TRIMECH SALES METHODOLOGY

CHEAT SHEETS
 TRIMECH’S SALES METHODOLOGY

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System Overview

When prospects and salespeople begin their selling “dance” there are always two systems at
work: the prospect’s system and the salesperson’s system.

Prospect System Traditional Selling Systems

1. Mislead/Lie about interest 1. Find or Create Need
2. Unpaid Consulting 2. Presentation/Proposal
3. Stall, “Love ya”, TIO 3. Close - Overcome Stalls
4. Hide and Objections 4. Chase - Be persistent

The prospect’s system

1. When the prospect is in control, you:
a. Try to solve undefined problems
b. Present solutions to undefined problems
c. Try to close a sale that might not be ready to close
d. Spend valuable time playing telephone tag

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The Sandler Selling System
1. David Sandler created the Sandler Selling System after realizing that there had to be a
better way to sell. He realizes that he had to stop selling like he had been taught and
start selling like nobody else. “If the competition is doing it, stop it right away. Do
something else,” became his motto.
2. After years of studying selling techniques and human dynamics, Sandler decided that
successful selling had 3 elements: attitude, behavior, and technique.
3. Attitude refers to your belief in yourself and your ability to sell. Behavior refers to how
you translate your attitudes into positive actions so that you can execute your selling
system. Technique refers to the application of the selling system – do the right thing at
the right time.
4. Most sales training focuses on only one element – technique. The Sandler Selling System
focuses on all 3 elements. If you do not change your attitude and behaviors towards
selling, all the technique in the world will not make you more successful.

TriMech Sales Process

1. Step 1: Initial Prospecting Call

2. Step 2: Discovery Meeting(s)
3. Step 3: Technical Discovery Meeting(s)
4. Step 4: Demonstration
5. Step 5: Closing (Quote, Decision, PO, multiple meetings/interactions)

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The Sandler Selling System “Run Silent, Run Deep"

The Submarine Concept

1. Why a submarine
a. Sandler chose a submarine because:
i. Submarines run silent – waiting for the right movement
ii. Other ships make their presence know – advertise their intentions
iii. You must secure each area of the ale before moving to the next – you
cannot go back and risk sinking the sale
iv. You must make the decisions based on objective criteria – not on
emotion
v. It takes courage to do what has to be done, when it has to be done

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The Submarine

1. Bonding and Rapport/Pattern Interrupt

Communicating in ways that develop comfort and trust to create strong relationships
with clients and prospects. You will need to lower the “Defense Wall” between you
and your client/prospect.

2. Up-Front Contracts – Setting Ground Rules

A mutual agreement between the salesperson and the client or prospect as to what
specifically will take place during a current or subsequent contact, whether in person
or by phone. “Begin with the end in mind.”

Five Elements of a UFC:

1. The Time and Agenda………………………………………………….. T
2. The Role of the Prospect……………………………………………….. N
3. The Role of the Salesperson…………………………………………….O
4. The Outcome – No/Yes or a Firm Future Commitment (FFC)………....T
5. Biggest Concern or Fear

3. P-A-I-N
Pain is defined as the personal, compelling, emotional, reasons to buy. People buy to
either move away from pain or move towards pleasure; either way, it is based on
emotion.

As sales professionals we need to help the prospect discover what all the issues are,
why they are happening, and the impact of not implementing a TriMech solution.
After finding the pain, we need to get the client/prospect’s commitment to fix it now.

4. Budget/Investment
Is the client/prospect willing and able to make the necessary investment to cure
his/her pain? You and the client/prospect know how much the PAIN is costing them.
They must also be willing to de-invest from their current situation.

5. Decision
Elements the sales professional must uncover in determining the client/prospect’s
decision-making process:
1. Who… is involved in the process?
2. What… specifically is involved?

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 3. Where… is the decision made?
4. When… are they planning to make the decision?
5. Why…do they do it that way? A specific reason? Habit? Company policy?
6. How… do they (actually) make the final decision?
7. WHO ELSE… will or should be involved?

6. Fulfillment
The purpose of the presentation is to demonstrate to the client/prospect how your
product or service “fulfills” their needs – the pains previously discovered and obtain a
decision. Discuss only the features and benefits of your offering that cures the
client/prospect’s pain and NOTHING ELSE.

7. Post-Sell
The purpose of the Post-Sell Step is to deal with any potential “Buyer’s Remorse,”
plant the seeds for additional business and start the referral process.
1. Buyer’s Remorse – We need to re-confirm the next steps before we end the call.
2. Referrals – We need to begin the process of setting up the client to ask for
referrals.
3. Strategic Account Management – We need to put a system in place to keep our
clients happy and grow the account.

Fuels to run the sales process:

1. Ok/Not Ok – Helping clients/prospects feel comfortable and in control. You can

struggle or ask for help. The salesperson must take responsibility for the prospects OK-
ness.
2. Reversing – Answer a question with a question.
3. Negative Reversing – The strategy of exhibiting a behavior opposite of what they
expect. The opposite of what a typical salesperson would do.
4. The Dummy Curve – Acting like you don’t know, allow the client/prospect to come to
their own conclusion. “Sell Today, Education Tomorrow”. Show product knowledge only
in the fulfillment step in the system.
5. I/R Theory – Separating your “Role” in life from your “Identity” as a person.

Anchors:
1. Under promise and over delivery
2. Don’t assume – intent vs content - It is always about the “Why”
3. Pull don’t push
4. Less is more
5. Activity vs Achievement - Disqualify

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The Success Triangle

1. The three major elements of the “Success Triangle” -- Behavior, Attitude, and Technique
-- help us to understand, appreciate, and capitalize on the interrelation of the elements
of Success. Learning new Techniques, for instance, will not ensure more business unless
you implement that approach (Behavior) with the conviction (Attitude) that it will work
for you.
a. Attitudes:
i. The perceptions and beliefs you have about yourself, your company, your
marketplace, your competition, and the economy, etc. Attitude is how
you feel inside at any given moment in time and the mindset you bring to
every situation. Your attitude can fluctuate – not only from day-to-day,
but also from moment-to-moment.
b. Behaviors:
i. Your Behavior is determined by your goals, dreams, wants, needs, and
desires. Behavior defines your selling strategies. What you do every day,
week, and month to grow your business.
c. Techniques:
i. Techniques are skills and tactics necessary to implement the Behaviors.
Behavior becomes technique the second you open your mouth.
Techniques are skills we develop to find, qualify, and close prospects.

Attitude

Behavior Technique

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Bonding and Rapport
1. Bonding and building rapport with your clients and prospects happens throughout the
selling process. Helping the prospect to feel comfortable is one of the first steps in
building a trusting relationship. Our key objective as salespeople is to gather
information and help the prospect discover why they should do business with our
company. If the prospect is not comfortable with you, it is difficult to complete this
process.

2. Since we are going to use “communication” as a tool to establish rapport, we must look
at the elements of communications over the phone. The first element is the words we
speak. While most people choose their words carefully, in an attempt to get their
message across, words only account for 17% of communication. How we speak those
words, tonality – volume, tempo, rhythm, and pitch account for 83% of communication.
How we deliver those words is much more important that the actual words that we use.

