[SPEAKER_01]: This is the sales gravy podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Jeb Blunt, bestselling author, fanatical prospecting objection, sales EQ, and ink.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm here to help you open more doors, close bigger deals, and rock your commission check.
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back to the sales gravy podcast.
[SPEAKER_03]: I'm Jeb Blunt Jr. your host today, and with me sitting in this room who is going to be an incredible speaker at our outbound conference in November of 2026.
[SPEAKER_03]: So if you were listening to this podcast,
[SPEAKER_03]: dot com and go get your ticket they're running out fast and we only have a few hundred tickets as a small event so we're going to be off-strip in Las Vegas but today we've got Mrs. Colleen Stanley, a one of the world's leading thought leaders when it comes to sales and sales leadership she has written several books including emotional intelligence and sales success.
[SPEAKER_03]: I think I got that title wrong but she's also written that book for sales leadership to go check out Colleen Stanley's books
[SPEAKER_03]: ahead of outbound as she's also the CEO of sales leadership calling.
[SPEAKER_03]: I really appreciate you joining me on the sales degree podcast and joining us for outbound.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited to be presenting it outbound and for meeting you and person for the first time.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is great.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for having me as a guest.
[SPEAKER_03]: It will be so cool to meet you in person.
[SPEAKER_03]: I think I only know you from your stellar LinkedIn present.
[SPEAKER_03]: You are so cool.
[SPEAKER_03]: You'll go follow Colleen on LinkedIn.
[SPEAKER_03]: We're going to get into the conversation today about outbound and why it is such an important event for the sales industry and why Colleen is going to be joining us.
[SPEAKER_03]: Colleen, outbound 26 is built around the theme of breaking through buyer resistance.
[SPEAKER_03]: So why is this the single most important skill that a salesperson and sales leader should be focusing on in mastering right now?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, one of the many reasons it's important to focus on breaking through buyer resistance is that it is higher than ever, you know, we've got things going on in the macro economy and the micro economy and if you have a sales person that doesn't have really the emotional intelligence skills of delayed gratification where they're willing to invest the time to continue pursuing accounts pre call planning running better sales meetings or even practicing so that when they do get in front of that buyer.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're coming across professional, competent confidence.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, as you know, if you don't have that delayed gratification skill, you simply give up too soon.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's part of being resilient in sales.
[SPEAKER_00]: So buyer resistance is not going away, especially in the day and age of artificial intelligence.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about you, but when I look at anything, I'm starting to wonder, is it real?
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it valuable?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so if we don't have that inner strength to keep pursuing a showing up confident,
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to be the ones that are laying down to the buyer resistance.
[SPEAKER_03]: What is the aha moment you want the audience to have during your session at outbound?
[SPEAKER_00]: The aha session, I hope they have that outbound.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I hope there's many.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of them is that you're in control.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you take a look at it and from the psychology world in the EQ world, it's called Locus of Control.
[SPEAKER_00]: And highly successful salespeople have what we call high internal locus control.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's almost like a tier or a mantra.
[SPEAKER_00]: If it is to be, it's up to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know at sales gravy, you preach and practice this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, you are fanatical about your prospecting, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So you're in control of your prospecting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody has control over you not doing the activity.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're in control of seeking out mentors and advice, getting wiser.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're in control of doing a win-loss analysis, to know why you're winning, why you're losing to change your behavior.
[SPEAKER_00]: So one of the things I hope they go away with is we are not victims and, you know, having to give in to buyer resistance or things that are happening in the economy.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are in control of your outcome.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of deals die.
[SPEAKER_03]: because the buyer resistance is so strong that they don't commit along the way to getting the deal close, a yes or a no.
[SPEAKER_03]: What are the levers that you expect attendees to walk away with when it comes to moving deals along in a progressive manner and tie that back into your session on emotional intelligence in the sales profession.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of deals die.
[SPEAKER_00]: They go to the pipeline and then they start stalling, not progressing.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a couple of reasons for this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now obviously some hard skills are a play that probably need improvement.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's the soft skills.
[SPEAKER_00]: One is reality testing and the reality is this.
[SPEAKER_00]: That opportunity should never have been put in the pipeline.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are suffering from foam.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because full pipeline sets you free.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you have a full pipeline, you are allowed to demonstrate the EQ skill of assertiveness.
[SPEAKER_00]: And assertiveness is that ability to state what you need nicely.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you start seeing maybe buyer resistance, it could be the time to call on your empathy to bring up the elephant in the room, the unspoken objection, or it could be to use your assertiveness
[SPEAKER_00]: And actually state what you're observing nicely and what it might be is that buyer simply isn't that committed to making a change they're not willing or able to at that time that's what keeps pipelines full that's what keeps you having deals move forward I wish I'd learn this younger you can't sell to everyone but you can sell to a buyer that is committed.
[SPEAKER_03]: You have a great book on emotional intelligence and sales leadership.
[SPEAKER_03]: And we're going to have a leadership summit at Outbound.
[SPEAKER_03]: I want to talk about the biggest mistakes that sales leaders are making right now as they try to integrate AI into their selling stacks into their sales organizations.
[SPEAKER_03]: How have you been helping organizations with your knowledge to advance their organization's professional skills and development while also taking into account this new world that we live in?
[SPEAKER_00]: So in the world of AI, sales leaders, you know, this is a seismic change.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've always had technology changes.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the biggest one.
[SPEAKER_00]: So how do we help our sales team adapt to this change?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm going to back up a little bit because for sales managers, what this may require is you examine your hiring process.
