Being involved with Sandler since 2010, I've learned to use a lot of Sandler Rules. We use these Sandler Rules to help guide us into practicing a systematic approach to all aspects of the selling process. There are hundreds of Sandler Rules—not just the ones you see in the books. There is not a day or class that goes by where one isn’t being used.
With that being said, I'll give you 2 of my favorites. Each has a different aspect for why it’s important and how you can use it to better produce in your business and in your everyday life.
Harvard Business Review defines urgency as a combination of thoughts, feelings, and actual behavior. We have observed a lack of urgency with many salespeople who believe they have a long sales cycle. Because of their belief, we have noticed that many are uncomfortable asking tough questions to disqualify prospects earlier in the sales cycle.
Why do salespeople have a need to spend so much time with prospects they will never sell? What do prospects say to you to give you hope? Here are some of the most common sales issues that create long selling cycles and a lack of closing urgency:
I have a little Secret…I LOVE TO JOURNAL! There, I said it. I feel this is an untapped resource for anyone’s success. For a lot who write, it’s taking the future and bringing it into the present. It allows for us to visualize our successes and make them into reality.
For those that may not know, Journaling is, simply put, an avenue for expressing your hopes, fears, dreams; sometimes whatever “head trash” needs to get out of your head, or positive thoughts, beliefs, and aspirations into your head, and put on paper or done digitally.
I had the pleasure of being the speaker at an event about “How to Grow Your Business Through Networking”. Most people know they must do it, however, they either:
- Don’t want to be there
- Don’t know how to network
- Don’t have a game plan
- Don’t have the desired result to why they are there
For you to develop a game plan for whatever event you are attending, think of it as a “pre-call plan” for networking. Choose to not focus on all the “don’ts” when it comes to networking and instead “do” it with a purpose and a strategy.
Here are some important tips to network more effectively:
When I was a rookie in sales it was very important to know as much as I could about the products I was selling.
I spent hours researching and memorizing...........really proud of what I knew.
One day I found myself in front of a very large opportunity – boy was I excited to show off!
They asked me to tell them about various products, costs, and differences between competitive products. I was quick to proudly share all of the features and benefits I had learned.
An hour later they said “Thank you very much. You’ve certainly given us a lot to think about. This was probably the best presentation we’ve ever seen”
To answer this question we looked at 11 factors that historically support shorter sales cycles. Shorter sales cycles are generally not impacted by delayed closings or business lost to competitors.
Looking for a Magic Formula? Sandler will give it to you!
I’ve talked to thousands of business owners, salespeople, Presidents of companies, and leaders in the business world during my time with Sandler. There’s not a week that goes by that a person contacts me looking for a “magic bullet” or “secret formula” that will take their business to the next level.
Let’s get this out of the way, upfront. There is no magic formula for success. You can stop reading now...
I hear this phrase from clients, prospects, and friends alike, “I just don’t have enough time!” It ranges from reading more-to working out-to prospecting-to saying difficult things-to spending more time with family…we all wish we had more time.
Why is it that some people pack a day’s worth of activity into 2-3 hours and others spend weeks just “getting ready to get ready.” What stops them from taking the next step, while others are sprinting away from them. My belief is that it’s all about our priorities.
The phrase, “I just don’t have time,” is the adult version of, “The dog ate my homework.” It’s an excuse and we are full of them. I can guarantee every one of us has come up with one reason or another as to why we aren’t where we want to be or haven’t completed a task that has been on our to-do list for months. One reason could be because of having a to-do list that will be discussed in a different discussion.
I was talking with a friend about his business. He was telling me about how some of his clients, who he had had for a few years, were leaving him. He was taking it hard. I asked him why they left. He said, “One, because our price was too high, and the other didn’t tell me.” I asked if he believed them and he responded with, “Why not?” I was curious about what he had done for them recently, so I asked him. He said, “What do you mean? I kept the companies’ computers going daily. What more did they need from me?”
