Sales

What Does a Sandler Sales Rep Look Like?

November 18, 2011

“Pretend I don’t know anything at all about sales – how would you explain the Sandler selling method?”

That’s the question I posed recently to GuruGanesha Khalsa, founder and CEO of the Sandler Training Institute of Vigrinia. And why not? When it comes to the world of Sandler training, there are few figures as celebrated as Ganesh.

The first of this three-part series tackles the selling characteristics and methods that separate Sandler sales reps from the rest of the pack. The next two parts will cover Ganesh’s thoughts on the challenges of transitioning to Sandler and the “Three Levels of Pain” of the qualification process.

The 100,000 foot overview of a Sandler sales rep

“A sales rep who is well trained in the Sandler methodology is going to come across as the polar opposite of the stereotypical sales rep who generally comes off as pushy, self-centered, and overly aggressive,” says Ganesh. In his words, the goal of the rep is to be viewed as less of a salesperson, and more like a trusted advisor.

The key differences of Sandler selling in many ways comes down to the qualification process. In essence, while “typical” salespeople spend their time convincing a buyer to make a purchase, the Sandler approach is the complete opposite; when done right, it appears that the buyer is convincing the seller to sell.

“[With a traditional approach], there’s all this emotional pressure being applied. And usually when the buyer feels that emotional pressure, they kind of get resistant, because they feel like the seller is trying to get their own needs met,” explains Ganesh. “The Sandler-trained rep basically comes across as if they’re really facilitating a heart-to-heart discussion.”

According to Ganesh, this “heart-to-heart discussion” is where the magic of Sandler truly lies. A demo or presentation is nowhere to be found in this initial conversation. Instead, a Sandler sales rep is simply out to engage in a discovery process designed to do a few specific things:

  1. Convince the buyer that he or she has specific “technical” needs (i.e., they are having issues directly related to the technology/services they are currently using)
  2. Convince the seller that filling those needs is a high-priority, not only for the company, but for the prospective clients themselves

“Part of the seller’s job in this part of the process is to facilitate an in-depth discussion – not only on the technical issues (i.e., the problems) – but to get the prospect to quantify the business-financial impact of those issues for the past, present, and future,” says Ganesh.

Additional Information:

For more from Ganesh on the Sandler selling method, check out our previous podcast or reach out to him directly.

In other words, a Sandler sales rep understands that there’s no point in putting a price quote on the table unless he or she is already convinced that it’s in the best interest of the buyer to make the investment.

“The typical seller is quoting prices, and they don’t have that information,” Ganesh explains. “They don’t necessarily have the conviction that it’s in the buyer’s best interest. They don’t understand the business-financial impact of the problems that the buyer might be having, or what the impact of those issues might be having on the organization from a cost standpoint.  So when they quote a price, and the buyer pushes back, they have no place to go.”

Getting to this point takes some skill on the part of the Sandler rep. This is where the “Three Levels of Pain” (to be covered in more detail next week) come into play. Essentially, with the Sandler method, it’s not enough to know that a prospective buyer has technical issues that your solution can help solve. Sandler reps dig deeper to find the true impact of whatever needs aren’t being met – both on a business-financial and personal level.

A mutual level of commitment

According to Ganesh, quantifying the business and personal impact of a problem is an essential component of the Sandler sales process. In the qualification stage, the goal isn’t to make a rush move toward closing the deal; it’s about simply establishing the commitment of both parties to walk through the process together. In other words, a Sandler sales rep’s goal is to ensure that the prospective buyer will be just as committed to the sales process as the seller, whether it results in a purchase or not.

“We all know that generally when appointments get cancelled, it’s usually the buyer,” says Ganesh. “This is because in the typical buyer-seller relationship, the seller is more committed than the buyer is. And that’s wrong.”

He adds that the goal is to create a sales process that’s truly in the best interest of both parties: the seller and the buyer. It’s about getting to the truth from the very first meeting to see if the seller’s solution is right for the customer, before wasting unnecessary time, energy, and resources on a process that will eventually go nowhere. But the beauty of the process, explains Ganesh, is that when done correctly, both the seller and client are left with a clear understanding of the business-financial and personal impact of the needs at hand. And getting to this point is critical to ensure that both parties are willing to take the next steps in the process.

“The only way you can get that kind of commitment from the buyer is if they convince you and convince themselves that finding a solution is a very high personal priority,” Ganesh explains. “If the buyer can’t convince me that this is a high personal priority, then I’m going to start moving toward the door. Meaning, ‘Let’s revisit this when you care about it.’”

From the point that the needs are quantified, however, the two parties can then develop a mutually agreed-upon timeframe to continue the process, at the end of which there will be a clear yes (“Let’s make a deal!”) or no (“As it turns out, this just isn’t the right time for us.”) Maybes, however, are not a part of the plan.

This paradigm shift is really the heart and soul of the Sandler selling method, and if it feels like the process is designed to make the buyer convince the seller to sell – it is. While some more traditional sales methods might call for a demo or presentation right off the bat (what Ganesh jokingly refers to as “Premature Presentation Syndrome”), a Sandler rep has a different objective.

“Assuming you do this right, the rest of the selling cycle is a hot knife through butter,” says Ganesh.

So there you have it; a 100,000 foot view of what a Sandler sales rep looks like, straight from one of the top trainers in the biz. Next week, we’ll continue the series with a closer look at the “The Levels of Pain” for the qualification process, followed by the challenges of transitioning to a Sandler way of life.

Brendan Cournoyer is an editor and Marketing Associate with OpenView Venture Partners. You can also follow him on Twitter @BrenCournoyer and find more from the OpenView team @OpenViewVenture.

Content Strategist

Brendan worked at OpenView from 2011 until 2012, where he was an editor, content manager and marketer. Currently Brendan is the Vice President of Corporate Marketing at <a href="https://www.brainshark.com/">Brainshark</a> where he leads all corporate marketing initiatives related to content, creative, branding, events, press and analyst relations, and customer marketing.