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Quote I truly believe that Sandler Training will turn an okay sales career into a GREAT sales career. I have done other types of training in the past, and I have never felt like I truly had a system to work with like I do now. I was always the "shoot from the hip" type of sales person. I did okay and was successful with that, but this will put me into another category. Quote

Robert Myers, Philippi-Hagenbuch, Inc.

Sales Tips and Tactics

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    Sales Tip of the Week:
The Thermometer Close - Read more...
While it's important not to rush the Fulfillment Step, it's important to finish as quickly as possible and still get the sale. The sooner you successfully seal off this compartment [of the Sandler submarine], the sooner you've got the sale. However, it's not always easy to know when to conclude your presentation.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Selling to a Group- Make a Dry Run - Read more...
If your salespeople are making a presentation to a group, they must conduct a dry run or practice of the presentation ahead of time. A dry run is a more elaborate version of the planning meeting held by a selling team. In addition to the members of the selling team, you (the sales manager) and other salespeople should attend the dry run to act as a coach and audience.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Seminars for Prospecting - Read more...
Seminars are an excellent way to make yourself, your company, and your product or service known to a select group of prospects. You can conduct either customer appreciation seminars or educational/public seminars.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Stop "Handling" Stalls and Objections - Read more...
Traditional selling strategies include techniques to "handle" stalls and objections. Some are fancy moves while others are programmed responses-all of which the prospect has heard before.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Cutting Through Stalls and Objections - Read more...
There's only one person who is qualified to handle a prospect's stalls and objections, and it's not the salesperson. It's the prospect. If stalls and objections frequently come up in your sales calls, it's a good idea to bring them up before the prospect has the opportunity.

Sales Tip of the Week:
The Close - Read more...
After you have reviewed the information gathered during the sales process, and begun your presentation to address the prospect's pains, it is time to close. The sooner the decision maker says yes, the better off you are. However, you must make sure that the prospect is truly ready to close. For that you will use Sandler's method of taking the prospect's temperature.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Who's Your Competition - Read more...
Competition is the reason your salespeople and many of your company's other employees have work to do. If it weren't for competition, businesses would lack the strongest incentives for change - new products, new processes, new markets, new strategies, new organizations, etc. Competition also encourages companies to introduce innovations that benefit their customers. And changes often mean new work and new opportunities for employees.

Sales Tip of the Week:
No Surprises on a Sales Call - Read more...
Surprises can sometimes be fun, but not when you're dealing with a prospect or customer. Surprises during a meeting, either from the prospect or from you, can be a deal breaker, or at the very least compromise a positive relationship between you and your prospect. But there's a Sandler technique to avoid this pitfall: Up-Front Contracts.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Get Tough - Read more...
The situations sales professionals face on a day-to-day basis can take a tremendous toll on your emotional and mental well-being. You deal with rejections, frustrations, disappointment, and possibly disrespect on a daily basis. You probably experience more emotional ups and downs than most other professionals. And, no matter how successful you are, your income is less predictable than that of salaried employees. As a salesperson, your level of mental and emotional toughness affects you everyday, both on and off the job.

Sales Tip of the Week:
How Important is Attitude? - Read more...
We have all set goals which we have failed to accomplish for a wide variety of reasons--some of those reasons are real and some are imagined. We have often missed the mark because we believe we set goals too high. In a moment of enthusiastic wishful thinking, we have stretched just a bit too far, too high, too tough. But did we? Probably not. Here is your proof...

