Sales Essentials: Ramp-Up Course

Why a Sales Process Matters

Our main goal for today is really to make the case that having a system we work through is paramount. I have to know my process and my system if I am going to be better at navigating control of the process altogether. So what is the point of having a system for selling? Efficiency, predictable results, creating a habit so it becomes less conscious, shortened sales cycle - all of these things are true.

Selling is the art of the conversation. The art of what we do is a conversation that happens over smaller conversations over a length of time. It's the art of that entire conversation over the evolution of a relationship, and it can be a nebulous thing. Just like the idea of "ask really good questions" is great in theory, but what do you do with that? So we want to provide as much structure to our process as we possibly can in order to really know: what is the next step that I take in this dance?

The Traditional Sales Process

Each one of you at your companies probably already have your four-step sales process, or whatever it might be - companies often have those things documented. And my guess is that it goes something along the lines of this. It starts with some sort of a needs analysis - sometimes we call these discovery calls. We have a conversation where we try to figure out what problem they're trying to solve and whether or not we're the right fit.

If we are, then we do a presentation or proposal - here's how we would solve your problem with our products and services. The next thing we do is try to close it, obviously. And then we handle objections, because there usually are some: "We're not sure about A, B, and C," "Not sure if we really have the money for it," whatever it might be. We handle the objection, send it back to them, and then we follow up. Generally speaking, no matter your industry, this is a typical sales process.

The Buyer's System

What we don't always think about, though, is that our buyers also have a system. When I was in your shoes learning Sandler for the first time, it never occurred to me that buyers have a system, because I don't know that it's conscious. We as salespeople think about the discovery call, then the next meeting - we think about it that way. Buyers don't necessarily think about it that way, but they do have a pattern.

Assuming there is some surface-level interest in what we sell, they'll express interest: "Yeah, sure, we can have a conversation, an intro call." That's where they voluntarily say, "Yeah, sure, we can talk about it." The next thing they often want is to know how you would solve their problems: "I'm motivated - why don't you send me a proposal, send me some information." They get our proposal or pitch deck or scope of work - here's how we would solve your problem.

And then, when it doesn't work, the next thing that happens is: "Well, I really need to socialize this within my organization. I've got to talk to so-and-so because they manage the budget. I don't know if timing is really good, but we will probably take a look at this maybe in second quarter." Those are all different ways of saying *avoid commitment at this point in time*. And then we're doing our follow-up, and we find ourselves chasing somebody who maybe doesn't want to be caught.

Where Deals Fall Apart

If we overlay these two systems, here's what we end up with. At first, we feel like an underpaid but highly valued consultant - they're sharing interest, we're putting it in our pipeline, we're excited, they're showing motivation. But then we get ghosted, or we're following up and following up trying to get a status update. We now feel more like a mosquito, buzzing in their inbox, buzzing in their voicemail, trying to find out: is this even live anymore?

So if it's going to fall apart, where exactly does it happen? They get the information - and if it's going to die, it dies a slow death at that point in time. At the end of this process, we emerge with an educated buyer who has all the information they need and knows how you might solve their problem. But if you are the salesperson, you are now highly frustrated with things sitting in your pipeline that your manager is asking you about.

What's happening is that we end up inadvertently doing something we call **unpaid consulting**. You'll hear us use this terminology a lot in your Sandler journey, because our goal - in addition to maintaining control - is to avoid giving away our brilliant solutions without getting anything in return. So what can we ask for in exchange for giving our information?

We've given the presentation, we've given the proposal. If I'm a buyer, I got what I wanted - I've got options and a plan should I decide to pull the trigger one day. But what I deserve in return: What is your timeline for this project? What is your budget? What is your goal for this campaign? Is doing nothing an option? What else are you looking at? Does this really have to get done, or is it a nice-to-have? Is there money available should you decide you want it?

I know I'm not the only one who has talked to prospects where in the discovery call it was clear they had loads of pain and need, but they had no money - they really couldn't purchase it. Or they have loads of money, but they just don't view the problem as high enough of a priority to invest energy and resources into it. If I am going to deliver my solution and my price, I deserve some things in return. Nobody wants to be chasing somebody who doesn't want to be caught. The price for me sharing how I'm going to solve your problem and how much it costs is that you give me a yes or a no on whether this is something that's going to work.

Core Sandler Philosophies

There are a handful of philosophies that do a good job of summarizing the Sandler approach. One is that salespeople are professionals. We will spend a good amount of time on the mindset behind this, because the default - unless we are careful and intentional about creating a different experience - is that the buyer is in control, the buyer is the parent figure in the relationship, and the seller is at their mercy, almost childlike. That's not a dynamic we want to exist in any of our professional sales relationships, so we have to be intentional about reorganizing it.

Another philosophy: if I'm going to spend my time putting together a proposal or a presentation, I want to know that you have been qualified to receive it. I know why we're doing this - what's the pain, is there money available, what are you trying to accomplish? And the hard reality is that some buyers simply won't qualify for our time. But when would I rather know that - early on, or when I'm already chasing? You know the answer.

Controlling the selling process is a function of asking the right questions. Asking the right questions at the right time is part of the challenge, and we're going to be tackling that. Salespeople must use a system for selling, and I get to decide if I want to step out of that process - which is related to the idea that some buyers won't qualify.

The Sandler Methodology: High-Level Overview

Let me give you a high-level understanding of the Sandler methodology. We're going to break this down in much greater detail over our time together, but here's where we're headed.

Every relationship starts with a warming-up period where we're getting to know each other's personalities, communication styles, and how we set expectations about meetings. A lot of salespeople are naturally good with people, and so this relationship-building part of our system is something we can sometimes wing. We're going to be asking you to add a layer of intentionality to that - to be more purposeful about how you're building relationships, rather than just relying on the fact that you're good at talking to people.

