About sell like a spy

Spies are not who you think they are. While TV shows and movies like to feature spies in car chases and gun fights, the reality is that they are experts in developing relationships. Spies cultivate and influence people from a huge array of backgrounds and there are incredible lessons that can be utilized in our careers and everyday life drawn from how they employ these skills.  

Sell Like a Spy offers communication strategies and spy tactics to help you and your team connect quicker and more deeply. Cross-fertilizing experiences and approaches from the world of sales and espionage offers a chance to utilize outside-the-box methods that can unlock creativity and motivate teams to pursue their sales targets more efficiently. Techniques from the world of the FBI, Secret Service, military special forces, and other government agencies provide additional critical insights into how to unlock creativity and motivate teams to more efficiently pursue their sales targets and help corporate executives to communicate better. 

Jeremy Hurewitz’s career has spanned multiple sectors and incorporated years of international experience resulting in unique insights and perspectives that he leverages for a wide variety of clients.  

Jeremy spent the first decade of his career overseas building the media association Project Syndicate while based out of Prague and Shanghai. He spearheaded a business development strategy that saw the association grow from a few dozen member newspapers in mostly Eastern Europe, to a truly global association of over 300 newspapers in over 100 countries. Jeremy grew the staff, established a publishing and analytics practice, and helped grow the editorial offerings from two series to several dozen. 

During Jeremy's time abroad he also worked as a freelance journalist writing on a variety of topics for dozens of publications around the world. Jeremy continues to write regularly with recent articles appearing in Bloomberg, USA Today, and The Hill. 

Upon returning to the U.S. after his time overseas, Jeremy settled in New York City and worked for several well-known global consulting firms in the world of corporate security. These companies are staffed by former intelligence officers and Jeremy worked closely with these former spies. He came to notice how good these individuals were at connecting with clients, how quickly they were able to establish rapport and put people at ease and get them to open up. In addition to former spies, his colleagues included former members of the FBI and the law enforcement community, the Secret Service, the military, the State Department, and other government agencies. Jeremy learned unique and impactful skills from all these former government employees, and he began utilizing the methods he picked up. He quickly noticed the tangible difference it made in his salesmanship and his ability to connect with clients. By practicing the same methods that government officials use to develop relationships and overcome a range of challenges, Jeremy was able to achieve some of the biggest and most meaningful sales of his career.  

Jeremy has synthesized these lessons from government service into the Sell Like a Spy program and works with clients to share these strategies to help them improve their ability to connect with targets, develop creative approaches to close deals, and overcome challenges. 

What People Are Saying

  • "I attended the Sell like a Spy program through Pavilion and it was simply awesome and unique to all other business negotiations courses I have experienced. Im a seasoned negotiator with 15+ years in the game, MBA courses in practical and theoretical negotiation theory and have immersed myself in the classics like Getting to Yes and Never Split the Difference, but let me tell you, this is a whole different animal. This program helped me heighten my skills around the power of suggestion and using time and assumptive language as a power lever."

    Michael DeGagne, Senior Vice President of Global Sales, quantilope

  • "I thoroughly enjoyed Jeremy’s presentation at The NY Alliance. His delivery was so engaging that I lost all track of time. By any measure he is a very effective speaker and educator. I found his comments regarding Selling Like a Spy especially intriguing — I went back to work that day and started to use his suggestions — I truly enjoyed the outside the box ideas."

    Evan Friedman, Executive Vice President, Corporate Travel Management

  • “Jeremy did a phenomenal job at our Annual Sales and Marketing Conference in Savannah, Georgia. His knowledge and experience with regards to sales is exceptional. Jeremy does a great job using his expertise from the world of espionage and tying it together with sales related tips. We have received great feedback from both of Jeremy’s general session presentation as well as his breakout session.”