For a lot of owners and companies, this internal conversation is happening. It’s human nature to take relationships for granted. The same, good thing happens repeatedly, and we begin to expect it. It’s as if we become entitled to that relationship. That’s when we get ourselves and those relationships in trouble.
Why do prospects and customers buy? A common incorrect answer we hear with amateur salespeople is because of our quality, delivery, location etc. While these may be factors into the buying decision, this is not why someone will buy. These are features and benefits.
People buy because they have a problem, a problem that is solved by your product or service. There is a gap between where they are versus where they want to be. We call this pain. Pain is the reason people buy.
Interest, or curiosity, often motivates a prospect to explore what you have to offer but does not in itself motivate buying behavior.
Recent encounters with job seekers and companies struggling to hire top talent allow me to write the following about what’s happening to job/career seekers in the marketplace.
From the candidate side, I’ve witnessed strong candidates who are excellent at what they do, good work ethic, have plenty of experience, a track record of success, aren’t job hoppers, and are all age appropriate for the positions they have been interviewing.
And all candidates have been working feverishly to find new employment
So, what’s the problem you say? Here goes.
They have all suffered from the following 4 challenges:
You hired someone, who by everyone involved signed off on their dossier, motivation and culture fit. You believe with some minimum onboarding, he should be able to get up to speed quickly, and start producing.
Tradeshows remind me of my days at the county fair, but now instead of carnival rides, carnival games and little kids running around. Now it is products and services lined up in rows, business people walking around like they are in middle school clicks.
I have been an exhibitor at tradeshows and walked tradeshows as an attendee. There are 2 major mistakes I see consistently. One is poor booth setup and the other is the salespersons' initial approach. Here are some do’s and don’ts on trade show etiquette to keep you from making the top 2 mistakes:
1. First Impressions Matter
At a tradeshow, your staff and your booth, are an extension of your brand and your reputation. More times than not people will see your booth before they see you. First impressions are critical to your success at the tradeshows.
Do your salespeople, individually, care whether or not your company is the "Best in the World" or "The Leader in Widget Performance"? Undoubtedly that is important to them, but is that what gets them up in the morning, and keeps them going out in the field?
Customer Care is an essential part of every business, but arguably it is one of the most under appreciated. People are dealing with external and internal (fellow employees) clients daily. If you can’t handle them, your position with a company will be short lived.
Over the years, we’ve interviewed hundreds of candidates for Business level positions. The percentage of candidates that stand out is depressingly a low percentage, and getting lower by the day.
Is there anything you can do about your sales cycle? We will discover there are many patterns in the sales world. If we understand the patterns and what causes them, we have a chance to shorten the sales cycle. Many salespeople believe that their sales cycle pattern is set, and it can’t be sped up or done differently. They are convinced that, “It is what it is,” so they follow the outline that has been laid out before them, convinced that they are powerless to change things.
If you want to excel in the sales game, you only have to follow three simple steps. If you're already at the top of your game, following these steps will take you to higher levels of success. Even if you're at the other end of the success spectrum, in a slump perhaps and ready to throw in the towel, following these three steps will get you out of your slump and on your way to success ... guaranteed!
So, what are these three magical steps?
Over my many years in business, I have learned that in order to be successful you have to have an extreme thirst for knowledge. You have to continually be growing and adapting to the world around you; and one of the easiest ways to do so is to read, read, read.
The reasons you give a prospect to buy are rarely the reasons a prospect buys. In fact, a prospect sometimes buys in spite of your reasons. Our reasons for buying are a stock list of features that many times mean nothing to a prospect or they simply don’t care about them.
A good sales plan establishes goals, priorities, timetables, and necessary resources. A sales plan that will achieve your ends has these characteristics:
Last Sunday I participated in and witnessed over 20 thousand runners achieve their goals of completing either a marathon, half marathon or 5k run/walk at the Detroit Free Press International Festival of Races. We ran to set personal bests, to see where our bodies and minds could take us, or to honor a loved one. We set goals to complete a distance or time never completed before, and followed a training program to guide us day by day, and week by week for months leading up to the competition.
