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One sales email. One problem solved. One mind blown. 🤯 This is how you sell in 2025. Vercel is CRUSHING their sales motion right now—and they impressed us in a major way. Here’s the play-by-play on how they turned a stalled user into a raving fan: 1. Our content marketer, Desiree Echevarria, listens to Lenny Rachitsky's podcast with Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch. He talks about their AI-powered vibe-coding tool, V0. Intrigued, she creates an account. 2. She dives in, starts building something… but hits a wall. It’s not working as she hoped. She pauses and moves on. 3. A few days later, she gets an email from Vercel rep Kailey Conry: “Hey Desiree – noticed you just spun up a Vercel account. Mind sharing what you're working on?” 4. Desiree replies. Explains what she's trying to build. Asks if it’s even possible. 5. Minutes later, Kailey sends Desiree a *real working example* of EXACTLY what she was trying to build. No sales-speak. No pitch. Just a real solution she could see with her own eyes. 6. Desiree’s head explodes. 🤯 7. Kailey books a call with Desiree and V0 sales engineer Antoni Mikalis. They map out how to bring the project to life—and how to take it even further and deliver value to the rest of the Close team. This is elite sales. ✅ Proactive, not reactive. ✅ Tangible, not theoretical. ✅ Genuinely helpful, not “check out our help docs” helpful. From “meh” experience → mind-blown moment → qualified meeting → product champion. Sales isn’t about persuading people to give you a try. It’s about solving their problems in real, tangible ways. No fluff. No BS. Just delivering results. Vercel’s raising the bar. Let’s all get on their level. 💪 What sales interactions have blown your mind lately?

One of the best new demo centers I’ve seen in 2025. Here is why it’s so great → A consistent theme The puns around a construction site are sprinkled throughout the entire page. As Eric Holland 💀 called out in his “One Demo is Not Enough” talk - if you’re going to do a demo center, give it a name and some personality → Choose your own adventure You can explore by role, features, or level of familiarity with the product. → Each demo follows our best practices They are short, value-driven, and incorporate social proof throughout. I also love that demos end with a clear differentiator for Close vs other CRMs. Kudos to Sam Brenner, Chelsea Castle, and the entire Close team - this demo center is incredible. Go check it out → https://lnkd.in/eSugU5GQ

how can you automate outreach to prevent leads from slipping through the cracks? just ask Forrest. 📞

When I say “Show your work,” what comes to mind? If it’s high school math concepts and instant armpit sweats, I get you. But as Maddie Tierney and I are looking for a new account executive at Close, we’re finding some applicants shine 🌟 at showing their work, how they get from a problem to a solution. Part of our interview process is understanding how AEs think about sales, how they make connections, and what requirements there are to get to a solution. It isn’t algebra (thank goodness!), but it *is* reasoned decision-making. Context is everything. It helps us understand if an applicant’s judgment and critical thinking align with how our team works and what tends to drive success in this role. Here’s a concrete example. We ask, “Explain how you decide when to push for the close in a sales conversation.” Typical answer: “I usually ask for the close when I’ve done the demo, answered their questions, have all the right qualification metrics, and they are still interested in moving forward. Then I’ll ask if there’s anything else they need and push to close the deal.” This doesn’t work because it’s vague and universal. *Anyone* can answer this way. A candidate shines when they tell us what they did and how they got there. Strong answer: “Closing isn’t a separate step at the end for me, it’s a running check on alignment throughout the process. I’m constantly listening for buying signals: when a prospect repeats key value points, digs into implementation, or starts using future-facing language. A tactic I'll use is what I call ‘confidence checking.’ I’ll ask, ‘On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you that this solves the problem we’ve been talking about?’ If they say anything under an 8, that’s a red flag. It tells me I haven’t done my job yet. I’ve learned the hard way that pushing too early can stall momentum. Now I know when a buyer tells me, using their own words, that they’re confident and ready, the close becomes a natural next step, not a pitch.” See the difference? The applicant gives a concrete tactic or process and the reason why it works, earned through experience. This shows an applicant’s philosophy, which is exactly what we need when selecting a new team member. It shows they’ve tested and refined and really thought about their approach over time. They offered a specific example of how they learned. This shows me the applicant cares about the buyer and wants the decision to come from them. Particularly strong responses give specific examples like: 1. Sharing a specific deal or customer that an applicant closed with this technique (a win) 2. Recounting how an applicant learned this the hard way, reflecting where they went wrong (a loss) The application of a theory or tactic shows us that this isn’t just talk (which sales people happen to be great at) but real-world application. OK, so, TL;DR: We’re hiring! Links in the comments for our two account executive - SMB roles.