3. While we use all our senses to take in, evaluate and communicate with our
environment, we tend to rely more heavily on three – sight, sound, and touch. We
usually have a preference for one over the other two. For sight we use the word visual.
If you are a visual, you make sense of the world through pictures and visual images. You
prefer to see things to make sense of the world. Second, an auditory person makes
sense of the world through sound. You have to hear things and talk it out. Finally, if you
are kinesthetic, you make sense of the world through touch, gut feelings, and
impressions.

4. What you are striving for is to become a chameleon. If you are talking to a person who’s
an auditory and you happen to be a visual, recognize you may be painting the perfect
picture, but the other person does not hear what you are saying. Communicate with
your prospects the way they take in their world, and you will establish rapport much
easier.

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Mirror and Match
1. Pace
2. Tonality
3. Volume
4. Body Language (live)
5. Words
6. Phrases

REPRESENTATIONAL FILTERS
DOMINANT SENSE SIGHT SOUND TOUCH

NLP Type Visual Auditory Kinesthetic

% of Population Approx. _________ Approx. _________ Approx. _________

% % %

Key Words See Hear Feel

Rate of Speech Fast Moderate Slow

Sample Phrases “I see what you “I hear what you’re “I’ve got a handle on
mean.” saying.” that.”

What is your vision “How does this idea “When do you feel
for the company?” sound to you?” you’ll be making a
decision?”
What would it look “Tell me more about
like?” that.” “I can’t seem to get
my arms around
that.”
1. Visual
a. Talk Fast
b. Breathes High in the chest
c. Uses terms like: “I see…”, It’s not clear to me”
2. Auditory
a. Chooses words carefully
b. Breathes from Sternum

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 c. Uses terms like: “Sounds right to me”, “I hear you”
3. Kinesthetic
a. Slow and deliberate when speaking
b. Breathes low in the abdomen
c. Uses terms like: “That feels better”, “I can’t get my arms around it”

Ok/Not Ok
1. Reach for the Prospects OKness
a. Sandler Rule
i. Always allow the prospect to preserve his or her dignity
b. Your Responsibility
i. You are responsible for the prospects OKness
2. Was it something I Said?
a. What makes a prospect not OK?
i. Examples of how a salesperson makes a prospect not ok:
1. Rushing or pressuring the prospect
2. Talking down to the prospect
3. Asking the prospect intrusive questions
4. Acting cocky
5. Speaking from the salesperson’s world: not relating the
information or question to the prospect’s world
6. Use of jargon, buzzwords or acronyms
3. Why are you looking at me like that?
a. How do you know that a prospect is not ok?
i. Examples of verbal and non-verbal indicators that a prospect is feeling
not ok:
1. The prospect frowns, looks stern, or looks confused
2. The prospect leans back in his/her chair with arms crossed
3. The prospect looks at his/her watch
4. The prospect either hesitates to answer questions or responds in
a questioning tone
4. How can I make it better?
a. How do you bring a not-ok prospect back to ok?
i. Examples of what you can do to bring the not-ok prospect back to ok:
1. Take responsibility for being the real or perceives source f the
prospect’s not-okness

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 2. State how you will correct the problem
3. Respond to the prospect’s body language and/or tone of voice, by
asking questions
4. Paraphrase or restate comments made by the prospect that
indicate his/her not-okness

5. Dealing with not-ok prospects throughout the selling process

a. First Meeting
i. When you talk to a prospect for the first time to set up a meeting, the
prospect may have these not-ok feelings:
1. The prospect may fear that he/she will be wasting her/his time by
meeting with you
2. The prospect may feel anxious about not knowing what to expect
3. The prospect may feel that she/he is misunderstood by you, that
you are not listening.
4. The prospect may fear that she/he will be pressured into buying
b. Pain Step
i. When you meet with a prospect to uncover his/her needs, problems, and
concerns, the prospect may:
1. Feel uncomfortable admitting the problems she/he is facing
2. Think that the questions you ask in order to uncover his/her
needs, problems, and concerns are intrusive
3. Feel that she/he is the only one with the problem
c. Budget Step
i. When you meet with a prospect to discuss budget issues, the prospect
may:
1. Not be sure that she/he can affords the product/service
2. Not have a budget for the product/service, or she/he may not
know what the budget is, or she/he may not have control of the
budget
3. Think that you will take advantage of him/her
d. Decision Step
i. When you meet with a prospect to discuss the process, she/he will use to
make the final buying decision, the prospect may:
1. Feel unimportant if she/he does not have the power to make the
final decision
2. Be afraid that she/he will lose control of the selling process

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 3. Feel pressured to make a decision too quickly, or to say yes before
she/he is ready
e. Fulfillment step
i. When you meet with a prospect to make a presentation, do a
demonstration, or review a proposal, the prospect may:
1. Be unsure about when she/he must make a decision
2. Not want to waste time on unimportant aspects
3. Not believe that you fully understand the situation

f. Post-sell step
i. When you talk with the prospect after you have closed the sale, the
prospect may:
1. Think the she/he has made a hasty decision
2. Have felt pressured to make the decision
3. Think it was risky to choose a new vendor/company
4. Have second thought about the decision
g. Other situations
i. Here are some other times when you may have to deal with a not-ok
prospect/client:
1. When delivering bad news to a prospect/client
2. When dealing with a past problem with a prospect/client
3. When dealing with a prospect who doesn’t want an up-front
contract
4. When dealing with a client who wants to back out of a deal

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Up Front Contracts

An Up-Front Contract is a mutual agreement between the salesperson and the client or
prospect as to what specifically will take place during a current or subsequent contact,
whether in person or by telephone.

Begin with the end in mind. We must know the objective of our conversations and our
expected end result.

Five elements of the Up-Front Contract:

1) Time and objective of meeting – What is the reason for the contract? Is the
“reason” something to which both parties have agreed?

2) Role of the prospect – What must the prospect or client say, do, ask, present, or
bring to the meeting? Is the prospect comfortable with his or her role? Have they
agreed to it?

3) Role of the salesperson – What will the salesperson do, say, show, present, or ask?
Is the prospect “OK” with the salesperson’s role?

4) Outcomes – What are the potential outcomes from this interaction? This could be a
buying decision, a decision to move to the next step, end the process, or a decision
to involve others in the process. Has the prospect agreed to participate in this
decision? Will the prospect be ready and able to make the decision?

5) Roadblocks - Up-Front Contracts should be used to discuss potential roadblocks to

doing business that present themselves with any regularity in a particular type of
sale or show up consistently with clients or prospects. Your greatest concern or fear
is…

Sandler Rule: The Close is in the Contract.

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Sample Up-front Contract

Sample Up-front Contract – Prospecting Call (Mini-UFC)

1. At the beginning of the call:

Hello , this is _____________________ from TriMech Solutions. Does my company name ring
any bells for you?

No? How about I take three minutes to . . . . wait, let me back up. Did I catch you at a bad
time?

