWIIFT℠ values are:

  • Time
  • Money
  • Ease
  • Reputation or image
  • Power or control
  • Risk

Example:

“Hi Brian, Maria with Factor 8 at 800-555-1234. I’m calling with a way to help boost revenue this quarter. Get back to me at 800-555-1234. Can’t wait to chat with you.”

Tiny bit of value. Zero lecture. That is the balance.

For more on SWIIFT℠ intros, see our blog on how to use AI to write a better sales intro.

DOWNLOAD: Cold Call Intro AI Prompt [Cheat Sheet]

4. The Urgency Voicemail

An urgency voicemail gives the prospect a time-based reason to respond.

Example:

“Hi Steve, Jen calling quickly with Factor 8. I’m trying hard to reach you by end of day. Please call me at 800-555-1234. Again, Jen trying to get you before the expiration. Call me back at 800-555-1234.”

Urgency works when it is real. Fake urgency is how sellers end up sounding like a clearance rack with a headset.

Use deadlines, account timing, funding windows, event dates, renewals, hot deals, or anything actually time-sensitive.

How to Use AI to Write Better Voicemails

AI is very good at creating voicemail options quickly.

It is also very good at making you sound like an over-caffeinated brochure if you let it run wild.

The key is to give AI the right structure before asking it to write. Do not just type, “Write me a sales voicemail.” That is how you get “I hope this message finds you well” with a callback number slapped on the end. Tragic.

Give AI:

  • Your ideal customer profile
  • The prospect’s role
  • Your company name
  • Your name
  • Your phone number
  • The business outcomes your solution supports
  • Any relevant levers, like people, partners, customer history, recent news, or common ground
  • The voicemail type you want: Lever, Mystery, Value, or Urgency

Then ask it to write short voicemail scripts that follow the Factor 8 format.

DOWNLOAD: Sales Voicemail AI Prompt [Cheat Sheet]

What Every AI-Written Voicemail Needs

Once AI gives you a draft, don’t just copy, paste, and record it like a hostage statement.

Read it out loud first.

Then check it against this list:

  • Is it under 30 seconds?
  • Does it start with the prospect’s first name?
  • Is it easy to understand?
  • Does it repeat the phone number twice?
  • Does it ask only for a callback?
  • Does it create curiosity?
  • Does it avoid pitching?
  • Does it sound like something you would actually say?
  • Is it upbeat, different, and compelling?
  • Would you call back?

If the answer is no, fix it before you leave the message.

Where Value Statements Fit

Your value statement is not your voicemail. It’s also not your intro.

It becomes useful when the prospect asks, “Wait, what do you do?” or “Who are you with again?”

That is when you need a short, simple, conversational answer. Not marketing copy. Not jargon. Not “we are the leading provider of blah blah blah.” Nobody asked for the brochure, Brad.

A good value statement should be:

  • Under 15 seconds
  • Simple
  • Conversational
  • Free of jargon
  • Focused on outcomes buyers care about

Example:

“We help sales teams get reps on the phone and selling during training.”

That works because a human can say it without dissociating.

DOWNLOAD: Sales Value Statement AI Prompt

Leave the Message

Voicemails are not dead. Bad voicemails are.

If you’re already making the call, leave a message. Keep it short. Use their name. Repeat your number. Pick one reason they should care. Leave them wanting more.

AI can help you write stronger voicemail scripts faster, but it cannot save a bad strategy. Give it the right framework, review what it gives you, and practice until it sounds like you.

The best voicemail does not sell the deal.

It earns the callback.

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


Sales Intros AI

, , , , ,

How to Use AI to Write a Better Sales Intro

Most sales call introductions fail because they sound exactly like sales call introductions.

You know the one. “Hi, my name is Lauren and I’m calling from XYZ Company, we’re the leading provider of blah blah blah…” The prospect checked out three seconds in. They’re scanning emails, mentally planning dinner, and looking for the fastest way off the phone.

That’s not a conversation. That’s a pitch disguised as a greeting. And it’s killing your pipeline.

After 20+ years of training Fortune 500 sales teams, I can tell you this: the reps who book the most meetings aren’t the ones with the best pitch. They’re the ones who get the prospect talking before they even realize they’ve taken a sales call.

Here’s how to use AI to craft a sales intro that’ll engage your prospects and get them talking.

First, Let’s Reframe What Selling Actually Is

Nobody wants to feel “salesy.” That word makes people cringe because of the stereotype: pushy, aggressive, slimy. A HubSpot poll found that only 3% of people trust salespeople. (Still just above politicians, so there’s that.)

But here’s what most people forget. Buying is fun. Think about the last thing you bought that made you genuinely happy. If buying feels great, then helping people get there should feel great too.

Selling is connecting one on one with another human to help them accomplish their goals. That’s the real definition. When you reach out to a prospect who’s stuck between “maybe” and “do nothing,” you’re not being pushy. You’re helping them get past the analysis paralysis. You’re making it easier to solve their problem.

Less than 10% of buyers will close themselves without any human help. That’s a lot of money left on the table because nobody picked up the phone.

WATCH: AI Sales Intros That Capture Leads in 30 Seconds

Why Phone Prospecting Still Matters

I know. You’d rather just email or DM people on LinkedIn. It’s more comfortable. It feels less intrusive.

It’s also three times less effective.

The noise in inboxes is deafening. Even with AI-personalized outreach, written messages alone don’t cut it anymore. The most efficient sales prospecting strategy uses all channels: social, email, and phone. But if you want the biggest results, you have to call.

Here’s the math. If you carve out one hour a day to reach out to 20 leads by phone, you’ll talk to one or two of them. Do that five days a week and you’ll touch 100 leads, have 5 to 10 real conversations, and rack up more than 200 first-base conversations in a year.

How many do you have now?

Research from CEB shows that 53% of the time, buyers will choose the seller who was first to add value. Not just first to reach out. First to actually be useful. That’s the key. Being first without adding value doesn’t work. Volume plus value does.

And here’s the thing most reps don’t realize: it takes 8 to 12 attempts to actually reach a decision maker. But nearly 50% of sellers give up after just one call. Less than 2% will make more than six. If you persist, you will be the first one to have a real conversation with that buyer. That’s a massive competitive advantage.

The Biggest Cold Call Introduction Mistakes Reps Make

Before we build a better intro, let’s talk about what’s broken. And let’s be clear: don’t be like every other rep who shows up and throws up. You know the ones.