"The sure sign of an amateur is he has a million plans and they all start tomorrow." - Steven Pressfield Swallow the medicine and act. #MondayMotivation

"I Recovered $127K in Lost Revenue by Finally Organizing My Freight Leads (Here's How)" Are you drowning in leads while fighting daily freight fires? I know I was. Look, between us freight brokers, we all struggle with the same thing. I had potential revenue sitting untouched in scattered emails, hastily scribbled notes, and those conversations I swore I'd follow up on but never did. Sound familiar? I'd Zapier everything into my CRM where my leads would quietly expire while I was busy putting out today's urgent problems. Every night I'd go home thinking about all the business I wasn't nurturing. Then I revamped my approach with Close, and honestly? It changed everything. For my carrier sales: Intentionality in Close, by sorts my carriers by lane preferences, equipment types, and which ones actually show up when they say they will (you know who you are!). When I need coverage for a hot load, I filter for the perfect match in seconds instead of endless scrolling and calling. My carrier relationships have gotten way stronger because I'm calling with loads that make sense for them, not just random outreach. For customer acquisition: The system gives me a nudge when shippers haven't heard from me in a month and reminds me of their shipping patterns and pain points before I call. My conversion rate literally doubled because I'm having real conversations about their specific needs instead of the same generic pitch. The real game-changer? me....I am really intentional about keeping my CRM organized. Stop letting valuable leads disappear into your overflowing inbox. Trust me, your next big account is probably sitting neglected in your database right now. I created a video last week about this... I will drop it in the comments and if you need anything at all, let me know!

to all the sales pros out there: treat every deal like you're trying to close Kevin De Bruyne 😤

"With clarity comes courage. With confusion, fear and hesitation." Can you guess who said this — Steli Efti or Aristotle?

I regret implementing HubSpot. The benefit of HubSpot’s CRM is that it's integrated into every app we use. It's a big plus. But the downside is that the app is super-bloated, clunky and old. Salespeople can't find what they need, so they "wing it" on calls or they use personal spreadsheets to keep track of stuff that really matters. I'm not saying it's bad for every company. Some of my companies just need to be on it. But from now on I'm going to recommend that my companies look into Close before picking a CRM. Close is clean, easy, and efficient. It answers my #1 requirement for a CRM: will your people actually use it? And if they need a missing integration, they can use Zapier, Make, n8n, etc. If you try them, use my referral code (BootstrappedGiants20) for a free trial & 20% off after that.

A lead fills out your form and they’re ready to talk. You think, “Let me prep a bit before I call.” You spend 15 minutes looking them up, reading their blog, and analyzing their LinkedIn. By the time you pick up the phone, your competitor has gotten to them first. You were second. Second place doesn’t close the deal. You’re 21x more likely to qualify a lead if you call within 5 minutes. Speed beats perfection every time. - Cap your call prep to 1–2 minutes max - Use a CRM (like Close) that instantly surfaces lead info - Set up a power dialer or automations to notify your team - Call right now, not “later” - Keep it human—no script, just real curiosity Speed-to-call isn't optional if your business depends on inbound leads—it’s your competitive edge. Build a system that helps you (or your team) call within 2 minutes. Stop waiting, start closing. 💪