Growing a business is not a piece of cake.
To make a business flourish, you have to make more sales than your competitors. You can be the best at what you do, but if you can’t make sales, then you’re out of the business. To make more sales, you have to employ a selling methodology.
Most companies employ various selling methods to make more sales and be ahead of their competitors. The most popular of all selling methods is the Sandler selling system. Sandler Selling is one of the most popular and well-known systems globally and has been employed by businesses for over four decades.
If your business is struggling with getting more customers and selling products and services, you should consider employing Sandler Selling. In this blog post, I’ll tell you what the Sandler Selling System is and its benefits.
What is the Sandler Selling System?
The Sandler Selling system is a technique that employs specific steps to make more sales. The methodology was created by David Sandler, an American businessman and author. He developed the system in the 1970s when he was working as a salesman for a company.
Sandler noticed that most salespeople followed the same process while making a sale. This process didn’t work most of the time because most customers were already familiar with it. So they would tell salespeople what they wanted to hear to end their pitches quickly. Based on his observations, David Sandler developed a system to help salespeople make more sales.
This system is based on the idea that most customers are not interested in hearing about a product or service until they are convinced that it will help them solve a problem. The system enables salespeople to identify the customer’s concerns and address those issues.
This selling methodology aimed to teach people how they could sell more effectively. Since its inception, it has been used by companies like Apple, Nescafe, Sony, General Electric, and many others. This system focuses on developing a strong sales force that will make more sales and increase the company’s revenue.
Core Principles of Sandler Selling System
The Sandler Selling system is based on the following core principles:
Be Interested in Your Customer
This principle stresses the importance of developing a relationship with your customers. It is crucial to find out what their needs and wants are to address them.
Listen More than Talking
Most salespeople tend to talk too much, which doesn’t let the customer speak. This principle teaches salespeople to listen actively and ask questions that would allow them to understand the customer’s needs.
Figure out Your Customer’s Problem
The salesperson has to find out what problems customers are facing in their business or personal lives, how they can solve those issues, and why their proposed solution is better than other options available in the market. Don’t just focus on selling the product or service, instead focus on the benefits that your customers will get from using it.
Build Mutual Trust and Respect
Trust and respect are two essential ingredients in any relationship between a salesperson and a customer. This principle stresses developing trust and respect with customers to feel comfortable doing business with you.
Avoid Pursuing, Your Customer
This principle aims to help customers buy what they need, not sell them something that they don’t need. This principle also helps avoid a situation where the customer feels pressured into purchasing a product or service just because he was being sold on it. This system allows salespeople to identify when to stop pitching and close the deal.
Main Steps of Sandler Selling System
The Sandler Selling system helps improve the financial health of a company. It is based on seven main steps, which are following:
- Building Strong Bonding and Rapport
To sell effectively, you need to develop a good relationship with your customers. This step focuses on developing trust and understanding between the salesperson and the customer. For building a strong bonding, the salesperson has to ask questions. When you listen carefully, you can better understand your customer’s needs and concerns.
- Setting Upfront Contracts
Once you understand your customers’ needs, it is time to set an upfront contract. It is important to be clear about the product or service you are selling and what the customer can expect from it. This principle stresses the importance of telling your customers upfront what you can and cannot do for them.
- Identifying Customer’s Pain Points
The next step of the Sandler selling system is identifying the pain points of a customer. The main aim here is to look into the matter deeply and recognise what is bothering them and their current concerns.
- Uncovering The Customer’s Budget
In this step, the salesperson talks to the customer about their budget and how much they are willing to spend on a product or service. It is vital that you don’t lowball your customers during this process because it will damage your relationship with them.
- Identifying Decision-Making Process
In this step, the salesperson has to determine how your customers make their purchasing decisions. The information you gather here will help determine when is the best time to buy and what preparations they need before making a purchase.
- Propose Solution of Your Customer’s Problem
In this step, you have to determine what your customer wants and how much they are willing to spend. Then you should propose a solution that will solve their problem in the given budget.
- Discuss Post-Sell Business Relationship
The final step of the Sandler selling system is to discuss the post-sell business relationship with your customer. It includes setting up a schedule for future follow-ups, getting referrals and building long-term relationships with customers.