Well, as I was saying, how about I take 3 minutes to tell you why I’m calling, and you can
decide if it makes sense for us to keep talking. Does that sound fair?

Thanks. I am a Territory Manager for TriMech Solutions. We’re engineering technologies and
resources company that specializes in working in the (Their Industry). From my research that
looks like what you do.

We help clients enhance and streamline engineering and manufacturing processes to accelerate
the growth of their businesses.

It’s probably not the case here; but, I speak to (Their Title; Guess High) like you each day. What
I hear consistently is there is tremendous frustration about (Pick 2 or 3)

• Improving product quality.

• Reducing engineering and development costs.

• Reducing time to market because their engineering and manufacturing processes are
lacking.

• Not growing with the market because different groups in their company do not
function well together.

• Poor communications across the organization from sales through engineering leading
to delayed sales and slowed production.

• Their inability to maximize their engineering tools.

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 If you had to say which of these was the biggest issue for you, what would you
say?

2. At the end of the call:

a. I’m not sure if we can help you yet, but we’ve helped a number of other clients
with very similar issues to what you’ve mentioned. Do you mind if I make a
suggestion? Why don’t we pick a time, say someday later this week? All we’ll
need is about 30 minutes.

b. We will explore this issue in greater detail. I’m sure you’ll have some questions
for us, and we will have some questions for you,

c. At the end of the conversation we will determine if it’s a fit or not a fit to move
forward. And, by the way, if you feel there’s just not a fit – it’s alright to tell me
‘No’, and I’m OK with that, fair?”

d. (When they say yes, continue immediately with ….) “Do you have your calendar
handy, what day are you looking at?”

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Sample Up-Front Contract – Discovery Meeting (Typically 45-60 minute Live
Meeting); Staffing (Typically a 20-30 minute phone call).

1. Appreciation and Deal with Time Issues (A)

a. I appreciate your taking the time to discuss your company in greater detail.
(Never beg for an appointment).
b. In our initial conversation, we agreed that we would need a minimum of 30
minutes to find out more about your needs and our possible solutions. Does 30
minutes still work for you?

2. Naturally (N) - Client/Prospect Agenda

a. Naturally, you’ll have questions for me. You’ll need to know more about our
solutions and how we may be able to help you address your specific business
issues. I appreciate that, and I will do my best to answer those questions.

3. Obviously (O) - Sales Agenda

a. Obviously, I’ll have questions for you as well. I will need to have a full
understanding of the expectations and requirements you would have for a
solution like ours if we were to do business together…Fair?

4. Typically (T) - Outcomes

a. Typically, one of two things comes out of meeting like this:

b. One is, we don’t see that there is a fit here. If that is the case, will you be
comfortable telling me that you don’t see a fit and tell me ‘no’?
c. On the other hand, we may see that there is a fit, if that’s the case, can we spend
the last five minutes discussing the specific next steps in the process. Are you
comfortable with that?

5. Biggest Fear or Concern (Optional)

a. My biggest concern or fear in a meeting like this is that . . . . At the end if the
meeting you will want to “think it over.”

6. Transition into Pain

a. You mentioned that you invited me in to discuss (the first issue), Can you tell me
more…?

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Sample Up-Front Contract – 45-60 Minute Technical Meeting

1. Time (T) – We discussed getting together for 45 minutes to an hour to review Company
Name’s current process in detail and how TriMech has worked with other companies
with similar issues. Does that still work for you?

2. Their Role (N), Our Role (O), and Outcomes (T) - You will have some questions for us
and we’ll do our best to answer them. We will have some questions for you about your
processes. Is ok if we ask some questions? At the end, we might figure out it’s not a
great fit, which is fine. If we do figure out there is a fit, can we take five minutes before
we go to talk about next steps.

3. Transition to Discussion/Pain - So last time we talked about Review Pain from last
time.

Sample Up-Front Contract – 10-Minute Introductory Meeting

4. Time (T) - Hello ___________. Nice to meet you. We discussed getting together for 10
minutes for an introduction, does that still work for you?

5. Their Role (N), Our Role (O), and Outcomes (T) - You might have some questions for
me, I will ask you a few questions about your company and what do you, and then if
there are any actions items, we can talk about them. Sound Ok?

6. Transition to Discussion/Pain - So from my research and what you told me on the

phone, ABC company does _____________. How would you describe it? And your role
is __________________.

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Sample Up-Front Contract – 5 or 10 Minute Phone Call or Follow-Up Phone Call

1. Time (T) - Hello ___________. This is _______________ of TriMech. Did I catch you at a
bad time? We agreed to have a 5-minute call to discuss ___________________. Does
this time still work for you?

2. Their Role (N), Our Role (O), and Outcomes (T) - You might have some questions for
me, I might have some questions for you, and we can figure out where to go from there.
Sound Ok?

3. Transition to Discussion/Pain - So we were going to talk about Whatever the topic was
from your previous Firm Future Commitment (FFC). Any update on that?

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Up-Front Contract Template
Deal with time issues

Naturally… (Their agenda)

Obviously… (Your agenda)

Typically… (Possible outcomes)

Typically, one of two things comes out of a meeting like this:

Biggest concern or fear

My biggest concern in a meeting like this is…

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Sample Close at the end of Prospecting/Cold Call

• You’ve shared some really good information with me.

• I’m not sure yet we have a good fit for you, but we have helped other clients with very
similar issues (Maybe summarize their pains so far)
• Would it make sense for you to invite me in for a 30-60 min meeting to discuss further?
• You’ll have some questions, I’ll have some questions, and we’ll figure out what to do
from there.
• Would that make sense?
• If Yes, When’s a good date?
• Time?
• So to summarize on Date at Time we will get together for 30-60 minutes. You’ll have
some questions and I’ll have some questions and we’ll figure out where to go from
there.

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PAIN

Pain is defined as the personal, compelling, emotional, reasons to buy. People buy to either
move away from pain or move towards pleasure; either way, it is based on emotion.

As sales professionals we need to help the prospect discover what all the issues are, why they
are happening, and the impact of not implementing a TriMech solution. After finding the pain,
we need to get the prospect’s commitment to fix it now.

Pain Indicators
A Pain Indicator is a statement about an issue that begins with an emotional word. (i.e. frustrated, concerned,
upset, worried)

Possible Pain from Current Situations Experienced by Prospects using competition:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

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9.

10.

Feature→Benefit→Problem→Pain Indicator

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The Pain Funnel
1. The Pain Funnel is a series of questions and statements that will help you and your client
or prospect focus on the impact of their “pain”. It moves the client or prospect from the
general to the specific and from the intellectual to the emotional.

2. There are 3 levels of pain to address: Surface, Business, and Emotional. We need all 3,
but emotional is most important.

3. After identifying a real “pain”, continue with the following:

1. Can you tell me more about that?

2. Can you be a bit more specific? Give me an example?

3. Why do you suppose that is happening?

4. How long has that been a problem?

5. What have you tried to do about it?

6. And that worked?

7. How much do you suppose that has cost you (in dollars, time)?

8. How do you feel about that? (How does it impact you personally?)

9. Have you given up trying to deal with/solve the problem?

10. Is the organization committed to fixing it?

11. Are you committed to fixing it NOW?

12. What happens if you don’t fix it now?

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Obstacles:

1) Prospects/Clients want to pull you out of pain funnel.

