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Now this is going to sound unusual if you are a subscriber to this newsletter but have not experienced being a client. My clients and I agree that competing companies in almost all areas of business appear to be alarmingly similar, all claiming to be the best, the fastest, the brightest, etc. I was recently looking through the yellow pages and discovered an interesting fact: in many areas, several businesses claim to be "The number one...". I wonder how that is possible because, other than in Olympic figure skating, two gold medals are never awarded. Hmmm.
In many ways, we might as well all be out there selling rubber chickens because we all know that the features and benefits of our products and services are not what make us truly unique-it's something else, something much more compelling. Something that goes beyond the rubber chicken type of selling.
If you're a client, you'll know that Sandler recently adopted a rubber chicken. We've had a lot of fun with our rubber chicken and have decided that he needs a name. So far, several names have been suggested: Colonel Sandler, Cornflake, Plucked, and Butt Ugly, just to name a few.
How to Enter
What Happens Next?
- Over the next few weeks, we'll gather the names and present them to our clients and readers via ballot. You will then get to vote on the name for this highly esteemed colleague of mine.
What If Your Name Is Chosen?
- You get a prize! Oh yes-and, if you agree, we'll let all of our readers know you won.
This is a story of just one of our clients...
"The client was ABC Inc. in Alberta, and they had been buying many of our products up to about a year and half ago. Before I took over, a decision was made to thin out one of our product lines, the very line that included the major items ABC Inc. purchased from us. When the line was discontinued, we lost the ABC account to a competitor (although ABC continued to purchase some other items from us).
Earlier that day, I had been in a Sandler training session that referred to elephants and, specifically, "hunting for elephants". I went in to work to solve an issue that was not related to the ABC account we'd lost, but I was thinking in the back of my mind about it. I saw it as an elephant-a big one, and he was UGLY!
Now what? I let the Sandler system kick in and three things came to mind:
- Who do they buy from now?
- Am I selling change?
- Is the status quo okay for them?
After I resolved the issue, I pulled several of ABC's technical people aside and took them to the pain funnel, asking several softening questions: "Can you share with me whose products you replaced the XYZ product with?" "How are the new products performing with regards to life cycles?" "What do you feel was the real reason for the failure, other than this product line being unavailable?"
The answers were very surprising and not what I was originally told a year and a half earlier. What I experienced first hand was that, by using the Sandler Methodology-including using softening statements, then reversing, then leading the customer/client to the pain funnel-I received a dramatically different understanding of the situation with regard to the answers the client gave me. "
Rick M.
Oil and Gas Industry
Dear Readers: If you are interested in learning more about "Hunting for Elephants", please give me a call.
What is Sales Accountability? It's all about making commitments and sticking to them! The tool was created for salespeople and their managers to stay on track. If you need to do a better job of holding yourself and your team accountable to goals and commitments, coaching from actual data, and/or building a pipeline, Sales Accountability is for you. Using this tool makes tracking Hot Items, Activities, Personal and Professional Goals, Top Ten Targets, and even your Year-to-Date Scorecard a cleaner, easier, and significantly more efficient process.
Sales Accountability is your private, Internet-based accountability tool. When you log in, be prepared to make commitments and set goals. Use this tool to stretch yourself and take advantage of this opportunity to work with us to reach new levels of success.
Don't just talk about wanting to be held accountable-do it!
Want more information? Call our office and ask for Colleen.
- Are you having trouble remembering some or all of the sales strategies that you so diligently learned in the program?
- Are you finding yourself falling prey to customers and prospects who seem to have difficulty making decisions or who stall the selling process?
- Do you ever find yourself leaving a sales call without a clear next step?
- Have you found yourself back in the "unpaid consulting" world?
- Having trouble getting people to return your prospecting calls?
If you are experiencing any of this, you are not alone. Many of our past clients express these concerns. In response to a number of requests, we are pleased to offer our past clients:
A ten-week refresher program for $850.00
This offer is only available to past customers who successfully completed the "basics" program. You must enroll prior to December 31, 2005 to take advantage of this opportunity.