Pickup and Pitch. “Hey, my name is Lauren and we’re the leading provider of this and that and I can da da da…” They just pitch. It’s pickup and pitch, and it gives sales a bad name. They didn’t pick up the phone to get pitched at. They picked up because they thought it was their kid’s school calling.

“Are you the person in charge of…?” I’ll lie to you to get out of having a sales call. This one screams sales call so loud that your prospect will say anything to end the conversation.

The Value Prop Intro. “Hi, this is Lauren. I’m calling with #GirlsClub, and we’re the premier community for women in revenue to get promoted faster.” Ugh. Shut up. I did not pick up the phone to hear your positioning statement. This is another very popular bad intro.

“Just calling to introduce myself.” Your mom might care. Nobody else does.

“Just calling to touch base.” Drum roll please. This is the most often used intro line in sales, and it’s horrible. Don’t touch my base. Don’t touch anything.

All of these fail for the same reason. They make the call about you. Your company. Your product. Your agenda. The prospect doesn’t care about any of that yet.

DOWNLOAD: 20 Value-Add Reasons to Call Your Customers

What a SWIIFT Sales Call Introduction Actually Is

SWIIFT stands for “So, What’s In It For Them”. It’s a call introduction framework designed to capture attention, get the prospect talking, and start a conversation before they realize they’ve taken a sales call.

A good SWIIFT intro does three things:

  • It’s under 10 seconds
  • It answers three questions: Who are you? What do you want? Why should I care?
  • It ends with questions that get the decision maker talking fast

The goal of your introduction is not to pitch. It’s not to gain credibility. It’s not to check off items on your call sheet. The goal is to get them talking. Because the second they start answering questions, they stop doing email. They stop multitasking. Now you’re in a conversation, and you’re on first base.

Here’s the formula:

  1. Their name (loud enough to be a pattern interrupt)
  2. Your name and company (abbreviated, fast, they’ll ask again later)
  3. One SWIIFT ear perk (a single value that makes them look up)
  4. 1 to 3 closed SWIIFT questions (easy to answer, gets them talking)

That’s it. No pitch. No product description. No “let me tell you about our award-winning platform.” Just enough to start a conversation.

The 6 Value Levers That Perk Up Attention (Plus One Bonus)

The ear perk is the secret sauce of the SWIIFT intro. It’s one short sentence that hits a value your prospect actually cares about. We call them the SWIIFT Six:

  1. Time – “I’m calling to save you some time on…” Everyone’s busy. Time savings always land.
  2. Money – “I’m calling to help you kick up the ROI on…” More revenue, less cost, better margins.
  3. Ease – “I’m calling to make this a lot easier for you.” This is the hot button for working parents and overwhelmed managers.
  4. Reputation – “I’m calling to make sure you’re the hero on this.” Looking good, being recognized, being the one who brought in the solution.
  5. Power – “I’m calling to help you get control over…” Control and influence motivate more people than you’d think.
  6. Risk – “I’m calling to pull all the risk out of…” Insurance, compliance, protection. If your product reduces exposure, lead with it.

Factor 8 SWIIFT 6

And the bonus lever: a name. When someone hears “Mark in Legal asked me to give you a call,” they instantly give you credibility. Levers like referrals, mutual connections, or internal names are the most powerful ear perks you can use.

Pick one. Just one. Your instinct will be to cram your entire value prop into this sentence. Resist. When I teach this in workshops and ask people what they remember from each other’s intros, they always say the same thing: one word. “Risk.” “Easier.” “ROI.” That’s all they heard. Don’t overcomplicate it.

You can use AI to help pick the right lever. Ask ChatGPT or your AI tool of choice: “Which of these six business values would a VP of Sales care most about?” or “What does a working mom in operations value most?” Then build your ear perk around the answer.

Why Closed Questions Beat Open Questions at the Start of a Cold Call

Here’s where I’m going to go against what every sales training has ever taught you.

Most sales trainers say always ask open-ended questions. And in discovery calls, that’s great. But on a cold call introduction, open questions are a disaster.

Think about it. Your prospect wasn’t expecting your call. They’re busy. They accidentally picked up. And now a stranger is asking, “What’s keeping you up at night when it comes to hiring?” Their brain tries to process it, can’t come up with an answer fast enough, recognizes you’re a salesperson, and decides to get rid of you.

Instead, use closed questions. Yes or no. A number. One or two words.

There’s a scientific phenomenon called instinctive elaboration. When someone asks you a question, your brain stops what it’s doing and hunts for the answer whether you want it to or not. If I ask, “How old are you?” a number popped into your head just now. That means it’s halfway out of your mouth.

Closed questions exploit this. They’re fast, they’re easy, and they get the prospect talking before they’ve had time to put up a wall.

Compare these two:

Option A: “You’ve got over 50 sellers on your team these days, right?”

Option B: “How have you and your team managed to attack virtual onboarding ramp times given that they’re getting longer at most companies I work with now that work is remote?”

You stopped listening in the middle of B. So did your prospect. A is the winner, every time.

How to Tell If Your AI-Written Sales Intro Actually Works

Let’s put it all together. Here are two complete SWIIFT intros side by side. One works. One doesn’t. If you’re using AI to generate intros, this is how you evaluate what it gives you.

Option A: “LB here with Factor 8. I’m calling to see if I can help your team hit quota sooner. Are you primarily B2B there? Do you outbound or inbound? How many sellers under you?”

Option B: “LB here with Factor 8. We’re the leading provider of virtual sales skills for inside sales teams. We work with companies like yours to shorten new hire ramp. Is that interesting to you?”

A is the winner. Hands down.

A leads with one value (hitting quota sooner), then immediately gets the prospect talking with three fast, closed questions. B leads with a company pitch and ends with a question that’s basically asking the prospect to reject you.

“Is that interesting to you?” is an invitation to say no. “How many sellers under you?” is an invitation to have a conversation.

Now here’s what it looks like when you add a lever:

“Mark? LB here with Factor 8. Your VP of Sales asked me to give you a call and I promised him I would. Have you worked with David for a while now? Are you running inside sales or field sales for him? How many reps on your team?”

That’s three easy questions. By the time they answer the second one, you’re in a conversation and they’ve forgotten they accidentally picked up a sales call. That’s first base.

How to Use AI to Draft Sales Intros Without Sounding Like a Bot

AI is a fantastic tool for generating SWIIFT intros. But it’s a starting point, not the finish line.