2) Prospects/Clients can’t quantify time or money.

3) Prospects/Clients have already answered questions before they are asked.

Transition into Pain

1) Strong Up-Front Contract
a. Make sure the Prospect agrees to the up-front contract and you have clearly
identified each participant’s role and the possible outcomes. We need to get a
yes, no or firm future commitment. Did you get permission to ask questions?

IF COLD CALL, SKIP to 5

FOR ALL MEETINGS/CALLS AFTER INITIAL CALL

2) Review and/or Ask questions about current situation.

• Person’s role and responsibility within their organization.
• Review what company and individual does.
• Products/Services currently using
• Familiarity with TriMech. Was it a positive experience?
• Any pains mentioned on the phone.

IF CONVERSATION HAS GONE WELL, PROCEED THROUGH PAIN FUNNEL

IF YOU NEED OTHER TOPICS TO SPUR CONVERSATION, SUGGESTIONS ARE BELOW

3) If we had a conversation a year from today about your organization/operation what

would be different?
4) Possibly, Ask open-ended questions (Get the prospect talking)
a. What are the biggest issues or challenges you face today?
b. What were we hoping to accomplish on the call?
c. What keeps you up at night?
d. Why did you agree to set up the call?
e. What would you like to do better?
f. What are some of the gaps between where you are and where you want to be?

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 5) Probe for pain using Pain indicators
a. “Typically, when I speak with (person’s title), I sometimes hear things like they
are frustrated with…”
6) Take the prospect down the pain funnel
a. Can you tell me more about it?
7) Get the prospect’s commitment to fix the pain
a. “are you and the organization committed to fixing these issues”
b. “Are you committed to fixing them now?”

Helping the Clients Calculate the Value of our Solution.

• Start with what it is costing Client/Prospect in Time or Money.

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Active Listening & Reversing

1. Active listening - A way of listening and responding to another person that improves
mutual understanding. Often when people talk to each other, they
don't listen attentively. They are often distracted, half listening, half thinking about
something else.
2. It requires that the listener fully concentrates, understands, responds and then
remembers what is being said.

a. Reflection - Closely repeating or paraphrasing what the speaker has said in order
to show comprehension. Reflection is a powerful skill that can reinforce the
message of the speaker and demonstrate understanding.
b. Summarization - Repeating a summary of what has been said back to the
speaker is a technique used by the listener to repeat what has been said in their
own words.
c. Clarification - Involves asking questions of the speaker to ensure that the correct
message has been received.
d. Questioning - The listener can demonstrate that they have been paying
attention by asking relevant questions and/or making statements that build or
help to clarify what the speaker has said.
e. Remembering - Remembering a few key points, or even the name of the
speaker, can help to reinforce that the messages sent has been received and
understood – i.e. listening has been successful.

3. Reversing - Answer a question with a question.

4. Reverse the Pressure

a. Prospects put pressure on you to answer vague questions or statements. Your
job is to gently reverse, so you are sure to understand the real issue at hand.

5. Intent is More Important than Content

a. It is much more important to understand why a question was asked or a
statement was made than it is to be prepared with a thorough response.
b. The first question is rarely the real question.
c. Your prospect must completely define the original question or statement.
d. The only way to truly find pain is to be able to dig beneath the surface – to find
out why questions or statements are being made.
e. If you answer the first question you are usually assuming way too much.

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 27

 f. Understand the many different interpretations that can be made.

6. Softening Statements
a. In order for your prospect to be comfortable with this strategy, you need to
soften your approach.
b. Use softening statements to maintain rapport.
c. Remember how important tonality and body language are.
d. A softening statement communicates that you need to understand more.

7. The Rule of Three Plus

a. Be prepared to reverse three times to get through your prospects’ intellectual
smoke screens. If you anticipate and prepare, reversing will become easier.
b. Know why it was asked, the importance and the impact of the issue.
c. Until you reverse three times, you’ll continue to get smoke.
d. Compare the difference between the real issue and the initial issue.

8. Examples of Softening Statements

a. That’s a good question…

b. That’s a good point…
c. That sounds important to you…
d. I’m glad you asked that…
e. I appreciate that question…
f. I respect that…
g. I get asked that all the time, but for different reasons…
h. Hmm, that makes sense…
i. I see…
j. Everyone asks that…

9. Sample Reverses

a. Formula: Softening Statement + Softening Statement + Softening Statement +

When you say Whatever was just asked, what do you mean?
i. Ex:
1. Client - We don't have enough time to figure out how long our
products will last. Can you help with that?
2. Sales - That’s a great question. Lots of people ask it. When you
say figure out how long our products will last, can you tell me
what you mean by that?

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 28

10. Other General Reverses:
a. Suppose I could…
b. If you were me, what would you do?
c. You must be asking me that for a reason.
d. I get the feeling…
e. You’re on page 7 and I’m still on page 2. Can we back up?
f. We have a problem. Any ideas how we should address this?
g. Ask me a question. Good question. Why did you ask it?
h. Which means?
i. And?
j. When you say expensive what do you mean?
k. You start.
l. Let’s pretend…
m. That’s easy… (start to answer, then stop and reverse)
n. I don’t know...is it important enough for me to find out?

Example:
a. Can I easily move from 2D to 3D with SolidWorks?
a. Sample Reverses

1. Suppose I could…
2. If you were me, what would you do?
3. You must be asking me that for a reason.
4. I get the feeling…
5. You’re on page 7 and I’m still on page 2. Can we back up?
6. We have a problem. Any ideas how we should address this?
7. Ask me a question. Good question. Why did you ask it?
8. Which means?
9. And?
10. When you say expensive what do you mean?
11. You start.
12. Let’s pretend…

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 29

 13. That’s easy… (start to answer, then stop and reverse)
14. I don’t know...is it important enough for me to find out?

Reversing Exercise
1. We’ve already standardized with the competition, how are you different?

2. We’ve done our homework and know exactly what we need.

3. Does your product give me the ability to collaborate over an extended enterprise?

4. How long is the standard implementation?

5. We are already working with 2 other agencies. Why would we need another?

Negative Reverse Selling

Definition: The strategy of exhibiting a behavior opposite of what they expect. The opposite
of what a typical salesperson would do.

Negative Reverse Selling doesn’t mean being negative toward the prospect or the selling
situation. It refers to what you say and do when interacting with a prospect and how you say
and do it.

