Have you ever heard a prospect say, “Well, Frank based on what you’re telling me so far, this all looks good and I do not see why you may not get this order and everything will work out.” An amateur salesperson might go back to their office thinking that this one is ‘in the bag’, when in fact they have nothing but a lot of smoke. This miscommunication can leave both the prospect and the salesperson wondering where they both stand.
This is where using a Sandler Training technique called an up front contract will help you. When establishing an up-front contract with your prospect correctly, you want to set a list of ground rules that allows both parties to agree and to know exactly where they are in this process. In any up front contract, you as the salesperson want to establish three major things: time, agenda and outcome. The time that both parties have agreed on for that meeting, the agenda of what the meeting will cover, and the outcome of that meeting.
To reinforce all three follow an easy 9 step procedure:
- Gratitude- Thank them for the invite.
- Confirm Time- Ask them for the meeting is still good for whatever you set aside.
- Ask Their Agenda- Ask what they want to cover in the meeting.
- Your Agenda- Share what you have planned to cover and ask direct questions of them.
- You say ‘no’ first- Tell them that if you feel like this partnership is not going to work that you will professional say so.
- Permission to say ‘no’- Let them know that it is okay for them to say no to this partnership.
- Permission to say ‘yes’- Let them know they can say yes at any time.
- Define what ‘yes’ means- Preview what the next steps of the business will look like if they do say yes.
- Biggest Fear- Go over what your biggest fear is when in this meeting.
Make a tic-tac-toe board of nine blocks and fill in each block with one of the steps. Bring that with you as a reminder of where to go next in your up-front contract. Remember a poorly established up front contract is better than none at all, so keep practicing until it comes naturally.
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