Sales Tip of the Week:
Meet the Cast of the Sale - Read more...
In almost every buying decision, you will work with a cast of characters who are involved in the process. Often, one member of the cast--usually someone at or near the top of the organizational chart--has the responsibility for making the decision. Sometimes, however, a committee of decision makers is involved.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Forming a Successful Sales Team - Read more...
Perhaps the greatest change in organizations today is the shift from independence to interdependence, from individual efforts to teaming. Teamwork is having a profound impact on selling. Many companies today leverage the synergy of teams by sending two or three team members to sell an account. This is especially true when accounts represent significant revenue or when the team will be cross-selling various products. If you're thinking about bringing in a selling partner, or if a sales team is about to be formed, consider these ideas when setting up the team:

Sales Tip of the Week:
Cutting Through Roadblocks to Change - Read more...
What happens the first time you try a new selling technique? It's usually uncomfortable and doesn't go as smoothly as it did in the seminar or how you imagined it would go. Often it results in a less than satisfying outcome. There are physiological reasons for this discomfort and awkwardness.

Sales Tip of the Week:
I/R Theory - Read more...
The I/R Theory (Identity/Role) represents the dual nature of our lives. Each of us has an "I" and an "R." Our "I" represents our values, beliefs, principles, desires and emotions--our inner selves. Our "R" is made up of the many roles we play in our lives, or our outer selves. These roles include son, daughter, friend, student, salesperson, etc. The I/R model was developed to define the relationship between those two parts of our whole and to help distinguish between them. Although they are separate, they affect each other.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Forming a Successful Sales Team - Read more...
Perhaps the greatest change in organizations today is the shift from independence to interdependence, from individual efforts to teaming. Teamwork is having a profound impact on selling. Many companies today leverage the synergy of teams by sending two or three team members to sell an account. This is especially true when accounts represent significant revenue or when the team will be cross-selling various products. If you're thinking about bringing in a selling partner, or if a sales team is about to be formed, consider these ideas when setting up the team:

Sales Tip of the Week:
Don't Get in the Way of Your Sale - Read more...
One of the issues that salespeople struggle with in the Budget Step is the affordability of their product or service. Salespeople who sell a product or service that they can't personally afford frequently have trouble talking about money. Because their product is too expensive for them, they assume it's too expensive for their prospects. A good rule of thumb to remember: Never look in your prospect's pocket.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Change and Corporate Culture - Read more...
Corporate culture is a system of attitudes and beliefs that shape behavior. Your corporation or organization has its own cultural beliefs about change, about how it should be viewed and responded to. Many times these beliefs operate just outside of awareness, but they are palpable and observable through other people's behaviors and patterns of interaction. Is change an enemy, to be fended off or invited only into the tiniest parts of the organization?

Sales Tip of the Week:
Bridges to Burn - Read more...
"Don't burn your bridges" reminds you to make sure that you can always go back the way you came. Perhaps to get a reference or a referral from a former prospect, or maybe even go back to work for a company with whom you once worked. This can be good and practical advice. In business today, you need all the allies you can get.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Barriers to Success: Excess Baggage - Read more...
What are the things that hold you back and what are you going to do about it? One barrier to success, in selling or any other profession, and in life, is unfinished business and excess baggage. You always go back in time and bring your baggage into the present. You spend a lot of time with your baggage and your unfinished business.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Attitude, Behavior and Technique - Read more...
Whether you are talking about your sales career or your personal life, you achieve success as a result of several interrelated factors which fall under three categories: attitude, behavior and technique. Learning a new prospecting approach (technique), for instance, won't ensure you of more business unless you have a plan for implementing that approach (behavior) and the belief (attitude) that it will work for you.

Sales Tip of the Week :
Build Rapport by Mirroring - Read more...
Can you answer the question, "What is rapport?" The French originated the word rapport, meaning "to bring or offer back." However, the French use the word most often in the phrase en rapport avec, meaning "to be in connection with someone." When you walk into a prospect's office, what do you do to establish rapport? Traditionally, salespeople look for something in the office that begs a question. For example, "Is that your sailfish on the wall?"

Sales Tip of the Week:
Build Rapport by Mirroring - Read more...
Can you answer the question, "What is rapport?" The French originated the word rapport, meaning "to bring or offer back." However, the French use the word most often in the phrase en rapport avec, meaning "to be in connection with someone." When you walk into a prospect's office, what do you do to establish rapport? Traditionally, salespeople look for something in the office that begs a question. For example, "Is that your sailfish on the wall?"

