Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations and Filling the Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, Email, Text, and Cold Calling (Jeb Blount)

Until someone mentioned “Fanatical Prospecting,” I had never heard of the book or its author Jeb Blount. Noticing the book was #1 on Amazon’s telemarketing best seller list, I ordered a copy and began reading with an open mind.The book, especially at the beginning and the very end, is about 50% standard sales motivation content covering well-trodden material like the amygdala/lizard brain, Amy Cuddy’s TED talk on body language, etc. However, the other 50% delivers very practical processes and templates that make the book one of the better sales books available. All told, I felt the book was a must read.Here is my summary of key-take-ways:1. Knowing that activity takes 90+ days to pay off, successful salespeople relentlessly fill their pipeline through a mixture of telephone, in-person, e-mail, social selling, text messaging, referrals, networking, inbound leads, trade shows, and cold calling.2. Here is the brutal truth: Salespeople who ignore the phone fail.”3. “Top performers organize their day into distinct time blocks dedicated to specific activities, concentrating their focus and eliminating distractions within those blocks… We schedule our prospecting blocks [on our calendars] into three “Power Hours” that are spread across the day—morning, midday, and afternoon.”4. “While setting an appointment is your primary objective with prospects you have already prequalified as potential buyers, gathering information is your primary objective with prospects you have not qualified.”5. “Our data and data that we've gathered and analyzed from a diverse set of sources indicate that it takes, on average: 1 to 3 touches to reengage an inactive customer 1 to 5 touches to engage a prospect who is in the buying window and is familiar with you and your brand 3 to 10 touches to engage a prospect who has a high degree of familiarity with you or your brand, but is not in the buying window 5 to 12 touches to engage a warm inbound lead 5 to 20 touches to engage a prospect who has some familiarity with you and your brand—buying window dependent 20 to 50 touches to engage a cold prospect who does not know you or your brand.”6. “The bottom line is people don't want to be pitched or “sold” on social media. They prefer to connect, interact, and learn. For this reason, the social channel is better suited to building familiarity, lead nurturing, research, nuanced inbound prospecting, and trigger-event awareness.”7. “Prospects meet with you for their reasons, not yours. You must articulate the value of spending time with you in the context of what is most important to them. Your message must demonstrate a sincere interest in listening to them, learning about them, and solving their unique problems.”8. “Just saying, “I'd like 15 minutes of your time because I want to learn more about you and your company” works surprisingly well with many prospects.”9. “When salespeople ask me when they should leave a voice mail, I always answer, “When it matters.”… Keep voice mail messages to 30 seconds.”10. “Timing Teleprospecting Calls Is a Losing Strategy… So, forget about timing your calls and commit instead to a daily, first-thing-in-the-morning call block.”11. “The feeling of rejection happens the moment you get a reflex response, brush-off, or objection (RBO)… Overcoming doesn't work. There is a universal law of human behavior: You cannot argue another person into believing that they are wrong. The more you push another person, the more they dig their heels in and resist you… There is a better way. Rather than attempting to overcome—defeating or prevailing over your prospect—you should disrupt their expectations and thought patterns when they push back with a no. The key is a disruptive statement or question that turns them around so that they lean toward you rather than move away from away from you… When they say they're busy, instead of arguing them into how you will only take a little bit of their time, say, “I figured you would be.” Agreeing with them disrupts their thought pattern… When they say, “Just send me some information,” say, “Tell me specifically what you are looking for.” This calls their bluff and forces engagement… When they say, “I'm not interested,” say, “That makes sense. Most people aren't.” Their brain isn't ready for you to agree with them… One phrase you want to avoid is “I understand.” When you use the phrase “I understand,” you sound just like every other schmuck who uses this phrase as insincere filler so they can get back to pitching. It demonstrates zero empathy and tells your prospect that you are not listening and don't care.”12. The salespeople-help-salespeople hack is an awesome secret weapon.”13. “Truly effective salespeople understand that it is all about asking the prospect the right questions and demonstrating that you can help them solve a particular problem or issue.”14. Don't send bulk e-mail. Prospecting e-mail is one to one. It is one e-mail from your address sent to one individual, one e-mail at a time… Avoid attaching images… Avoid hyperlinks… never use “Hi” or “Hello” or “Dear” or any other salutation in front of your prospect's name. No one in business does that except salespeople. “Hi __” is a complete turnoff for prospects.”

