Most salespeople don't fail because they can't pitch. They fail because they don't follow up.

I sat down with Mark Jacob, CEO of Show Me Merchants and founder of Swiftly, for our latest Sell More Academy masterclass on sales. Mark has spent nearly two decades closing deals—from small transactional sales to massive multi-year enterprise contracts across some of the most competitive and technical markets you can imagine. He's helped businesses access millions in capital and helped restaurants eliminate thousands in credit card processing fees.

When I asked him the single most important lesson he's learned about selling, his answer was simple: following up with people.

Not the pitch. Not the product. Not even the close. The follow-up.

Here's what most salespeople get wrong about sales. They think rejection means no. They think a prospect who says "not now" is the same as a prospect who says "never." They're not.

The No That Means Not Now

Mark has people he hasn't spoken to in years. Then one day, he reaches out. They're in a different industry. They've moved on to a new company. Their situation has completely changed. And suddenly, there's an opportunity.

"A lot of the times when people say no, if they're a qualified lead, if they're someone you actually could work with, that no really means not now versus I'm not interested or this isn't for me," Mark says.

The difference is massive.

Think about your own life. You've probably said no to something because the timing was wrong. Not because you didn't like the product or the person. The timing just wasn't right. Maybe you were dealing with something else. Maybe your budget was already allocated. Maybe you were in the middle of a different project.

A qualified prospect who says no today might be your best client in six months. But only if you stay on their radar.

The Founder's Sales Problem

Here's where it gets tricky. Most founders don't see themselves as salespeople. They're builders. They're visionaries. They're operators. Sales feels like a dirty word.

But here's the truth Mark shared: founders are always selling. They're selling their vision to investors. They're selling their culture to employees. They're selling their mission to customers. Every conversation is a sale.

"Founders are salespeople. They are just not selling necessarily a product. They're selling themselves. They're selling their vision. They're selling corporate culture. They're selling to the people that are working for them. They're selling to investors."

The turning point for Mark came when he became a stockbroker. That's when he learned the structure, the scripting, the rhythm of a real sales conversation. He learned how to read tempo. How to adjust cadence. How to navigate the tiny moments that separate an average salesperson from a top performer.

But here's what founders miss: you don't need to be a slick closer to be a good salesman. You just need to understand the problem your customer is facing and know how to position your solution.

The Work vs. Working Hard Distinction

This is where most salespeople stumble.

Mark hires experienced salespeople from other industries all the time. They come in confident. They've closed deals before. They know how to sell.

Then they hit a wall.

"A lot of them just think they can coast with the experience of being a salesperson and just close deals and get business without learning necessarily the product, understanding what it does, the problem it solves, and then also how to speak with the clients," Mark explains.

They're working hard. They're making calls. They're sending emails. But they're not putting in the work.

The work is learning your product inside and out. The work is understanding the specific pain points of your target customer. The work is knowing how to speak their language. The work is understanding that a B2B prospect responds differently than a B2C prospect. That an enterprise buyer has different concerns than a small business owner.

Working hard is showing up. Putting in the work is showing up prepared.

Mark gives an example. A salesperson used to getting 10 leads a day at their old job might need to do 300 cold calls or send 1,000 emails a day in a new role. They can't just coast on their previous experience. They have to adapt. They have to learn. They have to put in the work.

The Rejection That Builds Character

Here's something Mark said that stuck with me: "For every yes that I get, I might've heard 50 or 60 no's."

Most people would quit after 10 no's. After 20, they'd definitely be looking for a new career. After 50, they'd be convinced sales wasn't for them.

But Mark kept going. And the no's didn't break him. They built him.

He's been punched in the face by prospects. Hard. And some of those people who punched the hardest ended up being his best clients.

"I'm sure you've had circumstances where some of the people that have punched the hardest ended up being the best client you end up having. You've earned their business. You know, like, uh, people that say yes, and are desperate, like, again, various products, product, but some, when people are desperate, and they'll do anything you say, they're usually not good clients, and they also don't have a sense of loyalty, but someone where you've earned their respect, they're more willing to do business with you, and they're more likely to stay with you."

The prospect who says yes immediately? They're probably not a good fit. They're desperate. They'll do business with anyone. They have no loyalty.

The prospect who makes you work for it? Who challenges you? Who pushes back? That's your person. Because when you finally earn their business, they respect you. They're loyal. They're worth keeping.

Training Your Team to Handle Rejection

You can't be the only one closing deals. If you want to scale, you need a team. But how do you train people to handle the emotional roller coaster of sales?

