Sandler Selling System
1-Sentence-Summary:
The Sandler Selling System is a seven-step system for successful selling.
Favorite Quote:
“The role of the salesperson is to create an atmosphere and environment which allows the customer to buy while the salesperson stays out of the way” — David Sandler.
Background:
David Sandler teamed up with a clinical psychologist and designed an approach to sales that would break the traditional stereotypes of salespeople. It focuses on mutual respect, clarity, and qualifying decisions. Lastly, it takes the pressure off the salesperson and the prospect so that both parties can enjoy the process.
I am a Bronze Level Certified Sales Professional in the Sandler Selling System.
Sandler Selling System
- Communication
The first part of the Sandler Selling System is about building a relationship with the Buyer. However, you must understand the buyer-seller relationship before building a relationship with the Buyer. A natural buyer-seller conflict exists where the Buyer wants free consulting, and the Seller wants to sell. Do not be a free consultant. Follow the three major tenets:
- Salespeople are professionals
- The Buyer must qualify for your time
- Salespeople must follow a system
Now that you understand the buyer-seller relationship, you can focus on Bonding and Rapport. You want the customer to see you as a trusted advisor. The best way to build rapport is to be honest about wanting to learn more to see if you can help them solve any problems. A trusted advisor asks the right questions, actively listens to a customer, and helps get them all the information they need to make a well-informed decision. Earn trust with this one sentence: “I don’t know if we’re a good fit; that’s why I would like to learn more.”
2. Up-Front Contract
Communication is the cornerstone of any healthy relationship. An up-front contract is a verbal agreement between the Seller and Buyer that outlines what’s expected of both parties. Don’t waste anyone’s time — use an upfront contract at the beginning and end of each meeting to ensure everyone stays on the same page. Here is what mine looks like:
- “The objective of this meeting is to dive deeper to determine if we should schedule a second meeting. So by the end of this meeting, we want to be in a position where we can either decide:
- 1) We see value here, and we can schedule the next logical step, which is usually a demo
- 2) We don’t see value in this, at least for now, and we go our separate ways as friends. Is that fair?
- I’m excited to help you understand what my company can do for you, so, with your permission, I’d love to take 10 minutes to ask some questions to see where there may be a potential fit. Does that sound fair to you?”
3. Pain
No pain, no sale. Questions are the key to uncovering pain and qualifying faster. To know what questions to ask, you need to understand how your solution can relieve pain:
- Take product features and relate them to pain
- What, specifically, does your product or service do for your clients?
- What problems/issues does your product enable them to solve or avoid?
- How does resolving that problem affect the prospect? What’s in it for them?
- What does your product allow people to do better?
Keep in mind that the problem the Buyer brings you is never the real problem. It is a surface problem. You need to help diver deeper to understand the pain’s causes and effects:
Lastly, summarize what you’ve heard:
- Review pain
- Find the cost of the pain
- Summarize the consequences of the pain
- Confirm alignment
4. Investment
50% of sales are lost because of budget. You need to talk about the budget early. Here is what you need to know about your prospect’s budget:
Monetary:
- What does their investment expectations or budget limitations look like?
- Is there a budget or funding in place for the purchase?
- If there is a budget, what is its amount?
- If there is no budget currently in place, where will the money come from, and when will it be available?
- If they have previously purchased similar solutions, how much was invested?
Non-monetary:
- Do they have people on staff who can implement my solution?
- Are they willing to invest time in training their people on my solution?
- This solution may require you to alter other technology systems. Do you have a plan in place to do that?
Use bracketing to uncover the budget:
- “I work with a customer that upgrades to X for $100 and another customer that upgrades to Y for $200 — does your budget fall within that range?”
- If yes, “Would you say it’s closer to $100 or the $200 end of the spectrum?”
5. Decision-Making Process
The most common way to lose a deal is because you don’t know the prospect’s decision-making process. Here is what you need to know about the prospect’s budget:
- When does the decision need to be made?
- Who can influence the decision?
- How is the decision made?
- Why are the decisions made the way they are?
6. Present Solution
Time to put it all together. Review the following:
- customer’s pain
- solution’s benefit
- obtain a buyer decision.
Use the Thermometer Technique to help obtain a buyer decision:
- “On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 meaning it’s not fit, and 10 meaning you’re ready to sign the contract, how comfortable are you with our solution?”
If, then:
- 10: Make the sale
- 8–9 : “What do you need to see for it to be a 10?”
- 6–7: “It sounds like we’re a little off track; what would you like to see next?”
- 0–5: “I must have missed something. Where can we spend our time that serves you best?”
7. Post-Sale
Establish the next steps and follow through.
Recommendation
The Sandler Selling System is a comprehensive sales methodology that blueprints the entire sales cycle.
Call to Action
Chad volunteers to clean up beaches throughout California, is a nationally ranked video game player, and played/coached quarterback for over a decade. Currently, he is a Technology Consultant at Zendesk and an Assistant Football Coach at McKinleyville High. He enjoys writing about the intersection of people, business, and technology. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Medium or send any inquiries to chad.blockchain@gmail.com.
