It is helpful to think of The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them like Parenting Teens with Love and Logic. Both books suggest shifting from helicopter parent or pushy salesperson to more of a consultant. For Sandler it’s principle 39.
For Sandler, for sales, the customer’s progress is all that matters. It’s not how hard you worked. It’s not the feature. It’s not what you think. It’s not the last time this happened.
It’s. Just. The. Customer’s. Progress.
To find that the salesperson must be honest, a contradiction to the caricatures. “When interacting with prospects and clients, your objective is to uncover the truth, even if it’s not something you want to hear.”
One obstacle, ironically, on the path from honesty leading to truth is knowledge. You can know too much. So, act like a dummy (Rule 17). Remember, selling is not about telling (Rule 14).
Doctoring is a helpful analogy. Dermatologists don’t digress into the sciences – they diagnose damage. The sales system differs from the medical one and strictly comparing the two makes the man on the moon mistake, but the philosophy is the same.
Author David Mattson does a nice job of collecting the principles and assigning interesting ideas to each. My favorites:
- Rule 2: Don’t spill your candy in the lobby. Get information don’t give it.
- Rule 4: Explain ‘no’ is okay. Aim to uncover the truth – even if it’s something you don’t want to hear.
- Rule 13: No mind reading, don’t assume and clarify vague responses.
- Rule 14: “‘Selling’ is not about “‘telling.’”
- Rule 22: Defuse bombs right away – bring up the problem.
- Rule 27: “You can’t sell anybody anything, they must discover they want it.”
- Rule 37: “All Prospects Lie, All the Time… but why, and about what.”
- Rule 38: The problem they bring you is never the real problem, “diagnosis is the salesperson’s responsibility”.
- Rule 41: Whatever is happening is your responsibility
- Rule 48: A life without risk is a life without growth
Sandler was suggested in Bob Moesta’s book Demand Side Sales. This book is an aligned sales system to the JTBD approach. Rules 37 & 38 (“all prospects lie, all the time” & diagnosis is the salesperson’s job) fit well with the curiosity inherent in JTBD.
The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them is a fast read, best for the JTBD curious and those looking for some sales support.
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Here’s the review for Parenting Teens…
And the JTBD series
The Waiter's Pad 