Mark has a system. When a new hire gets on their first calls, he has them pay attention to the moments when they say something wrong. The tone shift. The pause. The change in energy.

"There's a moment in time in any conversation you're having where you could tell you said the wrong thing. And sometimes, especially with a cold call, it's a tone thing, you don't necessarily I get the luxury of seeing their face. When you see someone's face contort, you know you've said the wrong thing."

At the end of the day, Mark sits down with them and goes through the scenarios. What could they have said differently? What was the prospect actually looking for?

Then they do role-playing. Rep versus rep. One person is the annoying customer. The other is the salesperson. They practice handling objections. They practice reading energy.

"Sales isn't an exact formula. It's a little bit of science. It's a little bit of art. Just what I say might work for me and what you say might work for you. And we could say it to the same person. And, you know, other people respond differently to every sort of circumstance."

You can't give someone a script and expect them to succeed. You have to teach them to understand the core problem and adapt their approach based on the person they're talking to.

The Pipeline Is Everything

Here's the thing about sales that nobody wants to hear: it takes time to build a pipeline.

If you're brand new to sales, the first 30-60 days are brutal. You're making calls. You're sending emails. You're getting rejected. And you're not making any money.

Most people quit. They think sales isn't for them. They think they're not good at it.

But Mark says if you've put in the work for three months, you should have a pipeline. You should have people who said "call me in three months" or "reach out in two months." Those calls start overlapping. They create waves. And suddenly, you have deals.

"At a certain point, I would say at least three months into really selling any product, if you've put in the work, you're able to have a pipeline. And that pipeline is something that the people that said, call me in three months, call me in two months, call me in one month. They all start overlapping on each other like waves, and they just kind of create a moment in time where you should be able to have additional work."

The problem is most salespeople don't stay long enough to see it. They burn out after 30 days because they haven't made any money. They think it's not working.

But they just didn't stay long enough.

The Personal Brand That Compounds

Here's what happens when you stay in the game long enough: you develop a personal brand.

You're not posting Instagram stories about how cool you are. You're not trying to be an influencer. But people know what you've done. They know who you've worked with. They know your reputation.

"Even if you're not actively like posting on Instagram and saying, look, look how cool and impressive I am. It's something where people understand what you've done, who you've done it for, uh, someone that you've done business with, or even prospect that might have a referral for you. Someone that's your friends might just say like, wow, you've been doing this for a while. You know, I think I have someone that you might, uh, be a good fit for you."

That's when the phone starts ringing. Not because you're chasing leads. But because your reputation is doing the work for you.

The One Daily Habit

If you take nothing else from this masterclass, take this: do one more.

Mark's final advice for anyone wanting to become a more effective and resilient salesperson is simple. You're out of energy. You're completely spent. You've made your calls. You've sent your emails. You've done your work for the day.

Do one more.

One more call. One more email. One more outreach. One more rep.

"Daily, I would say just do one more. So what I mean by that is, you know, you're out of energy, you're completely spent and taking that one more rep of whatever, you know, you were working on for the day in terms of outreach can really over a long period of time makes a big difference. And more importantly, I know you've seen this firsthand, that last phone call might be the one that you were looking for, you know, you're working all day to get into. You know, just sending out that one more email, just, or one more campaign, you know, leveraging that out. It all makes a big difference in the long run."

That last call might be the one. That last email might be the one. You won't know unless you do it.

Over a long period of time, doing one more every single day compounds. It's not about working harder. It's about being consistent. It's about staying in the game long enough to see your pipeline fill up. Long enough to build your personal brand. Long enough for people to know who you are and what you do.

The Weekly Habit

Weekly, learn something. Listen to a podcast. Read a book. Have conversations. Join communities. There's always an opportunity to improve outside of your normal grind.

"Weekly, learn something, you know, whether that's listening to a podcast, reading a book, having conversations, joining communities, you know, there's always an opportunity outside of just what is perceived as your normal grind to really improve on what you have. And, you know, over. Again, over a long period of time, you may not notice it day-to-day, but you'll be better off next year than you were the previous year."

You won't see the improvement day-to-day. But over a year? Over five years? Over a decade? The compound effect of learning is massive.

The Bottom Line

Sales isn't about being the slickest closer or the best talker. It's about persistence. It's about understanding your customer's problem. It's about staying in the game long enough for your pipeline to fill up. It's about doing one more when you're exhausted. It's about learning something every week.

It's about treating a "no" as a "not now" and following up until the timing is right.

That's how you sell more.

Watch the full replay inside the class vaults now.

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