Here’s how to use it well. Feed your AI tool these inputs:

  • Who you’re selling to (title, industry, persona)
  • What your product does in one sentence
  • Which of the SWIIFT Six values resonates most with your buyer
  • Your name and company name (abbreviated)

Then ask it to generate a SWIIFT intro under 10 seconds with one value-based ear perk and two to three closed questions.

DOWNLOAD: The SWIIFT℠ Intro AI Prompt

What you’ll get back will be close. But you’ll need to do two things: cut it shorter (AI loves to be wordy) and make it sound like you. Read it out loud. If it sounds like a brochure, rewrite it. If it sounds like something you’d say to a friend’s colleague at a barbecue, you’re golden.

The best reps use AI to generate five or six variations, pick the best one, and then practice it until it feels natural. That’s the move.

Grade Your Intro Before You Dial

Before you pick up the phone, run your SWIIFT intro through this checklist:

  • Is it under 10 seconds?
  • Does it answer who you are, what you want, and why they should care?
  • Does it use a single value (not three stacked together)?
  • Does it end with 1 to 3 closed, easy-to-answer questions?
  • Would it perk your ear if you heard it?
  • Would you actually answer those questions?

If you can check every box, you’re ready. If not, shorten it, sharpen the value, and simplify the questions.

Get the Conversation, Not the Pitch

You can’t close more deals until you talk to more people. You can’t talk to more people if your intro sounds like every other sales call they’ve gotten this week.

Stop leading with your company name, your product features, or your credentials. Start leading with what’s in it for them. Be SWIIFT. Keep it under 10 seconds. Get them talking. And remember: the goal of the intro isn’t to sell anything. It’s to start a conversation.

Because nobody ever bought anything during a sales call introduction. But plenty of deals started with one.

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


consultative selling

, , , , , ,

5 Consultative Selling Techniques for Today’s Buyers

What is consultative selling?

Consultative selling is about helping buyers solve real business challenges, not just walking them through your product or sales process. It means asking better questions, listening for what actually matters, and guiding the buyer to the right decision.

It’s less about pitching and more about understanding, advising, and adding value in every conversation.

Simple enough, right?

Here’s the problem: Most sales teams think they’re already doing this.

They ask a few questions. They check a few boxes. Then they move into their pitch or demo and call it “consultative.” Let’s be clear… that’s not consultative selling. That’s qualification with better branding.

And buyers feel the difference.

what customers want

Today’s buyers are tougher to reach, harder to impress, and quicker to disengage. They’re researching solutions before they ever talk to sales. By the time they do, they already know the basics and expect you to bring insight, not information. Add in AI flooding their inbox with “personalized” outreach, and generic discovery and follow-up are easier than ever to ignore.

Consultative selling still works. But the old version doesn’t.

If your calls are focused on your process instead of their situation, if your demo looks the same every time, or if your follow-up sounds like everyone else’s, you’re not standing out. You’re blending in.

The good news? This is fixable.

Here are five ways to modernize your consultative selling so your conversations actually move deals forward.

WATCH: 5 Ways to Modernize Your Consultative Selling

1. Stop confusing qualification with consultative selling

This is where most teams get it wrong.

They think if they ask about budget, timeline, current setup, and decision criteria, they’re being consultative. You’re not. You’re qualifying. And listen, qualification matters. You need it. But if that’s the entire conversation, it feels transactional.

Buyers don’t want to sit through a checklist. They want someone who understands what’s actually going on in their business. Their situation, yes. But more importantly, their challenges.

Let’s be honest for a second. If your SDR calls are two minutes long, or your reps are jumping from surface-level questions straight into next steps, you’re not being consultative. If your AEs get to a second call and still don’t understand the business problem, you’ve already lost ground.

Not consultative

Consultative selling starts with understanding the situation and the challenge, not just gathering qualification data. When you get that right, everything else gets easier. When you don’t, the rest of the deal is built on assumptions.

2. Meet buyers where they are, not where your process starts

Your sales process is not the buyer’s priority.

Buyers today are doing their homework before they ever talk to you. They’re using AI, reading reviews, comparing vendors, and forming opinions early. By the time they show up, they’re often already well into their decision.

Buying vs. sales process

And then we reset them.

We run the same discovery. The same demo. The same sequence we’ve always used. It’s frustrating, and it slows the deal down.

Instead, ask a better question early: “Tell me where you are in your process.”

That question gives you immediate context. You understand how far along they are, what they’ve already evaluated, and what they still need. From there, your job is to guide them, not restart them.

Here’s the thing. Buyers may know more than they used to, but they still don’t know how to buy your solution the right way. That’s where consultative selling shows up. Not in controlling the process, but in helping them navigate it.

3. Ask better consultative selling questions before you pitch anything

The number one mistake in consultative selling is premature pitching.

We’ve all done it. You hear something that sounds familiar, connect a few dots, and jump into solution mode. It feels efficient. It feels helpful. It’s not.

When you pitch too early, you’re guessing. And when you guess wrong, you lose trust.

Most reps think they’re asking good questions, but a lot of those questions don’t actually move the deal forward. They check a box, lead into a pitch, or stay too high-level to uncover anything meaningful.

Good consultative questions go deeper. They uncover what’s happening right now, what’s not working, and what the impact of that problem really is. They clarify what success looks like and what matters most to the buyer.

And this is the part most people miss…

It’s not just about what they need. It’s about what they value.

Time. Money. Ease. Risk. Reputation. Control.

Factor 8 SWIIFT 6

If you don’t know which one matters most, you can’t position your solution in a way that actually lands. You’ll fall back on features and functions instead of real benefits.

Questions aren’t a step before the pitch. They’re what make the pitch relevant.

4. Use AI to improve your consultative selling, not replace it

AI is everywhere in sales right now. Reps are using it for emails, research, call summaries, and forecasting. Buyers are using it too, which means the bar is higher.

If you’re using AI to create generic outreach or surface-level prep, you’re just adding to the noise. Buyers can spot it instantly.

The better move is to use AI to prepare smarter before the conversation.

Ask it what challenges your target industry is dealing with right now. Ask for strong discovery questions based on your ICP. Ask what buyers at different stages of the process care about most.

AI sales research

Now you’re walking into the conversation with context and intention.

That’s where AI actually helps consultative selling. It makes you more prepared. It does not make you more consultative on its own.