    Heather Jenson, AgFirst Farm Credit Bank

  • "Jeremy brings an inquisitive mind and a wide range of experiences to everything he writes. That typically leads to insights and connections that are uniquely his own. He isn’t driven by dogma, but rather by a restless search for truth. Whether it’s a focus on China or a view of the business landscape, you can count on anything Jeremy writes to be interesting and fun to read.”

    Daniel Levine, Founder, The Avant Guide Institute

  • "I learned a lot working with Jeremy and studying his approach to sales. He insists on being a peer to his clients, something that takes intellect and boldness to achieve. Anyone interested in improving their sales game will become more successful spending time with him, and any organization would be lucky to have him advising them."

    Paul Lee, Vice President / Regional Director Key Accounts, The Expert Institute

  • “Jeremy is one of the most creative sales professionals I know. He understands the client’s practical and emotional needs and integrates that into how he engages them. His knowledge of international affairs often enables him to naturally serve as a partner or advisor to clients. He always keeps his clients’ objectives in mind and is flexible in his approach to helping them get there.”

    Eric Jaffe, CEO, BCA Research

  • "I've had the opportunity to participate in Jeremy's Sell Like a Spy sales training at multiple workshops and have consistently championed for his involvement with our sales team. Jeremy brings an innovative, engaging, and unforgettable approach to sales that is adaptable across all sales domains. Participating in Jeremy's program has been incredibly enlightening for me, enabling me to integrate many of his techniques into my sales growth. I eagerly anticipate further learning opportunities from Jeremy. I strongly endorse Sell Like a Spy for any organization looking to enhance their sales training program."

    Erin Pollex, Regional Sales Director, Interface

  • “Jeremy was responsible for one of the most memorable and strategic wins on the team when he worked for me. That deal made waves throughout the firm for how innovative and substantial it was, and it was a great example of the creativity and hustle that Jeremy brings to his work. He has a variety of tools he deploys to grow relationships that are very effective and teachable, and any sales organization would benefit from spending time with him.”

    Pat Donegan, Senior Managing Director, Sales Excellence, The Riverside Company

  • “Jeremy is a born entrepreneur whose ability to think outside-the-box gained him a set of rare skills and fostered his unique career. In close to a decade of leadership at Project Syndicate, he found ever new ways to make us grow. By deftly navigating different cultures and a variety of new challenges he helped build a worldwide network of newspapers that made us into the largest opinion syndication service in the world. His diverse experience and unique expertise make him an invaluable asset for any organization.“

    Professor Andrzej Rapaczynski, Columbia University & Founder, Project Syndicate

  • “Jeremy certainly captured students' attention as Guest Lecturer for my Ethnographic Research Methods class at Jefferson University. Jeremy tailored his presentation to an undergraduate audience and provided specific tools and examples for effective interviewing, connecting, observation and attentive listening based on his unique experience as a journalist and his work with intelligence officers in corporate security. The students refer to this discussion as they prepare for their research projects, now equipped to conduct interviews and record observations. Of course, the tools and techniques will be used well beyond this class and since Jeremy is such a dynamic speaker, there is no doubt that his presentation will be remembered.”

    Patricia Rauffer, Adjunct Professor, Ethnographic Research Methods, Kanbar College of Design, Engineering & Commerce, Jefferson University

  • “I just finished the three week Sell Like a Spy course through Pavilion and I've experienced education sessions via business school, seminars and conferences, and this was by far the most interesting course I’ve taken. Sell Like a Spy provided real-world application and ideas that I can utilize to connect with people more deeply in a variety of contexts. The course had my complete attention for the full 90 minutes each week which is a testament to the subject matter and the presenters.”

    Jon Moore, Vice President, Sales, ROLLER

  • “Jeremy had the room captivated during his training session at our sales summit. His authentic stories and practical examples of elicitation are spot on. We loved how he challenged our team to lean into our superpowers. We plan to make Sell Like a Spy a part of our sales philosophy as we achieve our next level of success.”

    Ryan Akers, Regional Sales Director, Interface