This is a tough book for me to rate, because how much you get out of it really depends on your prior experience in reading sales books. I'm a completely scatterbrained prospector. I bought this book hoping to find information on many forms of prospecting, and how to bring it all together into a structure. After spending the money, and reading the book cover to cover, I can tell you what I found is a ton of motivational speaking with prospecting tips scattered about. You'll learn some good ideas about scripting for the phone, and in person cold calling. You'll get some good thoughts about using social media as leverage. And you'll get some information about time blocking your prospecting activities. If you have never read a book on prospecting and selling, this is a really nice all in one resource. If you've read a bunch of sales self help books, you likely won't find anything new here. With 320 pages, I felt for sure there would be a chapter on bringing it all together, like 'A day in the life of a fanatical prospector', to give the reader a sample framework in which to form a basis to change how they prospect. That's what I needed, as I'm pretty good with scripting, but my overall time management and flow of the multiple prospecting mediums sucks. That isn't in this book.So whether you think it's worth the money really depends on what you've read to this point. If this is your first sales book, and you are brand new to sales, it's a great place to start. If you've read a lot of other sales books, don't spend the money.An additional note: I'm getting a little frustrated with the fact that there are more and more books loaded with compensated reviewers on Amazon. Even more frustrating is how it seems like all of these sales self help authors endorse each other every time a book comes out. For example, Jill Koranth endorses seemingly every sales book that hits the market. And in exchange, she gets a shout out to her own stuff somewhere in said endorsed book. This one is no different.Hope this helps!

Here's the summary: prospect more. There, I just saved you $15.The author keeps saying the same thing over and over and most of the book is self praise. I hate this kind of book.

Lacks data driven insights. Just the musings of someone who has been in sales for decades. A “rah rah” pep talk book — no action oriented insights.Poorly written. Verbose. Typos. Also, who quotes themselves?Could have been a 25pgs book.

In all and all, this book is about prospecting on different levels in different platforms. It is a motivator and a 'how-to' type of reading. The 'motivator' parts of the text explain the dedication (or rather, fanaticism) to prospecting it takes to become and be an effective salesperson. The "30-Day Rule" for example, maintains that even though you may be a successful salesperson, any 30 day period that you shirk your prospecting duties will come to greatly effect your pipeline in a few months time. Therefore, it is necessary that one is consistent, relentless, fearless, and therefore fanatical. The 'how-to' aspect of the book - which comes in abundance towards the latter chapters of the text - explains how to prospect on different platforms and in different environments. The author explains to how to prospect on social media, text messages, emails, etc. There are also good segments on cold calling and dealing with gatekeepers. This is a sales book, but not solely one in the traditional sense because there is a clear focus on the prospecting aspect of sales. Don't get me wrong though, there is advice when it comes to selling. The most memorable segments to me were email-prospecting, dealing with gatekeepers, the law of familiarity, cold calling and the importance of interrupting.