Because AI can’t listen. It can’t adapt. It can’t build trust in real time.

That part is still on you.

5. Make every follow-up part of the consultative experience

“Just checking in.”

We’ve got to retire it.

If your follow-up doesn’t add value, it’s getting ignored. Modern consultative selling doesn’t stop after the call. It shows up in every touchpoint.

Every follow-up should help the buyer think, decide, or move forward.

That could look like:

  • Sharing a relevant insight or trend
  • Sending a recap with clear next steps
  • Providing a case study tied to their challenge
  • Asking a question that moves their thinking forward
  • Offering a resource that helps them avoid a mistake

consultative nurture touches

If it doesn’t do one of those things, it’s noise.

And buyers don’t have time for noise anymore.

A simple rule to keep in mind… if your outreach doesn’t add value, don’t send it.

DOWNLOAD: 20 Value-Add Reasons to Call Your Customers

What is the biggest mistake in consultative selling?

The biggest mistake in consultative selling is pitching too early before fully understanding the buyer’s situation, challenges, and priorities.

When reps rush to solution mode, they skip the part that actually builds trust and relevance. That’s where deals stall, or disappear entirely.

Here’s the main takeaway

Consultative selling isn’t about asking more questions. It’s about asking better ones.

It’s not about slowing the process down. It’s about helping buyers make sense of it faster. And it’s definitely not about sounding polished while running the same play you’ve used for years.

Today’s buyers want someone who can understand their situation, guide them through decisions, and actually add value in every interaction.

If your team can do that, you’re not just being consultative.

You’re being useful.

And that’s what closes deals now.

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


5 Tips to Transition from Field to Inside Sales

, , , , ,

5 Tips to Transition from Field to Inside Sales

There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it – virtual selling is here to stay, folks. That’s why the transition from field to inside sales is becoming more prevalent.

If you’ve spent years perfecting the art of in-person selling and are struggling (or resisting) the shift to virtual, it’s time to get on track and embrace it.

I get it – virtual selling is a whole different ball game where reaching contacts is harder, your sales cycle is longer, talk tracks are shorter, and a whole slew of other things you’re not used to.

That’s why I took 30 minutes on our recent Sales Shot to break down key virtual and hybrid work practices that will help you feel like a superstar again.

Whether you’ve been at it for a while or recently transitioned, these are tips you can start implementing RIGHT NOW to help you fill those holes in your pipeline.

DOWNLOAD: How to Sell to the CFO to Keep Deals Moving

Pick Up The Phone

Do you like baseball? (Even if you don’t, stick with me for a minute.)

Home base is closing the deal and having a happy client – but you can’t get to home base if you aren’t even on first! First base is getting someone on the phone.

Chances are, they’re not going to pick up on the first try. In fact, less than 20% will connect on that initial call. Even if it takes 12 attempts to connect – you keep calling!

Research shows that 30% of leads are never even contacted at all. That’s a ton of missed opportunity. Especially when you consider that 82% of buyers admit they bought something after a series of cold calls. 

So, moral of the story: Pick. Up. The. Phone.

Always Leave a Voicemail

If you’re making all these calls, you’d absolutely better be leaving a voicemail – a GREAT voicemail. In fact, make voicemails your new BFF!

Voicemails have a few different goals. The most obvious one is getting a callback. Realistically, most of them are probably never going to get returned. But here’s what you CAN do: create a positive impression of yourself and your company, and guilt them into either picking up the phone or eventually calling back. So, get creative and make it fun!

The 4 most effective types of voicemails are:

  • Lever – Drop their first name, reference one of their coworkers, mention a previous rep they worked with – something that’s going to get their attention! Whatever you do, make it about them!
  • Mystery – Keeping the message short and vague can pique their interest.
  • Urgency – Are you running a limited promo on a product or service? Are they losing money by the minute if they aren’t using your product? Give them a reason to JUMP!
  • Value – There are 6 of them we teach (remember SWIIFT℠, everyone?), but remember that during economic challenges people tend to care most about saving money and mitigating risk.

Whatever you do, ALWAYS leave a voicemail. No voicemail = no touch. It’s like buying a billboard and leaving it blank. Yikes!

Quick Tip: Send an email right after you leave a voicemail. Your likelihood of getting a response is MUCH higher when you mix voicemail + email. 

Embrace Smaller Goals

A year ago, your quota probably looked a whole lot different than today. So, take your goals and break them up into smaller, more achievable pieces!

The average successful call is now just 3.5 minutes! 

Structure your calls around these 3 key questions:

  • What do I need to learn?
  • What do I want them to know?
  • What commitment do I want to close?

Qualify Your Leads

Do NOT go through an alphabetical list of prospects and pick away at it until you get to Z.

Take the time to actually qualify your leads and call based on that score! You’ll have A,B, C, and D leads (and you can probably skip the D leads). Start with your A leads and work your way down the list until you finish the C leads.

As a general rule, here’s how often to call each lead:

  • A leads = 10-12 dials
  • B leads = 8 dials
  • C leads = 6 dials

Build A Bridge to Call #2

If you got someone talking on the phone after a cold call, the hardest part is over. So make sure you’re taking advantage of it by ALWAYS scheduling the next step WHILE you’re on the call.

Can you schedule the follow-up call now? How about sending a calendar invite with the next meeting’s info? Have you given your cell number to get theirs?

Give yourself permission to call back by urging them to look at their calendar and confirming when you’ll be connecting again.

WATCH: Transitioning from Field to Virtual Selling

Keep in mind, the more you try out these tips, the easier it gets and the more success you’ll see. So get on the virtual train with the rest of us and start building that pipeline. You got this!

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


sales prospecting

, , , , , , , ,

7+ Sales Prospecting Tactics to Build Pipeline Fast

Prospecting is the part of sales most reps would happily outsource, avoid, or procrastinate on if given the chance. And the data backs that up.

In our most recent research, 60% of reps say prospecting is the hardest part of the sales cycle. No wonder pipelines feel harder to build than ever.

But here’s the catch.

Prospecting might be uncomfortable, time-consuming, and frustrating, yet it’s still the single biggest driver of pipeline. 

No prospecting means no conversations.
No conversations means no meetings.
No meetings mean no deals.
And no deals means a very awkward forecast meeting.

What makes this even more painful is that most sellers are putting in the time. They’re just spending it in the wrong places.

