By: David Sandler

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Introduction

David Sandler was a fascinating guy.

Back in 1966 he was struggling as a young sales person. He was applying what he had been trained to do, but wasn't having much success closing deals. He was spending too much time making cold calls and presentations to prospects that didn't have the authority or money to become his customers.

He decided to take matters in his own hands and try a radically new approach. It went against everything that he had been taught, and it worked. Really, really well.

Sandler started making what he called "verbal contracts" with his prospects, and created an entire selling system designed to take back control of the sales process from the customer.

To this day his approach is being used by tens of thousands of companies around the world, and because it was founded on basic principles of psychology, it works just as well today as it did in 1966.

Let's dig into the Sandler Training 7 Step System for Successful Selling.

Strategies to help you in each of the 7 steps.

Before getting into the 7 steps, there are some Sandler concepts that will help be more effective in each of them.

Dummying Up

The first one is the technique of "dummying up." The idea is that the most successful salespeople will look and act an awful lot like the people who are just starting out. The only difference is that the professional will do what he did as a dummy, on purpose.

When a prospect asks them a question, they don't give away information, they get information. Here are a few samples from the book to illustrate the point:

Prospect: How long have you been in business?

Salesperson: That's an interesting question...You must have asked that for a reason.

Prospect: Is it guaranteed?

Salesperson: Supposing I said it was? What happens next? [Pause] Supposing I said it wasn't?

Prospect: It's more than we want to spend.

Salesperson: That's not unusual. Off the record, how much were you hoping it would be?

Prospect: [replies with a number].

Reversing

A related but different technique is reversing, where you ask your prospects questions instead of giving them answers. There are a number of reasons you'll want to do this, but most importantly your job is to get the prospect to do most of the talking.

You'll keep the prospect engaged and it gives you time to get the prospect emotionally involved. On top of that, you'll gain credibility in the eyes of the prospect because you'll be getting to the heart of their issues.

Negative Reverse Selling

As Sandler points out, people love to buy, but they hate to be sold. The professional salesperson understands this and lets their prospects close themselves through Negative Reverse Selling.

He uses the metaphor of fishing to explain. When an amateur fisherman gets a nibble on the line, they start reeling furiously. The professional fisherman lets out a little more line, giving the fish the time and ability to set the hook firmly in their mouth. It's counterintuitive, but it works.

Here's an example:

Prospect: I think I like what you're saying.

Salesperson: Interesting. Based on what you have been saying up until now, I would not have guessed you had an interest in my product. What did I miss?

Prospect: Maybe you missed how I see your product solving my problem.

Salesperson - Great, but I'm still a little confused. Could you tele more specifically how you see the fit?

Prospect: Sure, I'll use it by...

Now let's move into the 7 steps you can use to start closing more deals.

Step One: Establish Rapport

The short version of bonding and rapport is simple - always make the prospect (or customer) feel more OK than you feel.

The easiest way to do this is to make yourself Not-OK on purpose. Using dummy-up phrases like "I don't understand" or "What do you mean, exactly" is a good start. Make sure you don't appear to have answers at your fingertips, even if you do. Don't use buzzwords, and allow your prospects to "know it all."

This is counter-intuitive advice. But as Sandler points out, selling is not about getting your OK-ness needs met. It's about closing the sale. As weird as it might sound, this technique really works.

Other tools you can use include mirroring, where you match your prospects' body language or the tonality and volume of their voice.

You can also listen for your prospects' primary communication style, which will be visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic. For instance, people who are "visual" will often say things like "I see what you are saying." People who are auditory will say things like "I hear what you are saying." And so on.

Step Two: Establish an Up-Front Contract

The upfront contract is the most assertive step in the Sandler Selling system. It's designed to create mutual agreement about what will get done in the sales call once you are in front of the prospect.

An upfront contract should contain five elements:

1. The objective, which is the goal the prospect shares with you.

2. The time allowed for the meeting. Always make sure you have agreement about how long you have to spend with the prospect.

3. The salesperson’s role, or what he or she will do before, during, and after the discussion.

4. The prospect’s role, or what he or she will do before, during, and after the discussion.

5. The conclusion, which is what you both agree will happen at the end of the meeting.

Agreeing to the upfront contract allows for a number of things. It gives the prospect and the salesperson the opportunity to ask questions. Most critically, it forces agreement on what the next steps will be in the sales process and helps both sides figure out if the relationship is the right fit.

Step Three: Uncover the Prospects’ Pain

When people make decisions, they are either moving towards pleasure, or moving away from pain.

To be successful in any sales situation, you need to have a prospect who understands their pain, and has a strong desire to get rid of it.

Sandler developed a three-part formula for moving through this step.

1. Determine how long the prospect has had a problem. If they have had the problem for 10 years, they'll most likely keep it for another 10. When there's no urgency, there's no sale. Move on.