At first glance, a book on prospecting is not exactly the kind of reading material that keeps you up all night.Prospecting? Really?But Jeb's book is fantastic! He busts up all of the excuses that salespeople use to avoid prospecting, and he shows you how to do it effectively - regardless of the tool. Email, telephone, social media...you name it, Jeb has got a process and an approach that works.And for good reason, he practices and teaches what he writes. This isn't theory. It's not generalization. It doesn't make a case for prospecting vs. not prospecting. This is a "get-off-your-butt-and-quit-making-excuses" guide to successfully building a winning sales pipeline. I think my favorite take-away is the idea of creating focused time to hammer out dozens of prospecting calls in a very defined period of time - think 50 contacts in one hour, or something similar. Most managers and salespeople think there is no possible way that can be done, but Jeb shows you HOW it can be done, and how to overcome the many excuses for why it can't be done.As a guy who makes a living training sales leaders, I can tell you that I have recommended this book to my clients more than any other this year. It's that good. So, if your team struggles with prospecting or consistently creating a high-velocity sales pipeline, you would be most foolish not to read this 'instant classic' from Jeb Blount.Note: If you want a preview, don't miss Jeb as my guest on #BizLockerRadio talking about "Fanatical Prospecting" at http://bizlockerroom.com/fanatical-prospecting-with-jeb-blount/.

This book is amazing. The details and the superb writing makes this the best single book I found on the topic.It's concise, complete, and truly a classic. You will not find a better book on this topic of a long forgotten episode in American naval history.This is a true gem, and it's a book well worth your time.

Very interesting book about a little known war, talks about the politics of the time and other background information that really brings it alive. Short read but well worth it.

enjoyed what I thought was going to be a technical naval book but turned out to be an interesting book on the characters and events that accured in 1813.

Very detailed but also very readable

Having read Ian Toll's excellent "Six Frigates" a few weeks ago, one of the (only) disappointments I had was a lack of coverage of the Great Lakes campaign, so I looked elsewhere, and am very happy to have come across this book.In very engaging writing, Rybka covers several subjects: a brief overview of events leading up to the War of 1812, building the ships that would form the squadron on Lake Erie, preliminaries to the battle, an energetic narrative of the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, and the aftermath of the battle, with a focus on the "Perry-Elliott Controversy," and a brief description of the "resurrection" of the USS Niagara.It was an enjoyable read - but, by the author's own acknowledgement, it's not what I'd call a "definitive" account; there is a good bibliographic essay at the beginning, but the author - given limited space - dispensed with endnotes or a full bibliography; the battle itself takes up only about 1/4 of the pages of the book (although he makes very good use of those pages); and, curiously, many of the illustrations tended to be more technical than needed for the mission of the book, I think.I admire Mr Rybka for his efforts in manning the replica of the brig Niagara and for his other efforts in restoration of the Elissa in Galveston, TX.This is definitely an accessible book - I hope we will not give up his efforts to bring a definitive book as well.

While I admit I am somewhat prejudiced because I have sailed under Captain Rybka as a volunteer on the reconstructed Niagara, I found the book to be well written and full of little known facts about O.H. Perry and his conflicts with his superiors and those under his command prior to the actual Naval battle with the British. It gave me a somewhat different picture of Perry and the events leading up to the battle. The book gives a good overview of the War of 1812, causes, results etc. so it is not limited to Perry's campaign on Lake Erie. I've enjoyed hearing Captain Rybka's take on Perry and the battle and was able to gain even more knowledge about it by reading this book. Very well written and worth the price.

This fits perfectly on my Photon Mono X and was meant to be a secondary tray so I can increase my production workflow speed by swapping this one in to start the next print while I clean the previous resin vat. The only complaint I would have is this one came with scratches on the film, so I had replace it with a new sheet before using this one.

Arrived on time but due to the tracking recently recieved so be aware that the tracking may only be listed from point of origin but after that properly package and works great made a sample benchy excellent tensioning will buy again from seller

We bought the playpen sheets from popibaby and we’re very impressed with the value and quality. The time came to move our boy to a big boy bed and I didn’t hesitate to purchase from popibaby again. They are seriously the softest sheets I have ever felt and the prints are gorgeous. They are the perfect weight for all seasons and I can hardly wait to get them on his bed! Stop looking and just buy the bedding from popibaby. I promise you won’t regret it!!