Our data shows reps spend the majority of their prospecting effort on email, social (hello LinkedIn), and texting because it feels safer and easier. Less rejection. Fewer awkward moments. More boxes checked.

But when you look at the meetings that actually get booked and the deals that actually close, the story flips.

The phone consistently ranks as the most effective channel. Leaders see this gap clearly too. Nearly 40% of sales leaders say they wish their reps would pick up the phone more.

phone sales stat

And buyers? They’re not nearly as anti-phone as sellers think.
82% of buyers say they’ve accepted meetings after multiple cold calls, and 74% say they choose the seller who is first to add value.

In other words, prospecting isn’t broken. The way most sellers are taught to do it is.

Prospecting isn’t about grinding longer hours, blasting more messages, or hoping something sticks. It’s about prepping smarter, planning your day, and knowing exactly what to say and why before you ever pick up the phone.

Why Prospecting Feels So Hard Right Now (And Why You Still Can’t Skip It)

Selling today is loud.

Buyer inboxes are flooded. Spam filters are smarter. LinkedIn DMs are packed with copy-and-paste messages. AI has made it easier than ever to send more outreach, which means buyers are spending more time ignoring it.

At the same time, buyers are busy. Internal meetings. Budget reviews. Tool fatigue. Decision fatigue. Even when interest exists, attention is scarce.

Sellers feel this every day. In our research, reps are not asking for more pressure or more meetings. They want tools that make their job easier and training that helps them say the right thing. Managers feel the strain too. Burnout is real.

So yes, prospecting feels harder than it used to.

But here’s the part that hasn’t changed. You still can’t skip it.

Prospecting is how pipeline starts. It is how conversations begin. It is how deals enter the funnel instead of magically appearing halfway through it. What has changed is that the old spray-and-pray approach does not survive in this environment.

More emails will not fix it.
More automation will not fix it.
And “just try harder” definitely will not fix it.

Modern prospecting requires intention. Knowing who you are calling, why you are calling them, and what you are trying to accomplish in that moment. Not jumping straight to a pitch. Not forcing a meeting ask before you have earned it.

The answer is not more activity. It is better preparation.

The Real Goal of Prospecting (And Why Most Sellers Get It Wrong)

Most sellers go into prospecting with one goal in mind. Book the meeting.

On the surface, that makes sense. Meetings lead to opportunities. Opportunities lead to deals. Deals make quota feel slightly less awful.

But this mindset is where prospecting starts to break down.

When sellers treat every call, email, or voicemail like it has to end in a meeting, messages get heavy fast. Value props show up too early. Case studies sneak into voicemails. Discovery questions get asked before a buyer has even agreed to talk. Outreach starts sounding like a pitch instead of an invitation.

It also makes rejection feel personal. When the goal is “get the meeting,” anything short of a yes feels like failure. That wears people down quickly, especially when most prospecting attempts will not convert on the first touch.

Here’s the shift.

The goal of prospecting is not to book the meeting.
The goal is to start the conversation.

You cannot get home if you cannot get on first.

Prospecting works when you break it into smaller, more realistic goals.

  • Get their attention
  • Get a response
  • Get them talking

Once someone replies, calls you back, or engages, you have earned the right to sell. Not before.

This is why shorter messages work better than longer ones. Why curiosity beats credibility early. And why sellers who focus on engagement instead of pitching consistently build more pipeline with less effort.

Prospecting is not about forcing an outcome. It is about opening the door.

Prospecting Emails, Voicemails, and Call Intros Are Not the Time to Sell

This is where a lot of sellers lose momentum before they ever get started.

Early outreach is not the place to pitch. It is not the place for your value prop, your customer logos, your case studies, or your discovery questions. When sellers try to sell too early, buyers do exactly what you would do. They scan, decide “no,” and move on.

The purpose of early outreach is simple.

Get noticed. Get a response. Start a conversation.

That is it.

sales email script

When sellers treat prospecting like a mini sales presentation, messages get long, tone gets salesy, and response rates drop fast. Shorter, lighter, more human outreach consistently works better because it respects the buyer’s time and attention.

Think engagement first. Selling comes later.

Speed Wins. Shorter Messages Work Better.

One of the biggest prospecting myths is that more preparation always equals better results. In reality, over-preparing often slows sellers down and keeps them stuck in research mode instead of having real conversations.

Speed matters in prospecting.

Shorter messages are easier to listen to, read, and respond to. Buyers are far more likely to engage with something that feels quick and low effort than something that feels like homework.

LinkedIn outreach script

This applies across every channel:

  • Short call intros beat long explanations
  • Short voicemails beat detailed messages
  • Short emails beat value prop dumps

Your job is not to explain everything. Your job is to earn the next step.

Phone Still Works. You Just Need Support from Other Channels.

Despite how uncomfortable it feels, the phone continues to outperform every other channel when it comes to booking meetings and closing deals.

That does not mean email, LinkedIn, or text are useless. They matter. They support the phone. They reinforce familiarity. They help warm things up.

But they work best when they are part of a plan, not the plan.

The strongest prospecting strategies use multiple channels together, with the phone leading the way and digital channels supporting it.

How to Prep Before You Ever Start Prospecting

Good prospecting starts before the first dial. The goal is not to research everything. It is to prepare just enough so you can move quickly and stay consistent.

When Should You Call

Timing matters more than most sellers think. You don’t need to guess or test endlessly. Patterns are pretty consistent.

  • Best days to call: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
  • Best times to call: 8–9am and 4–6pm (local time)
  • Reaching executives: Before 8:30am and after 5pm
  • Sneaky underrated window: Friday late afternoon

Calling at the right time doesn’t guarantee a conversation, but calling at the wrong time almost guarantees you won’t get one.

What You Need Ready Before You Call
  • A clear call goal
  • A short, practiced call intro
  • One rapport builder
  • A simple value hook
  • A voicemail plan if they do not answer

That is it.

You do not need pricing.
You do not need a case study.
You do not need their full job history.

Less is more.

DOWNLOAD: How to Plan for Prospecting

Group Your Leads to Save Time

Prospecting gets dramatically easier when you stop treating every lead like a brand-new project.

Common ways to group leads include:

  • CRM history or past activity
  • Trigger events
  • Role, industry, or company size
  • Location or territory
  • Social or personal connection

Grouping leads allows you to stay focused, consistent, and fast.

Group Your Research Too

You do not need to reinvent your prep for every single person.