2. Probe their pain by asking them questions. Use your active listening skills like repeating what the prospect says back to them in your own words. Your goal is to help the prospect feel their pain acutely, because until they do, you won't be able to close the deal. You can ask them questions like: "Tell me more about that." "How long has that been a problem?" "How much do you think that has cost you?" "Have you given up trying to deal with the problem?"

3. Once they have arrived at the Critical state, where your prospects are willing to pay anything and do anything to end their suffering, you help them see that your products or services will solve their pain.
   
   

Step Four: Discuss Money

Amateur sales people fear bringing up money, but it's the most important step in the entire process.

In the Sandler process you'll bring it up early for a couple of reasons.

First, if there's one point in the process where they'll be most likely to pay whatever it takes to get rid of their problem, it's right after you've made their pain vivid in their mind.

Second, if they don't have the money required to pay to get rid of their pain, the time to uncover that is now, before you invest more of your time and effort into closing them.

A good opening line to start the conversation might go something like this:

Mr. Smith, do you have a budget set aside for this? Would you mind sharing it with me in round numbers?

Or like this:

Mr. Smith, assuming we have a fit between your problem and what I'm offering, the investment in my product is going to run between $4,000 and $5,000. Is that going to be a problem?

They will typically respond in one of three ways.

If they tell you yes, they'll most likely share their exact budget with you.

But it's more likely they'll tell you they don't have a budget, even if they do. You'll respond by saying something like "that's not unusual. How do you plan to make this investment?"

Lastly, they might be honest and tell you that they don't want to share it. In that case you'll respond by bracketing the prospect by giving them a range of potential investments they can make with you. You'll say something like "Off the record, should we address the 3-to-9 range, or should we go for the 9-to-20 range?"

Step Five: Deal with Decision Makers

Of course, somebody at your prospect's company controls the money and makes the final decision. Your job at this point is to figure out who that is.

Pro tip: titles are no indication of decision-making ability, so assuming it's the person you are talking to is the wrong approach.

To truly understand your prospect's decision making process, you should take the news story approach.

What: What does the process involve? What are the specific steps? What specifically will the decision maker be listening for?

When: By when does the prospect want or need to complete the purchase? When must the decision be made in order to meet any implementation and delivery deadlines?

How: How will the ultimate decision be made? Where in the organization are the decisions made? Where geographically are decisions made?

Who: Who is involved in the decision making process (and what is each person's role)? Who can influence the decision? Who has final buying authority? Who has veto power?

Why: Why does the prospect make decisions in this manner?

Step Six: Present the Solution

Then, and only then, will you present your solution.

When you make your presentation, you'll begin by reviewing all the conclusions you reached with the prospect, including the agreements you made on pain, budget and the decision making process.

Next, you'll move into the features and benefits of your product or service, with a focus on how those can solve your prospect's pain - the only thing they truly care about. Don't ramble on, and only say what you need to in order to demonstrate that you are removing their pain.

You'll go through how you'll get rid of each one of their pain points separately. Once you get to the end of the first pain, pause and ask whether they are 100 percent comfortable that your service will remove their pain. Then you can move on to the second pain point.

Then, either at the end of the second or third pain point, pause and use the thermometer technique to measure the degree to which they are already sold. You'll say something like "we've covered a lot of ground so far. On a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 meaning you have no interest in my service and 10 meaning you have already to decide to buy my service, where are you?"

If they choose a 10, stop right there and close the sale.

If they choose less than 6, there's a problem that you'll need to address. You'll ask them something like "based on what you've told me so far, I don't understand why you say you're a 4 - can you help me understand?"

It's most likely that they'll give you an answer somewhere between 6 and 9. In this case, you'll ask them what it will take to get them to a 10. Then show them whatever it is they ask to see, but nothing more.

Once they are at a 10, you finish the deal by asking this simple question: "what would you like me to do now?"

Step Seven: Reinforce the Sale

As Sandler says to begin this last step, the sale is closed when the money is in your bank account. Just because you walked out the door with an agreement to buy doesn't mean that's going to happen.

At this point, buyers remorse might creep up and the prospect could cancel the order, even after the contract or purchase order is signed.

One of the things you can do to lower the chances of that happening is to address it directly through the use of a third-party story. You'll relate a previous incident where a buyer backed out, and ask for agreement from your prospect that it won't happen in this case. This will make it much harder for the prospect to back out because people have a tendency to act consistently with how they say they will act.

Conclusion

And there you have it - the 7 steps to closing the deal the Sandler Way.

Just remember, even though you'll be a master of this process, being a dummy and asking a lot of questions are your best friends in the sales process. Use those two things liberally along with the 7 steps, and you'll be well on your way to closing more deals than you ever have before.