Sales Tip of the Week:
Who's Your Competition - Read more...
Competition is the reason your salespeople and many of your company's other employees have work to do. If it weren't for competition, businesses would lack the strongest incentives for change - new products, new processes, new markets, new strategies, new organizations, etc. Competition also encourages companies to introduce innovations that benefit their customers. And changes often mean new work and new opportunities for employees.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Is That Sale Really Closed? - Read more...
You completed your presentation; the prospect said "yes" and committed to have the purchase order faxed to you in the morning. It took longer than you planned and you jumped through more hoops than you care to admit, but it was worth it. Wait!! Before that commission is bankable, the sale must be closed...really closed. What could go wrong?

Sales Tip of the Week:
Focus on 5 Areas Today to Close Business Tomorrow - Read more...
All too often, salespeople focus on the wrong elements in their attempt to increase sales. They turn their attention to the features, benefits, and value-added aspects of their product or service in an attempt to differentiate it from that of the competition and ultimately convince prospects to buy. While these elements may eventually play a part in the presentation (more on that later), it is not the place to start.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Motivating Independent Reps - Read more...
Innovative sales management is critical to becoming and remaining strong as an organization. As a sales manager, you have to design your sales network to yield the greatest possible coverage for each segment of the market within tight budget constraints. At the same time, the network must be flexible enough to be redesigned and redirected as priorities and opportunities change.

Sales Tip of the Week: Let's Do Lunch - Read more...
In today's environment, the cost of acquiring new accounts has skyrocketed. Studies over the years have shown that selling additional products and services to an existing client base can be more cost effective than spending time in new client development. With existing accounts, we have already absorbed the cost of acquiring the business. Our existing client base would utilize more of our services if only we had the foresight to ask for the business. Yet, we seldom ask.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Creating a Customer Advisory Board - Read more...
No matter how much the world of business may change, one factor will never change: Your most valuable sources of information are your customers. They will tell you what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong, and what you need to change immediately to remain competitive. Customer advisory groups may be the best consultants you'll retain.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Focus on 5 Areas Today to Close Business Tomorrow - Read more...
All too often, salespeople focus on the wrong elements in their attempt to increase sales. They turn their attention to the features, benefits, and value-added aspects of their product or service in an attempt to differentiate it from that of the competition and ultimately convince prospects to buy. While these elements may eventually play a part in the presentation (more on that later), it is not the place to start.

Sales Tip of the Week: The TACTIC - - Read more...

No money — no sale.

The STORY: Tim could not believe his luck. While cold calling from the office, he lucked into a prospect that wanted to see him that afternoon. Tomorrow was too late — it had to be this afternoon, and if Tim had the right stuff, the order would be placed. And from the product description Tim gave, the prospect felt it was just what he had been looking for the past two months.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Formula for Sales Templating - Read more...
Sales templating is a technique that can help you develop a consistent sales process regardless of the background of your individual salespeople. What is sales templating? It is the technique by which you document the steps of the ideal typical sale. Sales templating allows you to capture the best practices and nuances of each of your salespeople to create a model sales process that all of them can follow. In addition to making your job as manager easier, sales templating will improve the performance of your sales force. By creating an overt, step-wise sales template or process, you give the salesperson the means to maintain control of the sales situation.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Control Your Fears With Up Front Contracts - Read more...
What scares you about the selling process? Which part of the selling process causes you the most stress? Whatever it is (and maybe it's nothing at all), deal with it by using Sandler's Up-Front Contract.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Think Positive - Read more...
Effective use of a selling system requires an understanding of the four possible positive results a salesperson can have when selling:

Sales Tip of the Week:
Time Allocation...The Long and Short of It - Read more...
A fact is a fact-we can't stop, nor create, more time. An effective manager is aware that time is a finite, non-renewable resource which must be carefully managed.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Don't Be an Abuse Enabler - Read more...
Reinforcing behavior that we actually want people to end is called enabling. The salesperson has several strategies s/he can employ to stop enabling prospects to abuse the selling relationship. Try these methods to get the respect you deserve as a selling professional:

Sales Tip of the Week: The TACTIC - - Read more...