No one in any profession is successful 100% of the time. Keep rejection in perspective as you move toward your goal.
A good pool of prospects is one of the keys to a successful selling career. Knowing how to prospect effectively keeps a career vital, and is truly the lifeblood of sales. Yet, so many sales professionals overlook the crucial element of having a prospecting plan. With a plan to follow, you can measure your efforts and results.
A major frustration for salespeople is dealing with prospects that can't seem to make a decision. Perhaps the biggest of those frustrations is struggling with prospects who indicate the desire to make a decision (and to do so by a certain date), but when the date rolls around, they invariably need more time.
Cold calling: For many of us, the word "cold" is the key. Just the thought of picking up the phone sends a chill up our spines. Unfortunately, if we approach cold calling with an attitude of negativity, we'll communicate that attitude to the prospect.
When you interact with clients, they should be doing at least 70% of the talking, which means you're doing at least 70% of the listening. Listening is crucial for effective sales-it's the only way you'll learn what your prospect or client REALLY needs. Follow these tips for effective listening:
This is a collection of twelve simple steps all salespeople should live by.
Sooner or later, a prospect is going to tell you, "Send literature." It's a natural response to a salesperson. It's an easy way to reject the salesperson without getting personal.
Before you agree to send literature, ask yourself, "Why is the prospect requesting literature? Is this a sign of no interest?"
For some salespeople, the amount of time it takes to secure an initial appointment with a prospect is excessive. For others, the amount of time spent defining and developing the opportunity is extreme. And for many, it’s the amount of time it takes to secure a decision after submitting a proposal of making a presentation that stretches the selling cycle beyond reasonable limits.
Successful salespeople are often experts at differentiating themselves from the competition. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s vital because if the prospect has no way of differentiating between sales people, they’ll default to their tried and true method, price. Poor and mediocre salespeople are the ones that cut their price and try to low ball a deal. Successful sales professionals avoid the situation and when circumstances place them in that battle, they usually walk away. So as a rule of thumb, if the competition is doing it, do something else.
Surprises can sometimes be fun, but not when you’re dealing with a prospect or client. Surprises during a meeting, either from the prospect or from you, can be a deal breaker or, at the very least, compromise a positive relationship between you and your prospect. But, there’s a Sandler technique to avoid this pitfall: Up-Front Contracts.
When you really want (or possibly need) to close a sale, it’s easy to drop into “convincing” mode. You begin to sound like the stereotypical “high-pressure” salesperson explaining the benefits of the various features of your product or service and “justifying” the costs.
Is there anything you can do about your sales cycle? We will discover there are many patterns in the sales world. If we understand the patterns and what causes them, we have a chance to shorten the sales cycle.
Many salespeople believe that their sales cycle pattern is set, and it can’t be sped up or done differently. They are convinced that, “It is what it is,” so they follow the outline that has been laid out before them, convinced that they are powerless to change things.
The world of social media is often overwhelming and misunderstood for a lot of sales people. The biggest mistake I see is not maximizing the abilities within LinkedIn®. LinkedIn® should be used as a powerful branding, research and prospecting tool. In preparation for a recent LinkedIn® session, I put together a list of some of my favorite LinkedIn® Strategies to use for growing your business.
Why do we feel there aren’t enough hours in the day? We’re constantly rushing from place to place, eating on the run, not getting enough sleep, missing our kid’s soccer games and dance recitals.
Is there anything you can do about your sales cycle? We will discover there are many patterns in the sales world. If we understand the patterns and what causes them, we have a chance to shorten the sales cycle.
Many salespeople believe that their sales cycle pattern is set, and it can’t be sped up or done differently. They are convinced that, “It is what it is,” so they follow the outline that has been laid out before them, convinced that they are powerless to change things.