Are You Making These B2B Mistakes?

February 12, 2025

In partnership with

Canada’s Kenneth Law is maybe the ‘darkest’ case of a crazy salesman we’ve covered yet. In 2023, he was reported to have sold hundreds of suicide kits to ‘assist’ more than 130 clients with their suicides. The suicide kit salesman is a conflicting case that’s potentially reshaping laws in the country. Can’t help but wonder: how does one pitch a suicide kit? 🥴 

In Today’s Jam

  • Sales Tip of the Day: How To Overcome Any Objection

  • The Sales Lab: Are You Making These B2B Mistakes? 🤔

  • Weekly Poll: Are You Currently Working in B2B Sales? 

  • Sales Q&A: B2B – What’s the Catch? 

  • 3 Random Statistics to Help You Sell 

  • Today’s Story & a Sales Scene

The Sales Lab🔬: B2B Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Sales 

We recently came across a special episode of the GTM Podcast where they compiled a list of the most eye-opening B2B hot takes of industry leaders. The episode was filled with so many gems that we went ahead and put together a short list for you.

If you’re in the B2B space and find that things aren’t ‘clicking’, chances are you’ll find the root cause here.

3 B2B hot takes below ⬇️

#1 Volume is Overrated

“When sales leaders obsess over lead volume instead of value, it creates these negative destructive spirals to obsess over it. As a marketer, I can get you lots of volume—but you’re going to hate it. It’s not going to be good volume and we’re going to shoot ourselves in the foot. Just give me a revenue number that I have to hit each month. And I can decide how to get there between volume and value.” - John Dick, Global SVP, HubSpot

Our Take: Value VS Volume

Companies pressuring reps to focus on volume hurts the companies in the end. This superficial approach to selling will not only attract bad leads, it will also brainwash reps into obsessing over metrics that don’t help them or the company. Ten good leads are better than 100 trash ones.

#2 Outbound is Alive and Well. Sellers are just Lazy

“So much of a sales leader's success and the success of growing revenue within startups is predicated on the ability to generate demand. And in a perfect world, create a demand-rich environment. Marketing leaders aren’t the only ones responsible for this. You want to take ownership of your success. As a sales leader, most of my focus is on generating demand, outside of recruiting.” - Sam Blond, Former CEO, Brex

Our Take:

Outbound may have evolved but that doesn’t make it irrelevant. As sales and competition evolves, so do we. Companies are looking for “full stack” sales folks with more complete skillsets. That includes generating demand with outbound. This requires more time management skills in addition to outbound.

#3 Hiring Based on Vertical Experience is Misguided

“[There’s not always] a rep or sales leader that’s going to change the trajectory of your revenue growth because they have domain or vertical experience that is so special it can’t be replicated. There’s no one I could hire today that has 5 years of sales leadership with AI-powered development tools—that person doesn’t exist. We have to make that person. And to make that person I need a team of persons who are deeply committed to being curious.” - Elizabeth Pemmerl, CRO, GitHub

Our Take:

It’s amazing how many companies refuse to put trust in the people they hire. Instead of supporting and, as Pemmerl put it, “making that person”, they’d rather grab a resume that has the ‘right vertical experience’, not realizing how much the industry and tools have changed—and that the hire will still feel like a fish out of water without the right support system.

If you think you’re making any of these mistakes at your company, time to tighten up.

Full episode here.

Are you currently in B2B Sales?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Close More Deals by Automating Email and Meeting Management

It’s Monday morning, and your inbox is overflowing. Meetings are stacked, follow-ups are overdue, and selling, your real superpower, takes a backseat.

Enter Fyxer, your AI Executive Assistant.

  • Emails neatly organized, with replies crafted to match your tone.

  • Follow-up reminders and meeting notes handled for you.

  • More time to build relationships and close deals.

Start your 7-Day Free Trial today—no credit card required! Seamlessly integrates with Gmail and Outlook.

Sales Q&A

B2B Sales — What’s the Catch?

It’s Time For That Dream Sales Job…💼

Looking for a new job opportunity in Sales? Search for the latest and greatest jobs here.

Looking to hire someone with great Sales experience? Post your job on The Sales Jam Job Board, here.

Game Changers of the week🔥

Behold: The 80-20 Rule of Prospecting

Here’s why your emails should be both personal and relevant. Also, personalization at scale may be impossible. But that doesn’t there aren’t workarounds.

3 Random Statistics to Help You Sell

  • Adapting to hybrid or virtual selling is the top tactic to drive sales growth. (Salesforce)

  • A single outbound sales rep should average 60 calls per day. (Revenue.io)

  • 53% of sales reps say the sales technology stack aids productivity and positively impacts results. (Forrester)

Sales & Marketing Insights Inbound

INBOUND is the go-to event for sales and marketing professionals. If you’re looking for the best strategies to drive revenue growth, while delivering the best possible experience for customers, we’d hope you bought those tickets

4-Step Sales Productivity Guide

Sales productivity can be the one thing that stops your sales growth strategy from being totally shot. Define KPIs and beat targets with this 4-step guide.

Today’s Story

Sales Scene of the Week🎬

It’s a good feeling 😁

What did you think of this newsletter?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.