People do not buy features and benefits, they buy ways to avoid or overcome pain.

The STORY: Tim arrived at the prospect’s office fifteen minutes before the appointment so that he could sit in the car and mentally review what he was going to say. Tim very carefully visualized each step of his presentation making sure that the benefits of buying from him and his companies were crystal clear. Looking at his watch, he took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and proceeded in to the appointment.

Leadership Tip:
Prepare to Interview - Read more...
Interviewing salespeople for hire requires completion of a series of steps, each building on the previous one. That's why the preparation step is probably the most important: Interviews cannot succeed without a solid foundation. Managers preparing to interview salespeople should be sure to include the following tasks if they are to be ready to face their prospective hires:

Sales Tip of the Week:
Hit Pay Dirt With Prospecting Letters - Read more...
Prospecting letters can uncover gold-but only if you observe these tried-and-true rules: Personalize. Businesses don't buy from businesses; people buy from people. Address your prospecting letter to people, not to their business-and never to "occupants." Target your letter by using recipients' names and titles-spelled correctly of course.

Sales Tip of the Week: The TACTIC - - Read more...

Have prospects close themselves

The STORY: Nick was climbing the wall because he could not figure out how to close the prospect. The prospect had spent the last hour with Nick and appeared to want to buy. But he didn’t know what to do. If only he could remember what the experienced salespeople had told him to do.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Sell Today, Educate Tomorrow - Read more...
For whatever reason-possibly due to their traditional training-salespeople think they've always got to tell what they know. Instead, they should practice silence. Many salespeople think they can impress prospects by spilling everything they know about their product or service. Somehow, that seems to give them more confidence to sell. It's important for you to know as much as possible about your product or service, but the same is not always true for your prospect. Or at least it's not true during the initial sales call.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Is That All There Is? - Read more...
Why is it that the excitement and satisfaction derived from goal achievement is long-term for some goals and fleeting from others? The answer lies within the nature of the goals.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Finding the Good Fit - Read more...
Price isn’t everything anymore, nor does sales volume guarantee profitability. Marketing and sales have shifted from an emphasis on transactions, sales volume, and competitive pricing to an emphasis on creating and retaining the right customers. The key word is “right.” It means that not just any customer will do.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Who You Call On Is a Conceptional Thing - Read more...
When you make calls, whether it's a brand new sales call, or a service call to a current customer, the level of the organization you call in to is a reflection of how you see yourself conceptually. If you make sure to meet the President, even if only briefly, then you believe you belong there.

Sales Tip of the Week: The TACTIC - - Read more...

Answer every question with a question, but soften it first

The STORY: The appointment with the prospect that Tim spent two weeks getting was not going well. The prospect kept firing questions and Tim kept giving answers. The only problem was that Tim could not figure out if the answers were what the prospect wanted to hear.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Do You Dare to Dream? - Read more...
I have never been able to understand why some people can only see as far ahead as the end of the current day. Instead of aiming for long-term goals, they just wallow in their everyday problems. Sure, the job of running a business, selling, and hanging on to your clients day-to-day can be a full-time job. But a crucial part of that job – any job – is to look far ahead, to anticipate change and new challenges, and be prepared for them.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Get Tough, Get An Answer - Read more...
Professional selling can be cruel. Prospects are frequently better conditioned than the salespeople who call on them, and consequently they can destroy a salesperson in a phone call or during a chance meeting. On a day-to-day basis, even a good salesperson hears "no" more often than any word. Can you think of a worse profession for people who thrive on acceptance?

Sales Tip of the Week: The TACTIC - - Read more...