1. Of Prospects and Pendulums

a. Sandler Rules
i. You can’t sell anybody anything – they must discover they want it
ii. People buy in spite of the hard sell – not because of it
iii. Never ask for the sale – make the prospect give it up
b. Aha! Moment
i. To get the sale and keep it:
1. Pull the prospect away from the positive direction and then let go
2. The prospect will swing in the direction you want him/her to
swing

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 30

 3. Use negative reverse selling to put the principles of the pendulum
theory to work for you – do the opposite to what the prospect
expects you to do
4. Let the prospect make the decision

2. Negative Reverse Selling Applications

a. Negative Reverse Selling
i. Negative Reverse Selling Means:
1. The strategy of exhibiting a behavior opposite of what they
expect. The opposite of what a typical salesperson would do.
b. Positive Position
i. Positive Position:
1. The prospect can be the most dangerous; don’t be lulled into a
false sense of security
2. Make this prospect work to stay positive
3. Question the suitability of your product/service for the prospect’s
needs
c. Sandler Rule
i. When a prospect is positive, strip line
d. Neutral Position
i. This prospect can be the most difficult to deal with, because he/she is a
body at rest
ii. Kick-start the prospect by stripping line
iii. Volunteer to end the waiting game by closing the file
iv. Remember, it’s ok if the answer is no
e. Sandler Rule
i. When a prospect is neutral, get him/her moving
ii. When a prospect is neutral, strip line
f. Negative Position
i. This prospect may be the easiest to deal with, because she/he is already
in motion and, if you hang in there, he will swing to the positive
ii. Don’t try to talk this prospect out of saying no
iii. Assume responsibility, but don’t justify or defend
g. Sandler Rule
i. You don’t learn how to win by getting a yes, you learn how to win by
getting a no
ii. When under attack, fall back

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 31

 iii. When a prospect is negative, strip line hard

Prospects Position Worksheet

Prospect’s Position: What the Prospect Says: What the Prospect What you should say:
expects you to say:
Positive (+) “Tom told me your
product was the best. He
was right.”
Positive (+) “This is exactly what I’ve
been looking for. You’re
about to make a big
sale.”
Neutral (0) “I’m not sure if we’re in
the market for that right
now.”
Neutral (0) “Leave some of your
literature here, and I’ll
look over it later, when I
have more time.”

Negative (-) “You can show me what

you’ve got, but I probably
won’t buy anything.”

Negative (-) “You have some nerve

asking for my business,
after the mess you made
of my last three orders.”

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 32

Sandler Rules
1. Never Justify, defend or explain until after you make the sale
2. Don’t be overly enthusiastic

The Pendulum Theory

1. Definition: During the selling process, prospects, like a pendulum, will swing between
the two extreme positions. Sometimes they can be very positive – ready and eager to
“buy.” Sometimes, they can be very negative – they have no use for you, your company,
product or service.

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 33

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 34
The Negative Reverse Clock Chart

At: The prospect sounds like: You should respond:

3 o’clock “I’ll take it. How fast can you “Probably not as quickly as
Sold get it to me?” you need it – do you want to
tell me how quickly you need
it?”
4 o’clock “I’ve been looking for this for “Oh? I didn’t think you liked
Enthusiastic a long time, and this looks it at all. What do you like?”
great.”
5 o’clock “I have interest. Show me “I didn’t think there was a fit.
Interested what you have.” What did I say that interested
you?”
6 o’clock “Let me think this over.” “Because you wouldn’t want
Neutral to tell me what you’re
thinking?”
7 o’clock “We already have a “You would never consider
Disinterested supplier.” using another supplier – is
that right?”
8 o’clock “We’ve had a bad “And you’ve already decided
Hostile experience. You people that if you were to do
messed up our account in the business with us, we’d mess
past.” it up again. Is that the
decision you’ve made?”
9 o’clock “Take me off your list. We’ve “Because of your company
Over been dealing with the same policy, you would never,
vendor for 25 years, and under any circumstances,
we’re not interested in consider going with another
switching.” vendor. Is that a fair
statement?”

1) Which position is most dangerous and why?

2) Which position is least threatening and why?

3) Which position is the most difficult and why?

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 35

 At: The prospect sounds like: You should respond:
3 o’clock “This looks great. It’s exactly what
Sold we want.”
4 o’clock “I was told that you had some
Enthusiastic extremely effective marketing
ideas. I can’t wait to hear what
you can do for us.”

5 o’clock “I understand that you’ve done

Interested some work in our industry before.
Maybe we should get together
sometime.”

6 o’clock “We’re looking at several different

Neutral approaches. We want to make
sure that we take advantage of
the latest technology when we
finally make a decision.”

7 o’clock “It probably doesn’t make sense

Disinterested for us to get together at this
time.”
8 o’clock “Look, I’m happy without current
Hostile suppliers and I’m not going to take
the time to see you … end of
story.”
9 o’clock “You might want to give us a call
Over next year. But for now, were not
making any changes.”

Watch the Clock

Our Goal as salespeople is to be perceived by our prospects as being different and better than
our competition.

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 36

Negative Reverse Selling
1. We’re pretty happy with our current vendor/supplier/situation.

2. I think we already have everything we need.

3. Tell me why I should do business with TriMech.

4. Your prices are too high.

Example of How to Use Negative Reverse Selling with a Positive Prospect
a. Sample Sales Illustration
i. Prospect: “I’m glad we could get together. Joe told me some good things
about you and your company. It sounds like you can really help us. I’m
eager to hear what you can do for us.”
ii. Salesperson: “I certainly appreciate that. I’m not really sure that I can
help.”
iii. Prospect: “Well, Joe said some very good things about you. He seemed
very sure you could help us.”
iv. Salesperson: “That was very nice of him. But I think Joe says nice things
about everyone.”
v. Prospect: “Well, that may be true. But I’ve known Joe for a long time. He
wouldn’t have suggested I spend time with you unless he was sure we
should be talking.”
vi. Salesperson: “That makes sense. Just what did you and Joe discuss that
made you decide we should talk.”
vii. Prospect: “We talked about my companies need for shipping car-tons
that are lighter yet more durable than what we’ve found with other
suppliers.”
viii. Salesperson: “I see. I just might be able to help. I can see some value in
durable lightweight shipping containers. But, what real value would that
create for you?”
ix. Prospect: Well, it would allow us to save money that we currently spend
to replace items that were damaged during shipping and transport. It
would also allow us to maintain better customer relations, by cutting
down on the number of re-sends to customers. You would be surprised
how crucial a few days are for some of our customers.”

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 37

Pull-Push-Pull

“Transactional Analysis”

Parent, Adult, Child Communication

The Parent Ego State – Consists of two distinct methods of communication: Critical Parent (CP)
and Nurturing Parent (NP). We (too often!) communicate from our Critical Parent when our
communication consists of permissions, prohibitions, prejudices, and opinions (often stated as
facts). Critical Parent statements are often characterized by the words, “Be” (e.g., behave, be
more aggressive, be more like xyz, etc.) and “You” (e.g., you better make more dials, you can’t
do that, you better hit quota, etc.). Prospects and customers speak from this point of view with
“Prove it to me” questions (e.g., why I should buy from you, I never heard of you, your prices are
too high, I’m happy with my current vendor).

Contrarily, the Nurturing Parent point of view is characterized by more positive and genuinely
caring statements. For example, what’s happening is not unusual, if we work together we can
achieve our goals, there’s nothing you can’t achieve if you set your mind to it, we have some
problems, how do you see us working together to solve these problems?