Group your research around:

What should be personalized every time is the rapport builder. Everything else can be reused and refined.

READ: What Is the SWIIFT℠ Selling Methodology?

Never Prepare Twice

Future you will thank present you for taking better notes.

Capture:

  • Which group the lead is in
  • Which value hook you used
  • The rapport builder
  • Your call goal
  • The type of voicemail you left

This keeps follow-up clean, relevant, and efficient.

Why Voicemails Matter More Than You Think

If you are calling and not leaving voicemails, you are doing extra work for nothing.

Voicemails are touches. Touches create familiarity. Familiarity drives responses.

The most effective voicemails typically fall into one of these categories:

  • Urgency
  • Mystery
  • Value
  • Leverage

sales voicemail scripts

You do not need to explain everything. You just need to give them a reason to call you back.

What to Do When They Pick Up

When a buyer answers, the goal does not change.

Do not pitch. Engage them.

WATCH: Why You Need To Stop Pitching & Lead With Value Instead

The strongest conversations follow a simple flow:

  • Show appreciation for their time
  • Use a light rapport builder
  • Share a clear SWIIFT-style goal
  • Offer a pain reliever
  • Add a credibility booster if needed
  • Ask for a low-pressure next step

SWIIFT intro

Selling happens after the response, not before it.

Prospecting Is a Skill, Not a Personality Trait

Prospecting feels hard because most sellers were never taught how to do it well. They were taught to grind, push through rejection, and figure it out on their own.

There is a better way.

Prospecting works when sellers prep smarter, plan their day, and focus on conversations instead of outcomes. When done right, it takes less time, creates better engagement, and builds healthier pipeline.

Prospecting is not broken.
It just needs to be done differently.

And when it is, everything downstream gets easier.

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


Sales Tips for Non-Sellers

,

Selling is Helping: A New Mindset for Non-Traditional Sellers

If you’re a customer service rep or project manager, or really anyone who’s suddenly been asked to “sell”, you might be feeling a little…grossed out.

You’re not alone.

When most people hear “sales,” their minds immediately flash to that pushy, used-car-salesman stereotype. We get it. Nobody wants to be that person, and honestly, that’s part of why sales gets such a bad rap.

At Factor 8, we actually surveyed sellers and asked them what they associate with being in sales. Guess what? Even sellers had some negative words pop up!

Feeling hesitant about selling doesn’t mean you’re broken, it means you’re normal.

But here’s the truth: sales today is different. And if you can shift your mindset, you’ll not only survive it, you’ll thrive at it.

Why We Fear Sales

Let’s rip the band-aid off with a hard stat: Only 3% of people trust salespeople, according to a HubSpot study.

(Still slightly better than politicians though, so there’s that.)

Add to that another eye-opener: 75% of people fail out of sales.

Why? Because they’re doing it wrong.

The old-school “convince and push” sales approach doesn’t work anymore. It feels bad for the buyer, and honestly, it feels bad for you too.

Reframing Sales: Selling Is Helping

Here’s your new mantra: Selling is helping.

Think about it. People love to buy. Buying is exciting! But when we feel “sold to,” we lock up. We get stuck in research mode. We overthink. We hesitate.

That’s where great sellers — helpers — step in.

Instead of pushing products, you help people move forward.

You help them:

  • Get unstuck from analysis paralysis
  • Weigh options and make smart decisions
  • Solve real problems
  • Reach their goals faster

When you shift your mindset from “closing deals” to “helping humans,” you’re doing sales the right way. And it feels really good.

Why Your Role Matters More Than Ever

 Marketing is doing more heavy lifting these days, using websites, social media, and chatbots to educate and engage buyers before they ever talk to sales.

But there’s still a critical moment when a human being (you!) needs to step in.

Because when it’s time for a customer to:

  • Talk through options
  • Ask tough questions
  • Get real-world advice
  • Feel confident in their decision

A human helper beats a chatbot every time.

And it matters…a lot.

Studies show that a customer’s experience with their salesperson has more impact on their loyalty than product features or pricing combined.

Translation: You make a difference.

Quick Gut Check: Are You Selling or Helping?

Ask yourself:

  • How much of my conversation is about my product?
  • How much is about their goals?

The more you focus on helping your customer accomplish their goals (not just selling your stuff) the better you’ll feel about selling.

(And the faster you’ll climb the leaderboard.)

Selling isn’t about being slick. It’s not about tricks. It’s not about pressure.

It’s about connecting with another human being, providing them value, understanding their goals, and helping them get there.

If you embrace that, you’ll not only feel better about sales, you’ll love it.

So go ahead, proudly say it:

“I’M IN SALES!”

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


AI for sales prospecting

, , , , ,

Best AI Tools, Tips, And Prompts For Sales Prospecting

If your reps are still using AI like it’s 2023 (or not using it at all), they’re already behind. In our Sales Shot, I sat down with four sales pros and AI enthusiasts whose teams are actually using AI for sales prospecting, not just talking about it. We’re talking AI-enhanced targeting and prospect research, coaching bots, live conversation sentiment tracking, even inbound AI voice agents that are outperforming humans (yes, really – so, will AI take over sales jobs? That’s a topic for another blog!) 

Here’s what went down, and the best AI tools, tips, and prompts you’ll want to steal.

Smarter Targeting and Prospect Research

We kicked off with a game-changer: using AI to make sure you’re calling the right people. David Kreiger, SalesRoads, shared how his team uses Clay to qualify leads before reps ever pick up the phone. It pulls company data and uses AI to tell you if a prospect actually fits your ICP, saves hours of manual research, and gets your team focused on the right accounts.

John Buckley (from Sell Better’s Daily Sales Show) showed us Agent.ai, a no-code agent that scores a company for outbound fit with a single URL. He’s trained it on his ICP so it gives a quick thumbs-up or “hard pass.” No prompt writing needed.

Jax Gill (from Inspira Financial) took it even further. She trains ChatGPT to review a company’s website and her prospect’s LinkedIn profile, then find common ground to help her build rapport fast. She even gives it a list of her solutions and asks for possible pain points to reference in the convo. It’s like AI-powered pre-call prep, minus the rabbit holes.