When setting appointments, always get invited in. NO BEGGING!

The STORY: Tim was convinced that if only he could somehow get in front of more prospects, he’d do a lot better. But it was always tough to get anyone to agree to an appointment. He started collecting all the excuses.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Breaking the Success Barrier - Read more...
There is an invisible barrier that is holding you back. It is the reason why many of us aren't achieving the goals we set for ourselves. It has been constructed brick-by-brick since we were very young. Unintentionally perhaps, by people who probably wanted the best for us, but nevertheless, there it is – blocking our path to success. What most of us don't realize is that since it is part of our inner core it can only be torn down one brick at a time, and that doesn't happen overnight.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Six Tips for Effective Listening - Read more...
When you interact with clients, they should be doing 70% of the talking, which means you're doing 70% of the listening. Listening is crucial for effective sales-it's the only way you'll learn what your prospect or client REALLY needs. Follow these tips for effective listening:

Sales Tip of the Week:
Fulfillment - Your Presentation Tells the Story - Read more...
Selling is a fulfilling profession, and never more than in the Fulfillment Step-the culmination of lots of hard work. Early in the Sandler Selling System, the salesperson establishes an "up-front contract" with the prospect, detailing what will happen down the road. Essentially the contract says that if the prospect has "pain" (a need or want), and if the prospect agrees that the salesperson can fix it, then the prospect is authorized to spend-and will spend-the money to get rid of the pain.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Using Up-Front Contracts in Sales Management - Read more...
The Up-Front Contracts concept in the Sandler Selling System can be applied directly to management people. Up-front contracts are the mutually agreed upon expectations between individuals, established before moving forward in any endeavor. In sales, when you set an up-front contract with a prospect, both of you have agreed to what will happen next, provided a specific set of events occurs. The mechanics are more involved, but the concept is that simple.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Motivation - Read more...
Do your salespeople, individually, care whether or not your company is the "Best in the World" or "The Leader in Widget Performance"? Undoubtedly that is important to them, but is that what gets them up in the morning, and keeps them going out in the field?

Sales Tip of the Week:
Tell 'Em Where You're Going - Read more...
When you first open your mouth to speak to a group, audience members want to know two things: they are curious about the journey they'll be taking with you, and they want to be assured that they will receive value during the presentation. At any given point in the presentation they also want to know where they're going and where they've been. Make sure you never get The Christopher Columbus Award for Presentations - given to the speaker who leaves not knowing where he's going, returns not knowing where he's been, and takes a lot of other people's time getting there.

Sales Tip of the Week: The TACTIC - - Read more...

People do not buy features and benefits, they buy ways to avoid or overcome pain.

The STORY: Tim arrived at the prospect’s office fifteen minutes before the appointment so that he could sit in the car and mentally review what he was going to say. Tim very carefully visualized each step of his presentation making sure that the benefits of buying from him and his companies were crystal clear. Looking at his watch, he took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and proceeded in to the appointment. Once the pleasantries were over, Tim got right down to business.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Fine Tune Your Reversing - Read more...
The prospect asks you, "How big is your company?" You haven't found her preference and you don't know the significance of the questions. Most importantly, you don't want to be caught in a box and have the sales process end before you decide that it is over. Being the astute Sandler student that you are, you know how to answer-you reverse. You say something like, "That's a significant question; why do you ask?" or "That's important. When you say 'big' are you referring to clientele, revenue or number of employees? Help me understand." You have avoided the trap and arranged to get more information.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Where Does It Hurt? - Read more...
If you are running into price objections with your prospects, you are probably giving intellectual presentations, i.e., emphasizing price or features and benefits. One of Sandler's cardinal rules is that people buy emotionally, they only make decisions intellectually. It is "pain" that will get you a sale, not price. Your job is to find someone who has pain, and can pay the price and make the decision to get rid of that pain.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Closing Time - Read more...
You've followed the Sandler Selling System. You haven't disqualified the prospect. The prospect hasn't disqualified you. What's next-the close.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Be Appreciated: Turn Your Non-billables into IOUs - Read more...
How do you show your clients all the extra work you've done for them, extras that never show up on their bill? You've done the work to prove you're partner, but if you don't communicate the time and energy expended, don't be surprised when your client doesn't value it.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Reversing - Use It, Don't Abuse It! - Read more...
The Sandler strategy of reversing - answering a question with a question - is one of the more powerful tools of the Sandler Selling System...if used correctly. It enables you to get below the surface of the prospect's questions, which can take you off track and stall the selling process. Additionally, it allows you to move a conversation in a particular direction, giving you more control over the situation. Also, reversing enables you to plant ideas or "seeds of doubt" without being obvious.