From my point of view, Fanatical Prospecting is a great personal development book. It is probably good for prospecting too.I don’t prospect. I fear rejection like any sane person, and according to Jeb Blount, the author of "Fanatical Prospecting:" "prospecting is hard, grueling, rejection-dense work.”Thus, I built my business ventures to avoid prospecting and rejection. My customers come to me; I don’t look for them. I qualify them before I get on the call with them. And I don’t really need new customers. My attrition rates are low. A few new customers a month is more than enough for me. When COVID robbed me of my health and sanity, I did nothing in my business for three months. My revenue slumped only by about 50%.I didn’t really need to read this book. I read it because it was a lecture in my mastermind. And I don’t regret it at all.No CONSUsually, I start my reviews with some negatives. Well, I cannot do it with Fanatical Prospecting. I’m the guy who didn’t need the book, and I’m delighted with it! I liked everything in Fanatical Prospecting. On the other hand, I can enumerate a massive list of…PROS1. Very well written.I’m an avid reader. I read 50-100 books a year. And Fanatical Prospecting stood out, significantly.It’s a nonfiction book that reads a bit like a thriller. It has just enough stories to illustrate the points. These are real-life stories, short and to the point. The author doesn’t beat the dead horse. The material is meaty and delivered in a common, simple, understandable language.This is just a great read. Which leads me to another PRO…2. Extremely Quotable.I have 157 highlights of this book in my Kindle. It easily positions it among the top 5% of the books I read. Maybe even 1%.Most of those highlights were great soundbites – powerful one-liners, like: "In sales you are owed nothing!” “Prospecting is hard, emotionally draining work, and it is the price you have to pay to earn a high income.” “Elite salespeople, like elite athletes, track everything.” “Effective delegation begins with effective communication.”The above is just a sample out of dozens and dozens of great quotes I highlighted.3. Brother from Another Mother.I also liked the book because it was so in line with my own personal philosophy. I found myself nodding furiously in agreement about every other chapter.The importance of tracking? Checked. "You cannot be delusional and successful at the same time. Delusion gets you nowhere.”The importance of perseverance? Checked. "Just remember. In sales persistence always wins. Always.”The importance of small consistent daily actions? Checked. "Every major failure in my life has been a direct result of a collapse in my self-discipline to do the little things every day. Frankly, that is all failure really is.”Every fear is real? Checked. "This is why you feel physically anxious before you ask. Your mind reels, palms sweat, stomach tightens, and muscles become tense as you subconsciously prepare for ‘no.’ This is the root cause of your feeling of fear.”C’mon! This is the exact description of what I had felt when I worked on overcoming my shyness. To the letter. It’s like Jeb had been in my head and described my bodily sensations.4. Secrets of Trade.Jeb has the amazing ability of getting to the essence of things. Fanatical Prospecting is full of tiny tidbits revealing secrets hidden in plain sight. Just a few of them: "The secret: Speak in public, regularly.”This refers to the secret of being good with sales calls. I wouldn’t have ever thought of it. But hey, Jeb is the expert here. If he states that public speaking makes you a better salesman, who am I to argue? "There is only one technique that really works for getting what you want on a prospecting touch. Ask.”Amen to that. We overcomplicate things, not only in the sales process, but in life. One technique; drop mike. "The easiest, fastest way to get someone’s attention is to use the most beautiful word in the world to them—their name.”How to Win Friends and Influence People 101. Yet, it’s the underutilized