Prompt ideas to steal:

  • “Here’s my ICP. Here’s this company’s website. Is this a fit or not? Why?”
  • “Compare my LinkedIn profile to [prospect’s name]’s. What do we have in common?”
  • “Given this company and our services, what pain points can I lead with?”
Better AI Sales Prospecting Emails and Messaging

Let’s talk outbound emails. Doug Gibb’s team at Waste Management uses Conquer with GenAI email, which drafts emails based on past conversations and makes sure they don’t miss a promised follow-up. It pulls call and email history straight into Salesforce, so everything’s in one place.

David dropped this gem: if you write more than three emails a week, build a custom GPT. He’s trained his to match his tone and voice. Upload 50 of your best emails, and now your GPT can write in your style. It’s faster, but more importantly, it’s better.

WATCH: How to Build a Custom ChatGPT (shared by David)

James added Oliv to the mix. This tool sends him a cheat sheet before every call with company background, team bios, and even icebreakers. “Ask Chloe about her transition from radio hosting to content marketing” is way better than “Hope you’re well.”

One big reminder from everyone: AI-generated emails shouldn’t sound AI-generated. If your message is filled with fluff, jargon, or emojis in every line, it’s going straight to trash. Your prospects can smell it. Use AI to help, but still bring your brain.

Prompt ideas to steal:

  • “Use my tone. Write a prospecting email for this company using the info from our last call.”
  • “Summarize this LinkedIn profile in one sentence I can use as a cold email opener.”
  • “Rewrite this message to sound more human, less like it came from a bot.”
Coaching, Confidence, and Call Reviews

AI isn’t just helping reps do the work. It’s helping them get better at it. David recommends using AI to coach yourself after calls. His reps drop their call transcripts into ChatGPT and ask for feedback. What could I have done better? What questions did I miss? It gives them a score and action steps to improve.

Jax uses AI before the call. She practices objections with ChatGPT in persona-mode. “Be a tough IT Director. Push back on cost.” It gives her reps a safe space to screw up and get better.

Doug’s team uses Conquer to transcribe and summarize every call. It flags sentiment dips, highlights next steps, and scores reps on their delivery. That all feeds into Ambition, where managers get a full coaching report before every one-on-one. And yes, even new managers can coach like pros because the system shows them exactly what to focus on.

We also shouted out Grw AI, a tool for roleplay call coaching. Reps can practice calls and get feedback based on real frameworks. It’s like flight simulator training for sellers.

I also shared how much I love using Fathom for call notes. I just click a button and boom, it gives me a clean sales summary with top pain points, current situation, and next steps. It’s fast, easy, and way more useful than generic transcripts. Use it for internal calls too to help you take notes and create to-dos.

Prompt ideas to steal:

  • “You’re a skeptical IT Director. Let’s roleplay a cold call. Push back on price and security.”
  • “Here’s my call transcript. What could I have done better? Give me a grade.”
  • “Give me 3 coaching questions to reflect on after this call.”
Real-Time Insights and In-the-Moment Support

Sales moves fast. Reps don’t have time to dig through notes or scroll LinkedIn for the latest news. That’s where real-time insights come in.

James’s tip: Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator alerts. Ring the bell on your top prospects and accounts. You’ll get notified when they change jobs, get promoted, or post. Instant reason to reach out. That’s prospecting fuel your team is probably ignoring.

Doug’s team uses Ambition’s pre-read feature to prep for coaching. It pulls 90 days of call scores, KPIs, pipeline data, and even sentiment analysis so managers walk into meetings ready. Their AI-based pipeline insights show if deals are stuck, what changed, and where to focus.

David shared Trellus, a power dialer that lets reps pause mid-call to get AI-powered coaching suggestions. It’s like having a manager in your ear without the pressure.

Prompt ideas to steal:

  • “Give me coaching advice based on this sales call recording.”
  • “Summarize this opportunity pipeline for my one-on-one. What’s stuck and why?”
  • “If my rep is below target on discovery, what should I review with them this week?”
AI for Inbound, Enablement, and Emotional Intelligence

You didn’t think AI was just for outbound, did you? David’s team is using Sela for inbound calls, and it’s outperforming human reps in tier-one qualification. The AI calls the lead, asks 2–3 qualifying questions, and routes the hot ones straight to an SDR. It’s efficient, repeatable, and for simple calls, often better than a live person.

James brought up Sybill, which reads facial expressions and body language during video calls. It sends post-call insights like, “Your buyer leaned back and widened their eyes when you said pricing.” That’s gold for follow-up and helps reps refine their messaging and emotional timing.

And of course, Doug’s team uses Microsoft Copilot, a company-approved, closed AI system integrated into their workflows. Their AI governance committee ensures compliance, which matters when your team is 50,000 strong.

Bonus tip from Jax: Use ChatGPT as your personal hype woman. “Give me a pre-call pep talk.” Or ask it to roast you. Either way, you’re showing up more confident.

Prompt ideas to steal:

  • “Pretend you’re my mentor. Give me a 30-second pep talk before this big sales call.”
  • “Roast me. What could I do better in my outbound pitch?”
  • “Act like a buyer. Ask me 3 tough qualifying questions based on this service.”

READ: Confessions from a Late-Adopter: The Truth About AI for Revenue and Enablement Leaders

This session wasn’t fluff. These are real leaders, using real tools, getting real results. If your team is still scared of AI or waiting for some “perfect system,” you’re already behind.

The final takeaway?

“Use the time AI saves you to do the task better. Not faster. Better.”
– David Kreiger

TL;DR – Here are the best AI sales tools and how our panelists are using them:

  • Agent.ai – James built an agent that scores companies instantly based on ICP fit, eliminating the need for prompt engineering
  • Ambition – Doug uses it to prep managers for coaching with pre-read insights that include sentiment, pipeline data, and call scores
  • ChatGPT – Jax shared how her team uses ChatGPT to simulate prospect objections and refine messaging before high-stakes calls; it’s like having a role-play coach on standby
  • Clay – David uses Clay to pre-qualify leads and filter out non-ICP accounts, saving reps hours of manual research
  • Conquer – Doug’s team uses it to auto-draft follow-ups based on call history and transcribe every conversation for coaching
  • Fathom – We use Fathom here at Factor 8 to summarize sales calls and uncover real buyer pain points. Tip: Use it for both internal and external meetings to quickly extract key details, create to-do lists, and skip manual note-taking
  • Grw AI – Lauren and Jax called it a flight simulator for sales; perfect for reps to practice and build confidence before high-stakes calls
  • Microsoft Copilot – James noted that Copilot helps his team save time by summarizing long email threads and prepping for meetings straight from Outlook and Teams
  • Oliv – James loves Oliv for the call prep emails, especially the personalized icebreakers like asking about career transitions
  • Sybill – Doug mentioned using Sybill to flag buyer reactions mid-call, helping reps spot hesitation or interest and follow up more strategically
  • Sela – David says Sela outperforms humans for tier-1 inbound lead qualification and is being used successfully in production
  • Trellus – David mentioned reps can pause a call and get live coaching advice based on the persona or objection they’re handling

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


overcome brush-offs

, , , ,

How to Overcome Brush-Offs (and Get Prospects Talking)

Let’s face it, every seller has been brushed off (and probably quite often).