Sales Tip of the Week:
The TACTIC: Be a sponge. - Read more...
The STORY: Bob noticed the middle-aged man as he walked into the dealership, looked around at the racks of literature, thumbed through one or two, and then headed toward the van on display. It was Bob’s turn to approach the walk-in traffic.

Sales Tip of the Week:
The ABTs of Selling - Read more...
Whatever we do, whenever we interact with the world, we do so through our attitude, behavior and technique. As managers, we must get to know our salespeople well enough to be conscious of how these three dimensions may appear to prospects and how they may affect the sales efforts of our salespeople. And that's not always easy. After all, when we attempt to understand any of these traits, we quickly move into the realm of psychology or the social sciences. But there's nothing to fear if we keep it simple.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Warm Up to Cold Calling - Read more...
Cold calling: For many of us, the word "cold" is the key. Just the thought of picking up the phone sends a chill up our spines. Unfortunately, if we approach cold calling with an attitude of negativity, we'll communicate that attitude to the prospect. Do you want to send the signal that, "I'm a desperate salesperson in an uncomfortable activity?" Or do you want to indicate that "I'm a financially independent consultant who is comfortable making cold calls?"

Sales Tip of the Week:
Gone Fishin'? - Read more...
Many of us have fished at one time or another, or at least seen a fisherman in action. The most common scenario is a line with a baited hook in the water, the fisherman waiting for a strike. When a fish hits, the fisherman yanks the rod up, often resulting in a return to the fisherman of a hook with no bait, and no fish.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Active Listening Techniques - Read more...
you know if someone is listening to you and understands what you are trying to communicate? You need to get some type of feedback from that person in order to know that s/he was listening, and understood the message you wanted to convey.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Burst Out of Your Comfort Zone - Read more...
How often have you listened as someone rationalized his or her mishandling of a problem by externalizing its source: "I can't meet my projections because...," "My territory isn't large enough," or "Our prices are too high"? Closer scrutiny almost always reveals the source of the problem to be internal, stemming from the salesperson's concept of self - specifically, a state of mind that prevents him or her from trying to break through his/her "success barrier." This state of mind is their "comfort zone."

Sales Tip of the Week:
Build Rapport By Mirroring - Read more...
Can you answer the question, "What is rapport?" The French originated the word rapport, meaning "to bring or offer back." However, the French use the word most often in the phrase en rapport avec, meaning "to be in connection with someone."

Sales Tip of the Week:
Prospecting With a Plan - Read more...
A good pool of prospects is one of the keys to a successful selling career. Knowing how to prospect effectively keeps a career vital, and is truly the lifeblood of sales. Yet, so many sales professionals overlook the crucial element of having a prospecting plan. With a plan to follow, you can measure your efforts and results.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Are You REALLY Listening? - Read more...
Asking your prospect all the correct questions is wasted if you don't hear what he or she says, either in words or more subtly in tones or partial hints. Being a good listener requires more than just keeping quiet while the other person is talking. Do you hear everything that is being said? Do you understand it completely?