The next element is the **upfront contract** - you'll see it written as UFC, and that is not Ultimate Fight Club. If you ask people what they remember from Sandler training twenty years later, fifty percent will tell you upfront contracts. The purpose is to maintain control: Are we on the same page about why we're meeting? What decisions are being made today? If you don't think there's a reason for us to talk again, can we agree that you'll share that with me at the end rather than me having to chase you? We don't say it exactly like that, but that's the general idea. It gives us a tool for setting the expectation that we make decisions along the way.

The next three pieces are qualifying compartments: **Pain**, **Investment**, and **Decision**. Pain is the business case for doing business - is this a curiosity, a nice-to-have, or is the problem to the point where it has to be fixed? Investment is not only the financial resources required, but also staff time, training time - everything that has to be invested for this to go well. And Decision is understanding how they make decisions in their organization.

If I determine there's not enough pain, or they aren't prepared to make the necessary investment, or they can't give me any clarity about how they make decisions - then the presentation and proposal stage is one I'm not going to reach. That is the essence of the difference from the traditional sales process, where we present and propose way too early without enough qualification. We find out *after* giving the proposal that there's no money, or the boss isn't on board, or it's just not a top priority. I don't want to find those things out after I've put our resources into creating a proposal and then have to chase it and fight objections.

So one of the things we're going to ask you to do is **go look for trouble**. Proactively address things that could get in the way. Is there really a budget for this? Have you talked to your boss who you said has a stake in this deal? Are they on board? If I can't qualify around those things, I can decide I'm not going to get to presentation. There's a graceful way of doing that, and we'll get to all of it.

Post-sale is a more advanced topic you'll encounter later in your journey - we're not going to cover it in essentials. But at a high level, it's the idea that sometimes between a verbal yes and the bank, deals can fall apart. Post-sale is a technique to minimize the chances of that happening. One foundational concept you need in order to utilize it is **pendulum theory**, which is actually where we're starting today.

Pendulum Theory

Pendulum theory is applied in a thousand different ways throughout the sales process, so you'll see this concept come up in several of our subsequent sessions. It's also foundational to the mindset we want you to have about your sales process - specifically in an effort to stay out of the buyer's system.

Here's the idea. I love salespeople - I hang out with salespeople all day, every day for a living, and I am one through and through. And yet, when I walk into Best Buy, I will never walk in just for fun. I am there for a very specific reason, to buy a specific item. I am there with buying behaviors. When an associate comes up and says, "Hi, what can I help you find today?" - ten times out of ten, I'm going to say, "No, I'm just looking." It is a bold-faced lie. Why do we do that? We don't want to be upsold. We don't want to feel pressured. We don't want to end up buying things we didn't need. That fear is real and rooted in reality - because when we've been in sales conversations as buyers, we have been pressured. That is pendulum theory in action: the more I am pushed, my natural response is to push away, even though I am there specifically to buy that product.

Another way this shows up: if I answer a call from an unknown number and the voice on the other end sounds like, "Hi, how are you today?" - weirdly excited, really happy, a complete stranger - my voice turns to, "How can I help you?" And I *love* salespeople, and that's my response. So buyers can come at us from anywhere along a pendulum of emotion.

Some buyers are going to come to us pretty interested - maybe they heard good things through a referral: "I've heard really good things about you. I would really like to talk to you. Can we set up an intro call?" In my mind I'm thinking, they reached out to me, they're excited. But here's the problem - they're already interested. If I say, "Great, you're going to love it, I can't wait to show you what we've got," what I tend to do without being conscious of it is turn that interested buyer into somebody who says, "Well, we're just looking at options." We get really excited, maybe a little prematurely, and we push them toward putting a wall up.

Some buyers come to us neutral: "We are happy with who we use, but we are open-minded to alternatives. We could have an intro call, but no promises." If I come at them with, "Great, you're going to love it, you're going to want to make the switch" - those walls come right up every single time.

The rule behind pendulum is: **hard selling is good for one thing, and that is hard pushback.** Wherever my buyer is, I don't want to get in the way of them in a sale. If I'm anywhere on the positive side from where they are, I'm literally standing in their way of stepping into a sale.

Applying Pendulum Theory: Disarming Honesty

So then what do you do instead? Part of the answer is being what we call **disarmingly honest** - sometimes saying things that don't appear to be in your best interest as "the salesperson," but are honestly true. That's part of transparency and part of building trust.

Staying neutral in your energy is exactly the right approach. If someone is coming at us from a neutral or even negative standpoint, rather than getting excited and telling them all the reasons we're great - which is the wrong side of the pendulum - I might have to transparently say: "You know what? I don't know that you should buy from me. I don't know enough yet about what you're trying to accomplish to know if we're the right fit. Should we spend some time talking about that to see whether there's a fit? If for some reason I think we can't help you, I'll be sure to tell you that. And if you don't think we're a good fit, I hope you'll share that with me as well. That's okay - we can shake hands and part as friends." I can be on the other side of the pendulum by being transparent, without being grumpy, mean, or abrasive. Very polite and honest in my approach to clearing that smoke.

Your Homework

We will spend more time on pendulum theory because it will continue to come up throughout our sessions. But for now, here's your homework. I want you to be mindful of the dynamic going on in your sales calls.

First, can you notice any possible unpaid consulting - a buyer asking you for information without really giving you anything in return, not allowing you to qualify whether you're even a good fit, just wanting a proposal? Second, look for examples of buyers wanting you to follow their system. We haven't fully tackled how to take them in a different direction yet - other than the introduction of pendulum - but right now, from an awareness standpoint, notice how that dynamic shows up in your sales conversations.