The Child Ego State – This is the emotional, feeling part of behavior. If you are communicating
because you’re feeling one of the four basic human emotions (mad, sad, glad or scared) you are
communicating from the Child point of view. Communication from this point of view is often
characterized by the words I, me, mine. For example, I want….. I need….. I wish….. I hope….. My
customers are different. It’s harder in my territory. I need to discount more heavily in order to
compete in my marketplace. I won’t tolerate any more of your @#$!

Very briefly, the Child ego state is further broken down into Natural Child (happy carefree,
instinctive, built-in “BS” detector); the Rebellious Child (rebels against authority/management,
prospects lose control, become emotional and make crazy demands, sales people trying to break
policies/rules and get away with whatever they can, etc.).

And then there’s the Adaptive Child. The Adaptive Child is a KILLER to people who want to be
successful in sales and/or management. This is the part of us that has a high Need for Approval.
Are you a salesperson who everybody loves, but you just can’t CLOSE (enough, or soon enough)?
Are you a manager who is reluctant to firmly confront people on your team because they might

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 38

not like you? Are you experiencing sales cycles that are much too long because prospects
(including people you may be recruiting) are “Thinking it over?”

These things all happen when our Need for Approval gets in the way of doing what’s right. As
we discussed, “THINK IT OVER” should be the 3 most feared words in your business vocabulary.
As a business development or management professional, it’s your job to get people (prospects,
recruits, salespeople, peers and associates) to make DECISIONS. Most prospects (including
recruits) have a high need for approval too – and will often be uncomfortable saying “NO” –
resulting in long sales cycles that end up being a “No” anyhow. When it comes time to CLOSE,
and the result of that meeting/conversation is a Think It Over – remember one thing: the only
one thinking it over is YOU! On average, at this point in the sales cycle, (including recruiting) 96%
of all think it over’s end up being a “NO” (but we all like to believe that we are dealing with the
4%).

The Adult Ego State – This is the logical, analytical, unemotional part of behavior. We
communicate from this point of view when we ask fact-finding questions (e.g., who, what, where,
when, why, how). It is the area of our brain that we must use to update old inappropriate
messages that we received as a child (e.g., never talk to strangers, little children should be seen
but not heard, what you don’t know won’t hurt you, stop asking so many questions). By the way,
those messages (that we ALL got as kids) sure work well in sales, huh?? When used properly, the
adult ego state will “re-record” over old, no longer appropriate messages with more correct
information such as “Prospecting is the lifeblood of my business.” “Asking the tough questions
is a key to my success.”

So, what do we do with all this information? Use it! Here is the bottom line: in management,
50% - 70% of all communication should come from your Adult ego state; the remainder from
your Nurturing Parent. In selling, 70% of communication should come from your Nurturing
Parent; 30% from your Adult. At all times, leave your Child in the car! There is no place in your
sales or management role for your Child to make a grand appearance.

Summary
In addition, we stressed the importance and technique of always uncovering the UNSPOKEN
OBJECTION (caused by the Critical Parent) in any communication with bosses, peers, salespeople,
recruits and/or prospects that does not result in a decision (Yes, No, or Firm Future
Commitment).

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 39

1. Which position is most dangerous and why?
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

1. Which position is the least threatening and why?

______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Which position is the most difficult to work with and why?
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Push vs. Pull:

How does a salesperson deal with the three challenges and get the prospect to swing in the
appropriate direction? Can we use the tendency for prospects to “push back,” or do the opposite
of what we want them to do to our advantage?
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

In what direction is it always safe to “pull” a prospect?

________________________________________________________________________

Strip-line Technique (Experience Fisherman)

______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Our goal as salespeople is to be perceived by our prospects as being Different and Better than
our competition.

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 40

Negative Reverse Selling Exercise
We’re pretty happy with our current vendor/supplier/situation
I think we already have everything we need.

Tell me why I should do business with TriMech?

Your prices are too high?

Pull – Push – Pull

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 41

Prospecting Script
BONDING & RAPPORT – MIRRORING/MATCHING/TONALITY
“Hi. This is Bill from TriMech. Did I catch you at a bad time?

UP-FRONT CONTRACT
“I’m not sure if you’re the right person to be speaking with, or if you and I even need to be
speaking at all, but would it be OK if I told you why I’m calling for a minute, and then you can
decide if we should continue talking?” (They all say OK).

DEVELOPING PAIN
“Virtually all of my clients used to be happy with their current situation …. But, when they
thought about it - they found they were having problems with things like:

Typically, when I speak with dept heads (e.g.) about their issues and challenges, they say
they are dealing with things like: they’re…

Pain #1:

Pain #2:

Pain #3:

Of the few things I just mentioned: Pain #1, Pain #2, Pain #3 and Pain #4…. Are any of these
issues for you?” (At this point, if the person you’re speaking with isn’t the right
person/decision maker, ask who is and ask when the best time to call them is).

NOTE: Whatever option they pick, that’s PAIN. Take them down the first 1 or 2 questions in
the PAIN FUNNEL.

NOTE: If there is no indication of PAIN, ask which company they currently use.
“They’re a good company, sounds like they’re doing a solid job. Before I hang up, do you mind if
I ask you sort of a research question? (They’ll all say OK). We all live in the real world, and
nobody’s perfect, not even XYZ (whoever the competitor is). So if XYZ could do one thing
better, just one thing, what would that be?”
(If they come up with even one, that’s PAIN – probe with the PAIN FUNNEL questioning).

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 42

If there is no indication of PAIN whatsoever, politely ask the person for a referral and move
on! (e.g.), “I appreciate that you’re happy with your current supplier/situation. But I’m just
trying to do my job. I don’t suppose you know anyone else in your area who would even be
open to having a conversation with me, would you?”

(If you have uncovered some Pain) GO FOR THE NEXT CALL
“These issues you brought up are the types of things that we’ve solved for many of our clients.
I’m not sure if we can help you yet, but do you mind if I make a suggestion?” (When the
prospect says to go ahead – they all do – continue with)….

“Why don’t we pick a time, say someday later this week? All we’ll need is about 30 minutes. We
will have a follow-up call with one of our technical experts in this area. I’m sure you’ll have
some questions for us, and we will have some questions for you too – because we will really
need to understand your business better. And, by the way, if at the end of our questions and
answers you feel there’s just not a fit – it’s alright to tell me ‘No’, and I’m OK with that, fair?”
(When they say yes, continue immediately with ….) “Do you have your calendar handy, what
day are you looking at?”

