May 10, 2025 | Read online​

Helping elevate the people and profession of Sales by sharing authentic conversations, practical tips, expert advice, relevant tech and real-world lessons from my experience selling every day. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible mothers out there!

It’s impossible for me, as a man, to understand the sacrifice a woman has to go through to become a mother and the continued sacrifice they give every day of their lives after.

From the toll it takes on them physically and mentally to the challenges they face in the workforce. It’s something I can't even comprehend.

My wife got pregnant the day after accepting a job at a male dominated engineering firm and felt she had to hide it all the way until she couldn’t any more.

After she eventually told the leadership team, they were bidding on a project and one of the men suggested they should reveal to the client that she was pregnant during the bidding process because he was concerned it would be an issue if they won.

Thankfully my wife isn’t exactly shy about speaking up and also had the support of the subcontractors on the contract (who were all women of course).

I’m sure if you ask any mother, they will tell you that it’s all worth it but that doesn’t mean it’s easy or we should take it for granted which unfortunately I think most men do.

That’s why I wanted to use the newsletter to share a few sales tips, resources and stories that revolve around gratitude for the women, especially the mothers, in my life.

TACTICAL TIPS:

Hand Written Letters

I like to consider myself a pretty good gift giver. I put a lot of thought into the majority of gifts that I get for people and I’m always trying to think of cool, unique things to get as I travel the world, especially my family.

In the 10 years I spent on the road traveling all over the world (2 million miles) before COVID, I would typically take time to find gifts for people whose birthdays were coming up or just because in many cases.

This is especially true for my family and WAS especially true for my mom.

I say WAS because I found out a little while ago that although she appreciated all the gifts I got her, it’s not what she wanted.

I found this out after my Dad and Sister’s birthday one year, which are both in September. I sent them both a thoughtful gift as usual and called them on their birthdays to have a nice long conversation.

I call my parents every Monday night and have done this every week since I graduated college.

The Monday after my Sister’s birthday (which is right after my Dad’s) I called my mom for our weekly call. As the conversation unfolded she asked me if everything was ok.

I was confused since I was in a good mood and everything was going well at the time so I asked why she was asking.

She told me that she was worried because I hadn’t sent either my Dad or my Sister a card for their birthdays.

I immediately got defensive and somewhat annoyed because I had put so much thought into their gifts and spent so much time on the phone with them. Who gives a shit about a stupid Hallmark card?

I know I don’t. Whenever I get a card, I open it, see if there is any money in it (yes, I’m still a kid at heart), read the note and then throw it in the trash. I put way more weight on the thoughtfulness of any gift than I do a stupid card.

Just like presenting our demos or solutions to prospective clients. We tend to focus on all the things we think are so great about our solution when they only care about the part that is most relevant to them. (see my blog post on “Sell to the 20%”)

My mom went on to explain to me that although she/they appreciate the gifts I sent them, they don’t need any more “stuff.” All she wants is a thoughtful card from her son with a nice note in it.

After I got off the phone with her it took me a little while to stop being annoyed at her/their lack of appreciation for what I thought was important but then I realized how selfish I was being.

I realized these unique gifts I was giving to them were more about me in many ways than they were about them. I loved getting the feedback and telling the story about the gift and the feeling of gratitude for such a thoughtful act.

It’s crazy to realize but by giving my mom gifts, I was being the selfish one.

All she wanted was a card from her son with a nice note in it to let her know how much she meant to me and how much I loved her. So now, that’s all I do and she appreciated every one of them.

I now keep every hand written letter that anyone sends me to thank me for something or just because. I keep them in a file and pull them out any time I’m feeling down or struggling to get back on track.

