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10 Ways to BREAKTHROUGH Sales

By Kate Bahnmuller
May 23rd, 2018
Kate Wright, Executive Recruiter + Business Development Manager

As a student of the Sandler Selling System for a little over a year, this was my first time attending the annual Sandler Summit held in Orlando, FL each Spring. If you’re not familiar with Sandler Training, it was developed in 1967 by David Sandler and is a unique and revolutionary approach to sales. It focuses on asking questions, talking less, educating more, and knowing when to walk away.

I was excited to attend and had high expectations from the feedback I’d heard from past participants. The Summit themed Breakthrough 2018, certainly did not disappoint!

David Mattson, the President and CEO of Sandler, defined a breakthrough as “any significant advancement because you removed or surpassed an obstacle”.





My Top 10 Ways to BREAKTHROUGH in Sales


 


Examine your attitudes, behaviors, and techniques (Sandler calls this the Success Triangle).


    

  • Do the hard things others will not, and this will take you from “good” to “great”. Step outside your comfort zone.
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  • Know your talk tracks, sales process, etc.. Practice deliberately and often.
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Winning is about taking the information and making small changes to get to your goal.


    

  • Little things every day add up to big gains.
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  • Have small goals and keep “moving the flag” once you get close to reaching them.
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Most of your success/failure is 90% psychology and 10% mechanics.


    

  • Take out your “head trash” (negative self-talk) just like you take out the garbage at your house.
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You can’t become emotionally invested in the sales process


    

  • You can never be over prepared – pre-call planning is important.
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  • Without a plan, you choose the easiest option, not the best
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  • Know what you want to accomplish and have questions prepared before the call
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Equally as important – post-call debriefing


    

  • Debriefing is the best tool for a manager to transform their salesforce’s skills!
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  • 98% of salespeople do not have a clear objective for each call.
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Give yourself permission to fail


    

  • Examining your failures is where the growth happens.
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A goal has a clear timeline and an intention does not. Know the difference and set clear, concise goals.


    

  • Have someone hold you accountable to this and celebrate success along the way.
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Use technology to your advantage


    

  • Technology will disrupt our selling, so be prepared and figure out how you can use it to help you.
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Past performance is not an indicator of future success


    

  • You can’t go into your comfort zone or “play it safe” after a big win or year. Always be improving.
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Have fun!


    

  • Sales aren’t supposed to be boring or rigid – so have fun! I met so many wonderful people at the Sandler Summit that were great examples of this!
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Hope to see you next year at the 2019 Sandler Summit!






For more information, visit www.sandler.com and check out The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them and 10 Essential Selling Principles Most Salespeople Get Wrong.