“I’m not interested.”

“We’re all set.”

“I don’t have time right now.”

Sound familiar? If you’re making outbound sales calls, cold or warm, you’ve heard these before. But here’s the good news: Brush-offs are not objections. And when you know how to handle them, you can double your talk time, increase your conversion rates, and book more meetings.

I’ve broken down my 6 tips and tactics to help you beat the brush-off and turn dismissals into meaningful conversations. Let’s dive in!

Brush-Offs Are NOT Objections

Objections happen late in the sales cycle after you’ve made your pitch and the buyer has concerns, usually about price, timing, or fit. Brush-offs? They happen early, and they’re not objections at all.

sales objection examples

Think of a brush-off like an automatic reflex. It’s the prospect’s way of saying, “I don’t have time for a sales pitch right now.” That’s all it is. And it doesn’t mean they aren’t a good fit or won’t buy from you later. It just means they don’t know you… yet.

So, what’s your job? Keep the conversation going, show them you’re different, and provide value ASAP.

READ: How to Keep Prospects on the Phone

Brush-Offs Are Uninformed (That’s Good News!)

Prospects brush you off because they don’t know who you are or what you’re selling. That’s great news! It means they haven’t actually rejected you, they just haven’t heard your value yet.

This is why you should never “kill” a lead based on a brush-off. Too many sellers give up too quickly, assuming the lead is a dead end. In reality, the prospect just isn’t paying attention.

Here’s why you shouldn’t take brush-offs personally:

  • They’re often automatic responses, not actual decisions
  • The prospect is likely multitasking or distracted 
  • They don’t remember you yet (if you call back, you get another chance)

Your instinct might be to respond to the brush-off directly (“Oh, but we can save you 20%!”). DON’T DO THAT. That just gets you lumped in with every other pushy salesperson. Instead, sidestep it. Keep the conversation going by staying confident and trying again.

  • If it’s a high-value lead, try them at least 10 times before moving on. They won’t even remember they brushed you off the first time.
  • Call back quickly. If someone brushes you off today, try them again tomorrow. They probably won’t remember the first attempt, and this time, they may actually listen.
  • Don’t answer the brush-off directly. Beat it instead. Instead of reacting to “I’m not interested,” keep control of the conversation and guide it where you want it to go.

By understanding that brush-offs are uninformed and automatic, you can push past them and start real conversations.

The REAL “Objection” Behind the Brush-Off

When someone brushes you off, what are they really saying?

  • I’m busy.
  • I don’t like sales calls.
  • I don’t know who you are yet.
  • I assume you’re like every other seller who’s going to pitch me something useless.

brush-off examples

The key to overcoming a brush-off is understanding what’s underneath it. Most brush-offs aren’t real objections, they’re reactions to an interruption. Your prospect isn’t rejecting your solution; they’re rejecting the idea of being sold to in that moment. Your job is to shift their perception of you.

Here’s how to uncover the real meaning behind their response:

  • Listen for patterns. Is their response rushed? Dismissive? A sign they don’t trust salespeople? Recognizing their tone helps you respond appropriately.
  • Acknowledge and reframe. Instead of pushing back, show you understand: “I hear you. Sounds like you’ve got a lot going on right now.” This lowers their defenses.
  • Use curiosity to break through. Ask a question that shifts their attention, like: “Would you say Q4 is your busiest quarter?” or “Out of curiosity, is this something you handle directly, or does someone else manage it?” When they engage, they’re opening the door for a real conversation.

The goal isn’t to argue with their brush-off, it’s to help them rethink it.

WATCH: How To Overcome Brush-Offs On Sales Calls

Get Them Talking (It’s Like Buying a Drink!)

If you’ve ever bought someone a drink at a bar, you know the goal isn’t to “close the deal” in 30 seconds. It’s to start a conversation. The same applies here.

When a prospect gives you a brush-off, they aren’t thinking deeply about your offer, they’re reacting instinctively. Your job is to interrupt that instinctive response and guide them into an actual conversation. 

The best way to do that? Use the CCO Framework (Closed, Closed, Open) to break through their initial resistance. Start with simple, closed questions to get them talking, like “Is this a crazy time of year for you?” or “Would you say Q4 is typically your busiest quarter?” Once they’re engaged, move to an open question that invites more thought, like “Is this for a short sales cycle, or do deals take months to close?” By following this structure, you can take control of the conversation and steer it toward a meaningful discussion.

CCO framework

As a reminder, a brush-off is different from an objection. An objection is a real, considered response to your pitch, something they’ve thought about and have a concern over, like pricing, timing, or relevance. A brush-off, on the other hand, is a knee-jerk reaction designed to end the conversation before it even starts. Your job isn’t to overcome an objection here, it’s to keep them talking long enough to break their automatic dismissal.

DOWNLOAD: 4-Step Process to Overcome Objections

Shaking up the conversation with a pattern interrupt gets them to stop and engage. Small talk about something unexpected (like their location, the weather, or a recent event) can lower their defenses and make them more receptive. People also love talking about themselves, so guiding them toward a topic related to their role or priorities can naturally steer the conversation toward business without feeling forced.

Breaking Through Brush-Offs

Once you start recognizing brush-offs for what they really are—automatic, uninformed reactions—you’ll realize they’re not personal and they’re not final. The key to overcoming them is choosing the right approach. You can take the direct path by breaking the ice with the CCO Framework (Closed, Closed, Open), easing your way into the conversation until the prospect naturally engages. Or you can sidestep the brush-off completely by shifting the conversation to something unexpected, like their location, the weather, or a relatable topic, disrupting their auto-response and creating an opening for dialogue.

Either way, the goal is to bypass their defenses and turn a brush-off into a real sales conversation. Try it out, test both methods, and see what works best.

Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.


« Older Entries