Pre-call Prep

The 2-Minute Drill

Take two minutes before your sales call to review this page and determine what you want to accomplish on the call. Take two minutes following the call to fill in your Sales Debriefing Journal.

SANDLER SELLING RULES:

  • I'm financially independent and don't need the business.
  • Don't push yourself into the Fulfillment Step with a weak Decision Step.
  • Plant your feet, stand your ground, and don't wimp!
  • There is a difference between who you "I" and what you "R."
  • You can be part of your own plan, or part of someone else's.

REVERSING:

  • Precede all Reverses with Softening Statements: "makes sense"; "good question"; "I understand."
  • "Good question, George. Why did you ask me that one just now?" "Suppose I said ____. What would you say?" "I get the feeling ____. Is that a fair statement?"
  • Work off the prospect's responses. Don't be creative.

DUMMY CURVE:

  • Your job is to get information, not give it!
  • "George, help me. I don't understand." "Tell me more about..." "Oh?" "I'm not sure. What did you have in mind?" "Did we talk about ____? I don't remember."

NEGATIVE REVERSE SELLING®:

  • Do the opposite behavior of which your prospect expects from a salesperson!
  • "I get the feeling that no matter what I have, you're close minded ... is that a fair statement?" "You wouldn't have any interest in ____. Would you, George?" "Is it over? Now that it's over, let me ask a few questions..."

The Sandler Selling System®:

Submarine, 2016

BONDING & RAPPORT:

  • Communicate with your prospects in the way they prefer to communicate: Visual, Auditory, or Kinesthetic and DISC.
  • "Match" your prospect's posture, body movements, volume and rate of speech, tone, favorite phrases, etc.

UP-FRONT CONTRACTS:

  • "Thanks for inviting me in." (Always get invited in - NO BEGGING!)
  • "How much time do we have?"
  • Establish an agenda for each meeting: "George, what would you like to accomplish by the end of our meeting?"
  • Get and give permission to ask questions. Establish that a decision will be made at the end of the meeting.

PAIN:

  • Lead your prospect down the Sandler Pain Funnel®: "How long have you had the problem?" "Have you tried to fix it in the past?" "Did your solution work?" "How much do you think it's costing your company?" "What impact does this problem have on you specifically?"
  • Are you hearing real pain or only pain indicators? Other Reverses to use in the Pain Step: "How long have you been thinking about this?" "And you never had a problem with ?” "If you could wave a magic wand, how would you solve this?" "How do you see me helping you?"

BUDGET:

  • "George, do you have a budget set aside for ____?"
  • ''Would you mind sharing it with me in round numbers?"

DECISION:

  • “George, what decision-making process does your company go through when deciding on ____?"
  • "Besides yourself, who else is involved in the decision-making process?"
  • (Gently) ''You mean you don't get any help from the president or a committee?”

FULFILLMENT:

  • Clearly review your contract before proceeding with the presentation.
  • Present only the solutions that speak to your prospect's pain, and you don't have to finish the presentation.
  • Sandler's Thermometer Close: First ask, "George, on a scale of 1 to 10 -- #1, you have no interest in ____, and #10, you're already sold and ready to sign -- where are you?" Then ask: "George, what do you need to see (or hear) to get to 10?"

POST-SELL:

  • The Post-Sell Step is a simple matter of making sure the sale is locked up by deliberately giving your prospect a chance to back out.
  • Lock up the sale officially. Get a purchase order, check, signed contract, cash, etc.
  • Bring up a compromise your prospect agreed to earlier. "George, I want to make sure blue is not a problem. Originally you had hoped for red. I bring this up because I don't want to leave today, and then have you call me later and possibly cancel the order because of that. You wouldn't cancel because of the change we agreed upon, would you, George?"