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 43

The Cold Call
The Primary Objective of the first call is to get to the Next Call

Ideal Call

• 10 - 15 minutes in length
• Establish an initial connection with the prospect
• Get enough pain for the next call
• Get a Firm Future Commitment before you hang up

Rule: You don’t have to accomplish everything on the first call

Five Steps of an Effective First Call

1 Comfort

• Appreciate the Prospect time – “I probably caught you in the middle of something?”
• Up-front Contract – “Can I take a minute to tell you why I’m calling and you decide if
we should continue talking? Does that sound fair?
• Bring up references, people or companies to help make a connection

Just because the prospect says, “OK, go ahead”, doesn’t mean that they are
comfortable

2 Context

• We need to answer the prospect’s question, “Why do I want to talk to this person?”
• How do I relate to the person on the call?
• What is my role and what is the purpose of the call?
• Handle customer objections with negative reverses

3 Transition into Pain

• Ask situational questions – What is the prospect’s role in the organization? (Not
their title), “Can you share with me your role in the organization?”, “Have you spoke
with someone from TriMech in the past?”
• Ask open-ended questions, “What are some of you biggest challenges around XX?”
• Use Negative Reversing to start the conversation, “You’re probably pretty happy
with the solutions you have in these areas?”

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 44

 • Use Pain Indicators – statements that begin with emotional words: Frustrated,
Concerned, Worried, Upset, Nervous, Struggling – “Frustrated because they could
not communicate with prospect’s effectively”
• Work off the prospect’s responses, suppress your desire to SELL up-front

4 Developing Pain
• Focus on helping the prospect uncover their pain and potential costs of doing
nothing
• Ask the first three or four questions in the pain funnel:
o Can you tell me more about it?
o Can you be more specific? Can you give me an example?
o Why do you suppose it is happening?
o How long has it been a problem?
• Ask the prospect “Is this important enough to fix or a at a minimum just explore a
solution to this problem?”
• Activity verse Achievement – Make sure you have a “real” reason to set up the next
call

5 Transition to the Next Call

• Start the transition with, “Can I make a suggestion?”
• Up-front Contract (UFC) – set up the next call and establish the ground rules for the
call, negative reverse – “At the end of the call if it’s not a fit, No is OK”
• Get a Firm Future Commitment – Date, Time, and Agenda for the Next Call

Keys to Sounding Conversational

• No more than three sentences or 15 seconds before asking for acknowledgement from
the prospect, “Does that make sense?”
• Listen – Acknowledge – Respond
• Work off the prospect’s responses

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 45

The Budget/Investment Process
Answer True or False to the following statements:
1. There’s plenty to go around. T F
2. There’s always more where that came from. T F
3. You can’t take it with you. T F
4. Money doesn’t grow on trees. T F
5. I’m not made of money. T F
6. Save money for a rainy day. T F
7. It’s not polite to talk about money in public. T F
8. You shouldn’t talk to strangers about money. T F

Do your childhood and cultural messages make you insensitive, pessimistic, or

embarrassed when discussing money with prospects?

Overcoming Conceptual Roadblocks

1. Adopting a new behavior in a selling situation:

• Be prepared with focused questions.

• Model the behavior of someone who does not have limiting attitudes and
feelings.
• Practice over and over again. Develop responses to common prospect
questions.

2. During the budget discussion, be careful to present the right behavior:

• Maintain relaxed demeanor

• Exhibit good posture – stand up
• Maintain appropriate eye contact with the prospect
• Speak with authority

Do Not:
• Fidget
• Stumble over your words
• Clear your throat excessively

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 46

The Budget Step
Salespeople need to deal with and overcome their issues talking about money. In the Sandler System, money is dealt
with up front as opposed to the end of the selling process, because at the end you have no leverage.

Remember, when you believe you’ve completed the Pain Step, you have to check to see if you’re
qualified to be in the Budget Step:

1. You have raised sufficient numbers of pains in your prospect, and you have
determined how much (in dollars) each of these pains is costing your prospect.
2. You have reviewed the Pain Step. You and the prospect have no mutual mystification
as to what pains need to be “fixed.” Additionally, your prospect is committed to
solving his/her pains.
3. Your gut tells you that you have a real prospect in front of you and you’re ready to
proceed with the Budget Step.

You need to know how much money is allocated for your services or the project, or any other
pertinent issues related to money. How the prospect plans to make the investment should he/she
move forward; specifically, where the money is coming from and how it gets paid.

If you’re trying to get a large sale, it could be difficult for your prospect to make an all-or-nothing
decision. Can you break the project into pieces (in Sandler terms – go for a “Monkey’s Paw”)? Is
there a trial or “pilot test” you could sell? Maybe the person in front of you can’t spend the entire
sum without a committee but is able to spend a smaller amount on his/her own.

Sample Budget Questions:

1. “Mary, have you set aside a budget for this project? Would you mind sharing that with
me in round numbers?”
2. “Now that you’re thinking about it, based on the challenges you were good enough to
share with me, what investment do you think should be made?”
3. “That could be a problem. What part of the problem do you want to fix first?”
4. “Similar projects that we have done have required an investment of (range) to (range). If
that were the investment that was needed, what would we do?

Note: In the Budget Step, it is very important for you to understand what they can invest, not
necessarily what you cost. You have to plant your feet and reverse to understand what that
number or range is and whether or not it will work for the project.

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 47

Zero In On a Budget Number
The following techniques can be used:

• Historical precedent/future expectations – you focus on past behavior or future hopes of

the prospect
• Third-party stories – present information about another company or project in order to
get information from your prospect
• Bracketing – you present the cost over a range
• Silence – Whoever talks first loses

Notes:

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 48

Identify the Prospect’s Decision-Making Process

Decision Step Elements:

1. Who…is involved in the process?
2. What…specifically is involved?
3. Where…is the decision made? At which level of the organization?
4. When …are they planning to make the decision? By when do they want to implement the
solution?
5. Why…do they do it that way? A specific reason? Habit? Company policy?
6. How…do they (actually) make the final decision?
7. WHO ELSE…will or should be involved?

Sandler Rules:
1. Work off the prospect’s responses. Don’t be creative.
2. The only thing you risk by asking questions is uncovering the truth.

The Decision Step includes the following parts:

1. Review what has been covered to this point.

2. Start the information gathering phase with an open-ended question.
3. Keep the prospect talking until you can answer all the questions in the “Elements of the
Decision”
4. Qualify or disqualify the prospect, or determine additional meetings
5. Establish an up-front contract for the next meeting.

There are three possible outcomes to the Decision Step. You may:

1. Disqualify the prospect

2. Determine that you need to meet with additional people
3. Qualify the prospect

Identify who is involved in the Decision-Making Process (Cast of

Characters):
1. The Stars – lead decision makers, look for the ROI and focus on results
2. Co-Stars – carry out policy and objectives, using a decision-making authority that is
handed down from the star

TRIMECH TRAINING AND ONBOARDING 49

 3. Supporting Actors – have little purchasing authority and limited influence in the decision
process
4. Bit Players – want to know how the product or service will help them and are usually a
wealth of information about products/services/vendors

Identify four aspects of the decision

1. Technical Decision- Does the solution work? Who makes it?
2. Business Decision- What is the return on the investment? (invest vs. cost)
3. Financial Decision- How are we going to pay for it?
4. Political Decision- What relationships will impact the decision (internally/externally)?

