Chris Kelly

One of David Sandler’s critical selling rules  “Don’t spill your candy in the lobby”  can sound a little confusing to someone who is unfamiliar with the Sandler Selling System® methodology. What does a spilled box of candy have to do with a sales call? Everything.

PARENT, ADULT, CHILD

Jack, a salesperson, was having some challenges. Feedback from multiple sources -- his own clients, prospects, customers, and colleagues -- suggested that his communication skills needed some work. One important contact at a major client, during a quarterly business review meeting, told Jack and his sales manager Myra (who was also in attendance) that Jack “often confuses being direct with being antagonistic. He issues orders. And frankly, that sometimes makes working with your company difficult.”

WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?

If you lose a big sale, have a bad month, or don’t make quota, what is your typical first response?

For many salespeople, there is a temptation to externalize. Instead of looking inward for the reasons behind a given outcome, we assign responsibility to someone or something that lies outside of ourselves. Externalizing sounds like this:

Stay Out Of The Box!

Vincent’s closing numbers were not what he had been hoping for. He asked his manager, Lynnette, what she thought the problem might be. After a little role-playing, Lynnette suggested that Vincent was spending too much time selling “from inside a box.”

Too often, we box ourselves into situations when we fall into the trap of answering questions a prospect poses … and we quickly find that we have reached a premature, and usually unnecessary, dead-end in the conversation. The key to avoiding this outcome lies in recognizing that prospects rarely ask the "real" question up front. In order to understand the true intent behind the question, it is usually necessary to ask several questions. In general, it takes about three questions to uncover what’s really driving what we’re being asked.

“How Should I Handle The Price Issue?”

Stan was frustrated. He kept getting “shot down on price” during discussions with prospective buyers. He knew he was supposed to talk directly about money issues before making a presentation ... but somehow he never seemed to iron out the details in a way that gave him a clear sense of whether the buyer felt his pricing was acceptable. Buyers always seemed to play their cards close to the vest. He decided to ask his manager Phil for help.

The Neglected Art of Stripping Line

Marina was having some problems with the opening phases of her sales process. Her early discussions with prospects were rarely productive. She sat down with Fred, her manager, and did some role-playing in the hope of improving her interviewing technique. During the role-play session, Fred shared a strategy Marina hadn't heard of. He called it “stripping line.”

Don’t Buy Back Tomorrow What You Sold Today

Jane, a new sales hire, was settling into her workspace on Friday morning, all ready to celebrate the first quarter in which she’d been able to exceed her revenue target … when she got a voicemail message that made her stomach churn.

Stay Out Of The Box

Diane, a recent sales hire, got an email from her manager, Luis, suggesting that he accompany her on an initial sales call with a prospect – and then debrief with her on what he’d observed. Diane replied that she thought that was a great idea.

After the meeting with the prospect was over, Luis jotted down some notes. He shared them during his coaching meeting with Diane the next day.

One of the things I noticed about your meeting with Francine,” Luis said, “was that you immediately answered her question about delivery-time windows. How did you feel about how that part of the discussion went?”

Diane thought for a moment, and then said: “I felt OK about it. Was it a problem?”

“Let me answer that question,” Luis said, “by posing another. Was there an opportunity there to learn more about Francine … by responding to her question with a question of your own?”

Diane smiled. Suddenly, she remembered something Luis had mentioned during an initial training session about “reversing” – the technique of answering a prospect’s question with a question.

Eliza, a new sales hire, had posted an abysmally low closing ratio in her first 60 days on the job. She was spending most of her time with prospects who ended up picking her brain for advice and information … and then disappearing. Frank, her manager, asked her during a coaching session why she thought that was happening.

“I guess I’m not all that great at presenting yet,” Eliza said. “Do you have any suggestions on how I could improve in that area?”

Ryan, a salesperson in his mid-fifties, had hit a performance plateau. His commissions had been flat for the past six months, and he had narrowly missed quota in each of those months. He scheduled a meeting with his manager, Jeannine, to see if, working together, they could identify any steps that would turn this pattern around.