secret even for those who read the book. "The ‘single most powerful technique’ to get past gatekeepers is to use please twice.” “Yes, it’s as easy as this. ‘Please, could you connect me with your boss, please?'”5. Ruthlessly Honest.I loved how the book started – from telling why the sales profession is so hard and so profitable at the same time. "Prospecting is hard, emotionally draining work, and it is the price you have to pay to earn a high income.”Jeb Blount doesn’t beat around the bush. He goes straight to the point and he doesn’t try to paint the sky pink. If something is “hard, grueling, rejection-dense” (another of his description of prospecting), he states it in plain words.The author is also not afraid to articulate his position on things that get on his nerves. They get on my nerves too. "Political correctness has run amuck.” “In your life, mediocrity is like a broke uncle. Once he moves into your house, it is nearly impossible to get him to leave.”6. Funny.Not hilarious. Just funny enough to crack a smile from time to time and lighten the mood. And Jeb’s sense of humor is right down my alley. "Privacy? Forget about privacy. You are in sales.” “(…)smartphone. Twenty minutes later, you find yourself watching a video of a chimpanzee riding a giraffe around a circus tent and can’t remember how you got there.” “Get it through your thick skull that nobody cares about you or what you have to say. They want to talk about themselves.”7. Productivity Tips.I consider the productivity tips sprinkled throughout the book to be the most universal message of Fanatical Prospecting. Seriously, stay-at-home moms could have used them with success. "For salespeople, though, most time management problems are self-inflicted.”Most time management problems are self-inflicted for every profession where you are free to choose your own schedule. Every freelancer, health practitioner with a private practice, business owner or even independent specialist in the corpo environment commits the same productivity sins. "The two biggest prospecting derailers for sales professionals are e-mail and mobile devices.” “Those are the two biggest derailers for everyone who works with a mobile device and/or email.” “You cannot be efficient when you are constantly being distracted.”The above applies to virtually everybody. Yet, with the stubbornness worthy of a better cause, everybody tries to multitask. "The most expensive thing you can do in sales is spend your time with the wrong prospect.”That hit too close to home. I already pre-qualify my prospects; yet, still the most worthless time I spent is on the prospecting calls with someone I shouldn’t have been speaking in the first place.8. Personal Development.Especially the last part about mental toughness was very inspiring. If Jeb wasn’t a great salesman, he could’ve become a great motivational speaker.Mental toughness is just icing on the cake. The whole book is full of powerful statements which applies directly to one’s ability to be honest with themselves and do the work. Self-discipline, self-awareness, proper planning, mental attitude – those things are the part of the sales and prospecting processes as much as they are part of life.As I already stated, I didn’t need to read Fanatical Prospecting very much. I’m a business owner, but I’m in the early stage of my business, where my sales skills are not crucial for my success.However, as a solopreneur, I am my business. So, while the prospecting message was mostly an interesting piece of research for me, the personal development teachings ‘in the background’ were the most valuable for me.SummaryI recommend this book for every entrepreneur. If your business depends on your sales skills, you will find it doubly valuable.However, I found "Fanatical Prospecting" a personal development book first and foremost. And a great one in this field too.The last time I checked, every single human being could have used some more personal development. Thus, I wholeheartedly recommend Jeb Blount’s book to everyone.