I write this as a “tactical tip” for multiple reasons:
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1. When you’re selling, realize it’s not about you or how awesome your product or service is. The client doesn’t care. They only care about what is most relevant to them and their problems so do everything you can to find out what that 20% is and focus on that.
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2. NO ONE writes handwritten letters any more and it’s an extremely easy way to stand out. I wrote a handwritten letter to Guy Kawasaki and Alex Lieberman to get them on my podcast and it worked. It’s not even about getting creative, it’s about showing you care.
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3. The best gift any kid can give their mom is a thoughtful hand written letter letting her know how much she means to you, so take some time today and write one for tomorrow.

TECH/RESOURCES:

Outliers and Standing O

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If I thought I was a thoughtful gift giver, then I don’t even know how to describe my friend Scott MacGregor.

I don’t even remember how we met in the first place but a few years after my daughter was born, I got a package in the mail from Scott that was one of those most thoughtful gifts I had ever received, even from my family.

He knew I was a huge New England Patriots fan (who just had an awesome offseason by the way - we’re coming back baby! 🙂 ) so he went to a book signing by one of the Patriots players (Malcom Mitchel) who had just written a children’s book - The Magic Hat.

He got Malcom to sign the book to my daughter and then sent it to me with a thoughtful note about reading her bedtime stories and to create her foundation as a Pats fan 🙂.

I was blown away that someone I barely knew was so thoughtful and had absolutely zero ulterior motive with it.

We then went on to develop an incredible relationship that gets even stronger as the years go by.

I’ve used him in the past to hire multiple employees and am now part of his Outlier Project which is all about celebrating extraordinary people and inspiring others to do the same.

He even honored me with the opportunity to write a section of his Standing O book which is “a book of gratitude for life lessons” where I was able to write about my heroes - my Mom and Dad.

The Outlier Project, the Outlier Magazine and the Standing O book are the resources I wanted to share with you this week. I promise they’ll inspire you.

SALES FROM THE STREETS:

My Mom’s The Best Sales Rep I Know

Staying with the Mother’s Day theme, my Mom is one of the best sales professionals I know.

She’s not what you’d picture when you think “salesperson.” She’s never held a sales title, never carried a quota. But she’s an absolute force.

Years ago, she had a high-powered corporate job, but when I was born, she left it to start her own consulting agency from home so she could be there for me the way she was for my sister 9 years earlier.

That move taught me more about priorities and hustle than any business book ever could and laid the foundation for my entrepreneurial genes without me knowing it.

Fast forward to a few years ago, in her retirement (technically), she started working for the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Virginia.

Based on the number of Veterans in the VA and DC areas, her background (MBA) in Art Therapy and the resources she had available at the Hylton Center, she came up with an idea to try and support Veterans through music and performance.

She did the research, built the network, personalized the outreach to funders, and led the launch of an event that drew over 500 Veterans.

What started as an idea became a full-blown initiative. The Veterans and the Arts Program is now a thriving community that has helped thousands of Veterans.

She didn’t do it with slick tactics or sales training. She did it with:

• A belief in her mission
• Deep understanding of her audience
• Relevant, personalized outreach
• And a relentless work ethic

She’s never called herself a salesperson, but she sold an idea, moved people to act, and built something meaningful that made a real difference in people’s lives.

If that isn’t the true essence of Sales then I don’t know what is.

Thanks for showing me the way Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms who lead with heart, grit, and purpose.

And, as Mr T. says, make sure you treat your mother right this weekend 🙂

​https://youtu.be/maccGUvpi0I?si=fMCo7k_BP4W6Ufwe

ADDITIONAL WAYS YOU CAN LEVEL UP YOUR SALES GAME

• The JB Sales Membership is where you’ll get access to my live training, workshops, AMAs and OnDemand catalog so you can level up your sales skills every day! 3000+ Sales pros have already joined. Are you next?
• The industry-leading Make it Happen Monday Podcast where you’ll get insights and inspiration from some of the most interesting and influential people in the world of Sales and business. (this is where you’ll hear the Guy Kawasaki episode on May XYZ)
• The JB Sales YouTube channel with practical tips that you can apply immediately to drive results along with interviews and content that is guaranteed to get you to think differently.

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