Always going. Yes, I am. My thoughts spin as fast as my tires when I’m driving to my Sandler Training center every morning. Of course, often these thoughts are on Sandler as I mentally prepare for my Foundations or President’s Club sessions.

Well, the other morning as I drove through a construction zone on the interstate it was no different, except this time I happened to really look at the old concrete the work crews were removing. Visible in the broken pieces of the road foundation were rods of rebar; the steel bars that reinforce the concrete to make it even stronger, AND MORE POWERFUL. Sandler’s tagline came to mind, “finding power in reinforcement.” It occurred to me that rebar is a perfect example of the concept.

Concrete is strong to begin with, much like Sandler’s sales training concepts which are strengthened in us through gradual, incremental growth through reinforcement, just like the calculated, repetitive use of rebar throughout a concrete slab. Instead of rebar, our constant practicing takes us from knowing to owning the Sandler Selling System.

That notion of making things that are already strong—for example, techniques like reversing, the dummy curve, and negative reverses—even stronger via ongoing reinforcement is a key factor in the success of Sandler-trained sales professionals. When we add the dimensions of our attitude and behavior to technique, we further strengthen the foundation for our success.

Reinforcement contrasts sharply with the experience of traditionally trained Wally Weakcloser. Wally attends a sales workshop here and another one there, taking copious notes which he then files away for future reference. He gets revved up to perform as “Super Salesperson,” but his enthusiasm quickly fades when the going gets tough. And the pep talks by his sales manager don’t give him enough fuel to travel the long haul. Without a system like Sandler, which constantly reinforces concepts for continuous growth in the sales process, Wally has to run on his own steam. He just doesn’t have the tools or the drive to go the distance for SUCCESS.

I think we can take this Sandler roadway analogy one step further. Once we have laid a solid foundation made even stronger through reinforcement, we have a veritable superhighway to take us efficiently to our planned goal/destination, without stops and starts, potholes and dead ends.

The way to become a better salesperson is to utilize the Sandler Selling System to find POWER through reinforcement––concrete and rebar.

Brian Hart is a Sandler Trainer in St. Cloud, MN.

Salespeople could significantly increase their earnings if they stopped saying and believing “I know why…”

The reality is that their “knowledge” is a guess created from vague statements from prospects (“we really like your presentation”) and clients (“your service is top notch”) that salespeople leave unexplored because they don’t want to be “pushy”, “rock the boat” or they “know why the client called.”

Keep in mind, the first rule of the prospect’s system is to withhold information (or lie, if you prefer). Prospects and clients are trained to keep the truth from salespeople because they’re mentally and emotionally protecting themselves.
The two primary reasons salespeople choose to “know” instead of exploring vague statements dropped by clients and prospects are: 1) they aren’t mentally and emotionally tough and 2) they aren’t comfortable being vulnerable.

Becoming mentally and emotionally tough doesn’t mean not having emotions or withholding emotions, but it does mean salespeople:

1. Aren’t attached to the outcome – if their prospect says “no” or their client chooses not to expand their order, they don’t feel gutted.
2. Don’t get emotionally involved in their meetings – as David Sandler said, “only the prospect may become emotionally involved in the sales interview.” Getting emotionally involved means a salesperson is focused on getting their needs met instead of helping their prospect resolve their pain.
3. Separate their role from their identity – failing as a salesperson is just role failure. It doesn’t mean that salesperson is a failure as a person. Unfortunately, most of society equates role success or failure with an individual’s self-worth.

Being vulnerable doesn’t mean begging for business. Salespeople who are vulnerable:

1. Don’t make assumptions – they take statements like, “it looks really good for you (to get our business)” and they find out what their prospect really means.
2. Establish credibility – by helping their client design a solution to their problem instead of imposing a solution on them.
3. Learn more and earn more – being vulnerable triggers a psychological reaction in a prospect to “rescue” the salesperson and share more information, which may lead to a larger problem for the salesperson to solve.

By thinking they know instead of making time to be vulnerable and actually learning the truth behind their client’s vague statements, salespeople leave a lot of money on the table and reduce the length of client relationships.

Get mentally and emotionally tough, get out of “knowing” mode and put more money in your pocket.

Hamish Knox is a Sandler Trainer in Calgary, Alberta.