Are you comfortable talking about your product or service? A bit too comfortable? Do most of your conversations with prospects revolve around the features, benefits, and unique aspects of your product or service? If your answer is yes, you're not alone. Most salespeople like to talk about their products or services. Why? Because much of the training they receive is product centered: features, benefits, specifications, competitive product comparison, and so on.
It's important to learn as much as you can about your product or service. Product knowledge enables you to speak intelligently and with confidence.
However, unless your conversation addresses the prospect's real buying motives, you're wasting both your time and the prospect's time. So, learn to first ask questions to uncover the prospect's reasons to buy your product or service, and then focus your telling on those issues.
After hearing some of the prospect's concerns, many salespeople, in spite of the warning never to do this, make assumptions. They not only assume they understand the prospect's problem-but also that they have the solution. They are all too ready to drop into show-and-tell mode and present that solution-complete with facts, figures, features, and benefits-a solution that may be off the mark.
Don't assume that you understand the prospect's problem until you ask enough questions not only to identify the full extent of the problem, but also to uncover the origin of the problem. Only then can you decide if you can provide the proper solution. Don't jump to conclusions... the fall may be unpleasant.
Are prospects completely truthful with salespeople... all the time? No! Have you ever responded to a salesperson's, "May I help you?" with, "No thanks, I'm just looking" even though you deliberately went to that particular store to purchase a specific item? Of course you have! It's a conditioned reflex designed to keep the salesperson from pouncing.
Prospects assume a defensive posture to avoid being "talked into" a product or service by a fast-talking, high-pressure, close-at-all-cost salesperson. It's not that they don't want to buy; it's that they just don't want to be sold.
You must ask the right questions in a no-pressure manner to get to the truth and, at the same time, help prospects discover for themselves the reasons to do business with you. When prospects don't feel pressured, they don't feel the need to keep their defenses up and they are more likely to tell the truth.
Company: Nelaine Advertising
Contact: Marc Tardif
Phone: 780-488-467
Email: marc@nelaine.com
Founded in 1982, Nelaine Advertising sells high-quality promotional items, particularly logoed products, for a wide range of organizations that grow through business-to-business transactions and relationship building. Twenty years after the company was created, Marc Tardif purchased it and has since managed its development.
When Marc started at Nelaine, he recognized quickly that the team was in need of a unified sales approach. "We didn't have any formal training in the office at the time," says Marc. "We were looking for something that would help us become more efficient, and so I began asking friends and peers for referrals to a sales training group."
With the encouragement of a friend, Marc soon attended a half-day seminar hosted by Colleen. He enjoyed it greatly and gathered so much information that he quickly signed himself and one of his key salespeople, Melissa Milligan, up for President's Club Basics.
"I had always wanted to take a sales training course, but it hadn't been offered-until Nelaine came under new ownership," adds Melissa.
Nelaine Advertising quickly felt the positive impact of Marc's and Melissa's participation in the Sandler program. "Today, we find ourselves not wasting as much time on just quoting," says Marc. "We spend more time qualifying and finding good fit clients, and we've been able to increase our margin and hold pricing in a very competitive market."
For Melissa, a self-proclaimed Sandler rookie, the experience has been more than she could have anticipated. "From the moment I started taking the course," she says, "I felt empowered. Now, I no longer feel the need to justify myself or my prices to my clients. I ask more questions. I waste less time. And I determine best fits."
Marc, Melissa, and the entire team at Nelaine Advertising have benefited greatly from the Sandler Sales program. With a clear sales strategy and high-quality, unique products to sell, Nelaine looks forward to continuing to serve their clients' needs. "What [we've] learned from the course and from Colleen Madsen is life altering-as dramatic as that sounds. We're very grateful."
Nick had just been hired and, as yet, had not been sent out to the product training seminars. If it were not for the fact that two of the salespeople called in sick, Nick would never have been on the floor. But there he was, with only the most basic information about the products he was supposed to sell. Full story
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