[SPEAKER_00]: In this day and age of rapid change, the ability and desire to learn, you may need to interview your candidates for those competencies.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you have interview questions that are designed to weed out people that, you know, they just don't like to learn.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not willing to invest the time.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would also say in this day an age of AI is that it is going to take a lot of teamwork because
[SPEAKER_00]: everyone is learning this knowledge.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like we're building the plane as we're flying it, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you hire a bunch of loan rangers that hoard information or not willing to share, no one is going to master the AI skills needed in this fast-paced world.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this might map the answer people are looking for, but I believe you've got to change your hiring practice to succeed in an AI world.
[SPEAKER_03]: We keep the audience at outbound small for the intimate ability for people who are attending outbound to meet with the people who are speaking on stage.
[SPEAKER_03]: So we're keeping this audience small so that people can meet with people like Jeb and Victor and you specifically, why is that proximity so important for a high performer when they go to a conference that's specifically about learning for sales?
[SPEAKER_00]: What's going to be great about the outbound conference?
[SPEAKER_00]: This isn't one where you're going to get lost in a group of 2,000 or 3,000.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're going to be seeing the sales speakers from the stage and never see them again.
[SPEAKER_00]: What I love about this conference and why I'm so excited to participate in it, it is purposely being kept small.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now it's not for the reasons of foam all in the scarcity principle.
[SPEAKER_00]: is because this is what sales gravy is all about.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about building relationships.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you come to outbound, you're going to be able to have conversations with me, other speakers, you're going to be able to connect with colleagues that you may see on day one and you see on day two.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess if you want to put this in EQ terms, this is called building interpersonal relationships and skills.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's done by face to face conversation.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what outbound's
[SPEAKER_00]: What is one thing that a Tindy should pack besides a notebook?
[SPEAKER_00]: One thing a Tindy should pack besides a notebook.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would say pack some power bars because you're not going to want to miss anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you may not even want to take a lunch break or a coffee break because you're going to use every minute at Boutbound.
[SPEAKER_00]: Be connecting, learning, and sharing with others.
[SPEAKER_00]: You belong at outbound 2026, if you are tired of, you belong at outbound 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you are tired of the same old, same old, I doubt if you need to be told one more time to listen more than you speak or sell value.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to hear new topics, new insights that's going to make you think and act differently.
[SPEAKER_00]: Be there.
[SPEAKER_03]: I am fanatical about
[SPEAKER_00]: I am fanatical just like sales gravey is about their prospecting and all their great sales training.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm fanatical about emotional intelligence and mentorship because I believe with both of these topics if we can change the internal conversation we're able to have better conversations with others and when you elevate the conversation everything changes.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is your pump-up song before a keynote?
[SPEAKER_00]: My pump-up song before a keynote, it's an old one, and it goes back to I think the 70s or 80s, it's a big glorious step on, get on your feet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I just believe that's what life is all about, get on your feet, I think the song goes, take some action.
[SPEAKER_03]: So that's my pump-up song.
[SPEAKER_03]: What is the first thing you're gonna do when you get to the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas for Alpound?
[SPEAKER_00]: The first thing I'll do when I get to the red rocks resort and outbound is I'm going to check out where the workout room is because I'm going to try to keep up with Jeb Blunt Junior.
[SPEAKER_03]: If you could challenge any other outbound speaker to a bowling match at the VIP event who would it be?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, of course, I'm going to challenge Jeb Senior.
[SPEAKER_00]: There you go.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's out there.
[SPEAKER_03]: It's on.
[SPEAKER_03]: All right, Jeb Blunt Senior, you are called out by Colleen.
[SPEAKER_03]: You've got to match on your hands.
[SPEAKER_03]: What is your favorite part of the sales process?
[SPEAKER_00]: My favorite part of the sales process is actually the discovery process.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've really gotten to the point of my career.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not even about qualifying or disqualifying, which I know happens with good discovery.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is because I find it so fascinating to find out why somebody has a goal, why the problem exists.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then really I've gotten to a point where it's more of a co-creation as far as that discovery process.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think that's my favorite.
[SPEAKER_00]: what was your first job in sales?
[SPEAKER_00]: My very first job in sales takes me back to the Midwest.
[SPEAKER_00]: I grew up in a farm in Iowa and I was part of girls and boys for age.
[SPEAKER_00]: So as part of boys for age, I actually took three cabs to the county fair.
[SPEAKER_00]: My calf Mickey was sold and earned a
[SPEAKER_02]: I've never sold a cow for $500.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a pretty good story.
[SPEAKER_02]: I see this profitable.
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually didn't know I wasn't going to be able to take the calf home for my dad to hold me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I didn't know it was going to slaughter.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he handed me the $500.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was like, okay, I can do this.
[SPEAKER_03]: My daughter would be the same way.
[SPEAKER_03]: My daughter would be like, wait, you're taking my cow and then hand her $500 to go, all right, that's fine.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is your sales spirit animal?
[SPEAKER_00]: My sales spirit animal would have to be a wild horse, because if you think about a wild horse, they're able to run it full speed.
[SPEAKER_00]: And at the same time, when they get tame, they get acclimated.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're also able to support others, serve others and carry them to their destination.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's a great combination.
[SPEAKER_03]: Thank you so much for joining me on the sales review podcast.
[SPEAKER_03]: If you are listening to this and you want to see calling on stage deliver some amazing sessions on emotional intelligence and how you can be better in your career today go to outbound conference dot com that's outbound conference dot com go get your tickets again only a few hundred are available so you got to go get those as soon as possible.
[SPEAKER_03]: If you're looking for a team we do have team discounts.
[SPEAKER_03]: We're going to be in Las Vegas at the Red Rocks resort on November 9th of the 12th to go to outbound conference dot com calling really appreciate you joining
[SPEAKER_03]: us and we'll catch it up on.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, see you soon.