Sales Tip of the Week:
The TACTIC: Don't spill your candy in the lobby. - Read more...
The STORY: Bob was preparing for his first appointment with Mr. Winfred P. Smerthing III, senior partner of the law firm Smerthing, Pennyworth, Jones, Riccardo and Blarney, one of the biggest, oldest, and most prestigious firms in the state.

Sales Tip of the Week:
When to Send Literature - Read more...
Sooner or later, a prospect is going to tell you, "Send literature." It's a natural response to a salesperson. It's an easy way to reject the salesperson without getting personal. Before you agree to send literature, ask yourself, "Why is the prospect requesting literature? Is this a sign of no interest?"

Sales Tip of the Week:
Setting the Course - Read more...
You may not realize it, but as a manager you must often serve as a navigator. You set the course for your sales team, or for your department. You set a course for yourself. You help your staff set their courses individually, and within the team context. You are constantly navigating. You map your territories, chart steps to take, sample the conditions, correct others who have strayed off course, and try to reach destinations determined for you, in large part, by the company.

Sales Tip:
Do You Dare To Dream? - Read more...
I have never been able to understand why some people can only see as far ahead as the end of the current day. Instead of aiming for long-term goals, they just wallow in their everyday problems. Sure, the job of running a business, selling, and hanging on to your clients day-to-day can be a full-time job. But a crucial part of that job - any job - is to look far ahead, to anticipate change and new challenges, and be prepared for them.

Sales Tip of the Week:
You Can - Read more...
The single most important factor to believing that you can achieve your goals is self-esteem. Maintaining a healthy self-esteem is an important component of Sandler's Formula for Success.

Sales Tip of the Week:
You Can't Sell Anybody Anything...
Until They Discover They Want It! - Read more...
Despite what most traditional sales trainers tell us, it's very difficult to convince people that they want or need something that they're not already asking to buy. Our experiences at Sandler Sales Institute have demonstrated that when we try to force-sell our products or services, all we do is evoke feelings of defensiveness in our prospects. Unconsciously, the prospects "defend" whatever it is they already own or use. Under those circumstances, prospects won't make a "new" decision.

Sales TIp of the Week:
Finding the Good Fit - Read more...
Price isn't everything anymore, nor does sales volume guarantee profitability. Marketing and sales have shifted from an emphasis on transactions, sales volume, and competitive pricing to an emphasis on creating and retaining the right customers. The key word is "right." It means that not just any customer will do.

Sales Tip of the Week:
When Under Attack--Fall Back - Read more...
In The Art of War, Sun-tzu wrote, "The best victory is when the opponent surrenders of its own accord before there are any actual hostilities...It is best to win without fighting." The same holds true in the "art of sales." Even though the prospect is not always right, he or she is the judge and jury. So, how do you respond when you are under attack - being reprimanded for something, rightfully or wrongfully? Rather than stand your ground and attempt to explain, justify, or defend your position, fall back.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Why Salespeople Don't Take Risks - Read more...
Traditional sales training does not differentiate between "identity" and "role." Proponents of traditional sales training simply teach the material, sometimes in a very entertaining format, but they place the responsibility for using the material on the salesperson.

Sales Tip of the Week:
Breaking the Success Barrier - Read more...
The creator of the Sandler Selling System, David Sandler was an expert at motivating salespeople, as this excerpt from his President's Club program demonstrates. There is an invisible barrier that is holding you back. It is the reason why many of us aren't achieving the goals we set for ourselves. It has been constructed brick-by-brick since we were very young. Unintentionally perhaps, by people who probably wanted the best for us, but nevertheless, there it is - blocking our path to success. What most of us don't realize is that since it is part of our inner core it can only be torn down one brick at a time, and that doesn't happen overnight.

Sales Tip of the Week:
The TACTIC: Prospects should never be rescued. - Read more...
The STORY: The prospect looked up at the ceiling and said to Tim, “I was just trying to figure out how I would best use your product.” With the prospect still staring at the ceiling and “dead air” seemingly stretching for hours, Tim hurriedly decided to make some suggestions.