Sample Decision Questions

1. “Who else is impacted by this decision?
2. “Let’s pretend we do the demonstration and you love it, what happens next?”
(Resources)
3. “John, what decision-making process does your company go through when deciding on
working with a firm like ours?”
4. “Beside yourself, who else is involved in the decision-making process?”
5. (Gently) “You mean you don’t get any help, from co-workers or a committee?”
6. “Who else should we involve in this process so you can make the best decision
possible?”
7. “If I share some ideas with you, are there any other companies you’ll need to look at
before making the decision?”
8. “Are we going to have to go through a long approval process?”

When Prospect/Client is reluctant to introduce you to Decision Maker

Take a three-step approach

1. Say, "Let's pretend you love it, what would happen next?" Keep asking "And then what .
. . " until giving the P.O. is discussed. Then say, "I know you're the technical decision
maker and they are going to go with whatever you decide on the technology. Would it
make sense to talk with _________________________ to hear about their thoughts or
priorities regarding this purchase?"

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2. If no, tell a 3rd party story about a client having wasted a lot of their own time working
on a purchase, only to be turned down at the end because they hadn't consulted with
someone else in the process earlier.

3. "Sounds like you've been burned in the past by a salesperson and I totally understand.
What would you need to see or hear from me to make you feel confident that this
would never happen?"

4. "Seems like we can't get through this now. Can I ask a favor? If we continue down the
path and you grow to trust me more, is it ok if I ask to see ____________________ again
in the future, only in the future when you trust me more and you know I won't burn
you."

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The Fulfillment Step
The fulfillment step is the “proof” step in the Sandler Selling System. The specific proof we give
the prospect can be provided in many forms such as a demonstration, a proposal, or an
evaluation. The fulfillment step is where the prospect gets to see everything related to how the
solution can solve their pain.

Three important Sandler rules:

1. Sell Today, Educate Tomorrow.

2. The best presentation you ever give is the one the prospect never sees.
3. If you wait until the presentation to close the sale, you put too much pressure on the
prospect and yourself.

How much you present depends on what the prospect needs to see or hear to be convinced that
you have a solution that will solve their pain. A powerful fulfillment step depends on how well
we perform in the rest of the Sandler Selling System. This includes a strong up-front contract, a
quantifiable pain step with a clear understanding of the money available and the decision-making
process.

There are many selling techniques we can use in the fulfillment step of the sales process.
Reversing and negative reversing are excellent ways to discover why the prospect asked a specific
question and what is really important to them. Reversing can help you distinguish the “content”
of the prospect’s questions from the “intent”.

Four Steps in the Fulfillment Step:

1. Review
• Has anything changed since we last spoke?
• What is their specific pain(s) and has the prospect quantified the pain?
• What is the prospect willing to invest to fix it?
• Do you know who will make the decision and how it will be made? What role does the
fulfillment have in the decision-making process?
• Is it important enough to fix?
• Is the prospect committed to fix it NOW?

2. Present
• Only to the identified pains and nothing else
• Let the prospect help guide you through the fulfillment

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3. Close
• Use Negative Reversing to get to the truth
• Use the Thermometer Close
• Stop when the prospect is at 10

4. Confirm
• Discuss any final roadblocks
• How will let the competition know?
• Is there any unspoken objections?
• Up-Front Contract for next steps

The Thermometer Close

During the presentation you can take their temperature.

“On the scale of 1 to 10, one being we aren’t close to a solution and ten being it’s exactly
what you’re looking for?”

1. Less than 5

Negative Reverse – With such a low number I get the feeling that we're missing
something critical. If the prospect says yes, ask them what they would have to see or
hear to get to a higher number.

2. 5 to 7

Cover a few more pain points and take their temperature again. “On a scale of 1 to 10,
where are we now?”

3. 8 to 9

“What do you need to see or hear to get to a 10?”

4. 10

STOP! “What would you like me to do now?”

Sandler Rule: You don’t have to finish the presentation.

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Role-Play Framework: Discovery Call
1. Bonding & Rapport (Pattern Interrupt)

Transition: We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today, before we get into the

discussion of your issues and our possible solutions could you give us an overview of your role

within the organization?

2. Up-Front Contracts (Setting Ground Rules)

Transition: Before we get started can we talk about the agenda?

3. Pain

Transition: What are the biggest challenges you face in this area?

4. Budget/Investment

Transition: Does it make sense for us to talk about what type of investment you would make to

solve the problem?

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 5. Decision-Making Process

Transition: Who else is impacted by this decision?

6. Fulfillment

Transition: Before we do the demonstration, can we review the most important issues you

would like to solve?

Scale of 1 to 10

7. Post Sell

Transition: Are there any roadblocks we should discuss that would delay the implementation?

______________________________________________________________________

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“Are you living your life by default or by design?”

Goal Setting
Values:

We need to understand the underlying values that support your goals:

• Family – spouse, children, relatives

• Financial – financial security, money in the bank

• Health – your physical health, diet, exercise

• Business – your work at TriMech

• Spiritual – relationship with a higher being

• Community – where you live

• Social – your friends

Goals:

• Know what track you’re on and which way you’re pointed

• Anticipate and deal with all potential roadblocks
• Goals must be:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timetable
Shared

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Action:

• Commit to and maintain discipline

• Be mentally and physically sharp
• Believe in yourself and your plan (Attitude)
• Have the guts to do the uncomfortable things

Behavior Plan
In order to accomplish goals, there need to be certain behaviors that are performed every day,
no matter what.

• Focus on behavior, not results

• Factor in your financial goals
• Figure out what the most productive behaviors are that drive new business
• Commit to a minimum number of prospecting behaviors

Setting Goals
Appreciate what can be accomplished daily, in the short-term and in the long-term.

• Focus on top personal and professional goals

• Factor in any obstacles
• Hold yourself accountable
• Set goals for the next three months, six months and one year
• Behavior goals support results goals

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 Setting Written Goals
While most people believe they should set goals, it has been estimated that only five percent
(5%) of the population actually do. An even smaller number of people convert those goals to a
written form. Long-term studies show that people who commit to their goals in writing have a
ninety-five percent (95%) greater chance of accomplishing them than those who don’t convert
their goals to written form.

When setting goals, use the S.M.A.R.T.S. criteria. Your goals should be Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Realistic, Timely and Shared with someone else. Set your goals, both personal and
professional, for three months, six months and one year out from today.

THREE MONTH GOALS

In the next 90 days, I would like to accomplish the following:

PERSONAL GOALS:

PROFESSIONAL GOALS:

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SIX MONTH GOALS
In the next six months, I would like to accomplish the following

PERSONAL GOALS:

PROFESSIONAL GOALS:

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ONE-YEAR GOALS
In the next twelve months, I would like to accomplish the following:

PERSONAL GOALS:

PROFESSIONAL GOALS:

Congratulations! You’ve just completed an exercise that most people put off and never get to!
However, your mission is just beginning. It will take guts and determination on your part to see
these goals through to fulfillment. Don’t stop here! Track and measure your progress, hold
yourself accountable, and keep with this all year long.

Your signature below, and that of someone you’ve shared your goals with, signifies your
commitment to doing whatever it takes to accomplish your goals.

Your signature and today’s date Trusted other’s signature and date

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