There is a reason why sales people earn more money than anyone else. They have grit, they have faith, they have persistence and they fanatically prospect.Those who don’t, don’t stay in sales very long.Those who do, those who pair forward, doing what others won’t do, rip huge rewards.Sales is an amazing game.JP

Made some good points but it was a little drawn out. My boss made us all read it. It's fine as a tool for discussion but you can also probably find similar books saying the same thing or even just youtube channel. It wasn't anything ground breaking and in my case- it was super general. Lots of good B2C sales advice but my group does B2B in a highly technical field with a long sales cycle- so while the advice was still generically applicable- its not a magic bullet of advice for all situations. (The b2b example the book kept using was insurance sales.... someday i'd like to be forced to read a book about B2B in technical field.)

Sales people constitute a significant percentage of the workforce, ranging from outbound call centre operators to new business developers. Many people whose professions require that they be actively engaged in sales do not bear the title of “salesperson”. As such this book on prospecting should be of interest to many.It is a practical guide to what makes relatively ordinary people into superb salespeople. Sales begins with prospecting, a skill that must be mastered by all.The easiest time to introduce “social selling” to a sales person is on one of their down days, when the pipeline is thin and prospects are few. Social selling is often positioned as the panacea that will drive quality prospects to you.In reality, “contact and conversion rates from phone and e-mail dwarf conversion rates on social media,” asserts Blount. Yes, the social media can enhance and sometimes accelerate your prospecting efforts, and it can definitely heighten familiarity. However, “it is not a replacement for focused and deliberate outbound prospecting efforts,” Blount explains. One’s largest and most lucrative prospects rarely respond to inbound-marketing or to social selling.The only way you will achieve your numbers is to make targeted, prospecting outbound calls.We have long held that “interruption selling” is a relic of the past to be avoided by the savvy salesperson. In a crowded, competitive marketplace, interruption selling remains the most effective practice. Within “interruption selling” there are many prospecting methodologies, and no single formula fits all. Every geography, industry, product, and service requires a different approach.Salespeople needs to balance their prospecting in order to build a database with long-term opportunities, as they fill their sales pipeline with deals they can close immediately. To do this, Blount notes, we need to master the three laws that form the basis of successful prospecting.The first is “The Universal Law of Need”. The law states that the more you need something, the less likely it is that you will get it. Consider the times when your survival rested on a just a few accounts. With a heightened probability of failure, your desperation seeped through. During times like these you become emotional, act illogically, and make poor decisions.Prospects can sense your desperation, and naturally favour sales professionals who exude confidence over those who are desperate.The second law is “The 30-Day Law”. This law states that the prospecting you do in the current 30-day period, will pay off for the next 90 days.Skip one day of prospecting and sometime in the next 90 days you will be punished for it. Skip one week, and the consequence will be felt in your commission cheque. Skipping an entire month and your pipeline will empty and you will “wake up 90 days later, desperate, feeling like a loser, with no clue how you ended up there,” Blount warns. This particular seduction is usually preceded by a month or two of great business.The unrelenting daily imperative for every salesperson, is to keep the pipeline full with qualified prospectsThe third of the laws is “The Law of Replacement.” Violating the Law of Replacement is the reason salespeople feel like they are on a roller coaster. You must replace your prospects at a rate that matches or exceeds your closing ratio. If you have 40 prospects and your closing ratio is 1 in10, as soon as you close one prospect, you do not have 39 left, you have only 30 and you need to replace not 1, but 10.The anatomy of a sales slumps take on a familiar form. At some point you stopped prospecting and your sales pipeline stalled. This failure leads to an erosion of your confidence and in desperation you call the same, stale prospects. You start hoping for silver bullets, and experience the Universal Law of Need.When you are in a hole, is advisable to stop digging; when you are in a sales slump, it is advisable to start prospecting. Worry won't change the future, nor will regret over what you have not done. You will most often require about 30 days of dedicated, daily activity to get back on track, Blount explains.The more you prospect, the luckier you get. Will training, experience, and technique make you a better prospector? Of course, Blount believes. However, “It is far more important that you prospect consistently than that you prospect using the best techniques,” he explains.Sales has always been governed by numbers. The sales formula for success is simple. What (quality) you put into the sales pipeline and how much (quantity) determines what you get out of the pipe. Just as elite athletes focus on their statistics, elite salespeople need to do so, too.“To succeed in sales, simply talk to lots of people every day. And here's what's exciting—there are lots of people!” said the legendary sales trainer, Jim Rohn. This is the fundamental principle of prospecting.Read this book if you are in sales or run a sales team. It is full of practical techniques.Readability Light -+--- SeriousInsights High --+-- LowPractical High +---- LowIan Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy

This is a must read for any salesperson who desires to grow from ordinary to extraordinary. How bad do you want it?

We’ve all read hundreds of sales books. Once you know how to sell, it doesn’t matter if it’s art, heavy machinery, jewelry, solar, phone plans, cars, etc. The structure is the same. You don’t need another sales book. You need a “fill your pipeline” book. You can’t sell to people you don’t have. Sales isn’t hard. Prospecting is.

Good refresher of what you should already know. Makes it easy and give descent examples