Episode 17: The Lost Art of Follow-Up – Staying Relevant Without Becoming Annoying

You had a great conversation. You asked the right questions. The customer seemed interested. You sent the proposal.

Then...silence.

What happens next can determine whether you eventually earn the business or become another salesperson filling someone's inbox with "just checking in" emails.

In Episode 17 of YOU Are the Million Dollar Deal, JB Bloom explores one of the most important—and often poorly executed-skills in professional sales: follow-up.

Drawing from more than 28 years of professional sales experience across logistics, manufacturing, safety and health, mission critical power systems, SaaS, finance, and property management, JB explains how effective follow-up creates value, maintains momentum, and keeps you relevant without becoming annoying or creating unnecessary pressure.

Designed for beginner and intermediate sales professionals who want to take their craft to the next level, this episode explores the difference between professionally following up and simply chasing a customer.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why "just checking in" rarely gives customers a compelling reason to respond
• How the Mere Exposure Effect relates to familiarity and follow-up
• How to follow up with purpose instead of simply following a CRM reminder
• Four different types of professional follow-up
• How to recognize when persistence is becoming pressure
• Why understanding the customer's timeline can improve your follow-up strategy
• Rookie vs. Professional role-playing examples you can use immediately

JB shares real-world lessons from Graphic Products, where managing nationwide corporate accounts through inside sales required disciplined phone, email, CRM, and relationship management. He also draws from freight and logistics experience to demonstrate why timing and relevance can be especially important when a customer doesn't need your solution today—but may need it tomorrow.

Recommended Reading:

📚 Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount
📚 The Long Game by Dorie Clark

Together, these books provide two valuable perspectives: maintaining disciplined sales activity while developing the patience and long-term thinking required to build meaningful professional relationships.

This Week's Challenge: The Five Follow-Ups

Choose five prospects or customers who need follow-up. Before contacting each one, identify what they previously told you, why you're contacting them today, and what value you can provide.

And there's one rule:

Don't use the phrase "just checking in."

If this episode challenges how you think about follow-up, I'd love to hear your questions, disagreements, successes, or real-world situations.

Learn more:
www.brockip.com
www.krhpropertygroup.com

Email:
support@brockip.com
jb@krhpropertygroup.com

Be persistent. Be relevant. Respect people's time.

And remember...

YOU are the Million Dollar Deal.

🎙️ Episode 16: Reading the Room - Adapting Your Communication to Different Personality Styles

What if becoming a better salesperson isn't about having a better pitch—but about learning how to communicate differently with different people?

In Episode 16 of YOU Are the Million Dollar Deal, JB Bloom explores one of the most valuable skills every sales professional can develop: adapting your communication style to the person in front of you. Drawing on more than 28 years of professional sales experience across logistics, manufacturing, safety and health, mission critical power systems, software as a service (SaaS), finance, and property management, JB explains why the best communicators don't rely on one script—they learn to read the room.

Designed for beginner and intermediate sales professionals who want to take their craft to the next level, this episode examines how behavioral psychology influences communication and why understanding different personality styles leads to stronger conversations, greater trust, and better business outcomes.

In this episode, you'll learn:
• Why one communication style doesn't work for every customer
• How behavioral psychology affects decision-making and conversation preferences
• How to recognize different communication styles within the first few minutes of a meeting
• Why adapting your communication builds credibility without sacrificing authenticity
• Practical role-playing examples that show the difference between reacting and responding professionally

JB shares real-world stories from his time at Interstate Advanced Materials, where technical conversations with engineers and purchasing professionals required adapting to different personalities and communication preferences. He also discusses lessons learned through Kearney Business Solutions and Brock Industrial Process, where consulting with freight, technology, and business clients reinforced that every customer values information differently.

Recommended reading for this episode includes:

📚 Everybody Communicates, Few Connect by John C. Maxwell

📚 Inclusive Conversations by Mary-Frances Winters

Both books provide valuable insight into creating meaningful connections, understanding different perspectives, and becoming a more effective communicator in business and leadership.

This week's challenge encourages listeners to observe—not just what customers say—but how they communicate. By recognizing communication styles and adapting accordingly, you'll begin building stronger relationships and more productive sales conversations.

If this episode helps you become a more adaptable communicator, please leave a review, share the episode with another sales professional, or send JB your questions for a future episode.

Learn more:
www.brockip.com
www.krhpropertygroup.com

Email:
support@brockip.com
jb@krhpropertygroup.com

Remember...

Products can be copied.
Services can be matched.
Prices can always be undercut.

But there is only one you.

YOU are the Million Dollar Deal.

🎙️ NEW PODCAST EPISODE | Episode 15

Stop Sounding Like a Salesperson - Communicating Like a Trusted Advisor

After more than 28 years in professional sales, one lesson has stood out above all the others:

Customers don't want to be sold-they want to be understood.

Whether I was managing national corporate accounts in manufacturing, supporting logistics clients, working in mission critical power systems, consulting with growing businesses, or helping property owners solve operational challenges, I found that the best conversations never felt like sales presentations.

They felt like two professionals working together to solve a problem.

In this episode of YOU Are the Million Dollar Deal, I share how to shift from sounding like "just another salesperson" to becoming a trusted advisor customers genuinely want to work with.

You'll learn:
✔️ Why customers resist being "sold" and respond better to guided conversations
✔️ The psychology of Psychological Reactance and how it affects buying behavior
✔️ How to replace sales pitches with meaningful conversations
✔️ Real-world lessons from my experience at Graphic Products and Kearney Business Solutions/Brock Industrial Process
✔️ Rookie vs. Professional role-playing scenarios you can apply in your very next customer meeting

📚 Recommended Reading
• The Trusted Advisor by David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford
• The Memo by Minda Harts

Both books reinforce the importance of trust, authentic communication, and building long-term professional relationships that extend far beyond a single transaction.

💡 This Week's Challenge:
During your next five customer conversations, replace one statement with one question. Instead of leading with what your company does, lead with curiosity about your customer's situation. Pay attention to how the conversation changes when your goal is to understand before being understood.

🎧 I'd love to hear from you:
What's one phrase you've stopped using because it sounded too "salesy," and what do you say instead?

Leave a comment, share the episode with another sales professional, or send me a DM. Your experiences may inspire a future episode.

🌐 www.brockip.com
🌐 www.krhpropertygroup.com

#SalesLeadership #B2BSales #SalesTraining #BusinessDevelopment #YouAreTheMillionDollarDeal