The "Book of Sandler" - three lessons

One of our core attributes here at CarGurus is the idea of "Intellectual Curiosity". Essentially, those that have a proclivity to learn and consistently add to their tool belt have tended to be some of the top performers that I've worked with in my career. With that in mind, a recent initiative we've started here is our Sales Book Club. While far from trailblazing in nature, the initial response has been largely positive and has shown our reps that we're willing to invest in them as long as they're willing to invest in themselves.

The first book we chose to read is "You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar". We've gone through Sandler training a few times here at CarGurus, and it's provided immeasurable guidance as to what kind of systems are required for a predictable sales motion. However, one of the core aspects of Sandler training is "reinforcement", and with that in mind we thought a refresher in the methodology was a great way to start our book club.

Full book reviews have been done dozens of times before, and the last thing I'd want to do is try and reinvent the wheel. But below are some of the things that most resonated with me, and what we plan on reinforcing throughout our organization.

UpFront Contract

Maybe one of the most used (perhaps overused?) concepts in the Sandler training is the idea of an UpFront Contract, or "UFC". In common language, it's essentially setting the table and expectations for your conversation, and what the deliverables are likely to be for both parties during and after the conversation. It's an agenda, but on steroids, and helps establish mutual accountability in which a set of rules has been set and abided by.

As Sandler mentions, it's far too often that the interactions between prospect and salesperson are fuzzy in nature, without a true understanding as to what each side is trying to achieve. The UFC allows the stage to be set appropriately, and invites additional feedback and guidance so as to make the most of your scheduled time with one another.

Additionally, one of the things that I found most useful in setting a UFC is it helped establish - whether consciously or sub-consciously - that I was a competent sales professional who had been down this similar road many times before. I think when any of us are making decisions to purchase, we want to know that an experienced professional was helping steward us towards a responsible decision, and can help us see around corners. As minor as it may sound, the UFC helps set in motion a level of confidence that is hard to create at a later stage. As the saying goes, "You only get one chance at a first impression..." Utilizing the UFC helps to ensure the first impression is one of a competent, confident professional.

Finally, as discussed with my management team recently, UFC's aren't only valuable during a set sales process - they're valuable anywhere! Setting firm expectations around:

• what you hope to accomplish in a 1:1
• what you hope to accomplish during a scheduled/unscheduled meeting
• what you hope to accomplish with your children when disciplining them

Whatever! Setting expectations before virtually any conversation has immeasurable benefits, and both helps to clear the air as well as create a more efficient environment.

Where is the downside?

Reversing (see what I did above?)

There are so many aspects of this concept that it's hard to fit into one small stanza here. However, the idea of reversing is one that we've continually tried to lean on both here as well as in my past companies. Essentially, asking questions to elicit a response is key to fully understanding the prospect's perspective, and potentially allows us to uncover what they are struggling with.

Far too often, we lean on our product knowledge and expertise to try and close deals. But in my experience, asking thoughtful and insightful questions will quite often lead the prospect to their own conclusions, rather than our ability to persuade and influence in our product pitch. In fact, I found that through proper questioning and qualification, we were able to complete the sale before ever showing any product.

We have a few sayings here in the office that I'm sure our reps are getting tired of, but a couple have seemed to resonate (even if they won't admit it!):

• "Always answer a question with a question..."
• "Ask rhetorical questions - don't make statements."

The idea here is to help lead your prospect down a path of their choosing, therefore creating a much higher sense of ownership and accountability. In the same way we tend to get higher yield from projects and forecasts when the rep comes up with the idea or commitment, we tend to get greater buy-in from prospects when they uncover their own pain and conclusions.

What are the best ways of doing so? In our experience, using open-ended questions as opposed to leading or binary (yes/no) questions invites more dialogue, and inspection during your conversations. As the old saying goes, "You were born with two ears and one mouth for a reason", and as a sales person, using thoughtful, consultative, and challenging questions helps us establish thought-leadership and trusted advisorship in a way that a "pitch" never will.

Reinforcement

All the training in the world can be worthless unless there is a consistent inspection of best practices and methodology. One of the elements that we most struggled with after the initial training was putting into practice what we had learned, and holding each other accountable.

Without consistent reinforcement, any training will be seen as a "flash in the pan" or "flavor of the month" by your organization, and most specifically, Sales Reps. Especially in a start-up environment like CarGurus, things are constantly changing, and what is true today might be false tomorrow. Therefore, when undergoing training or implementing systems, there's oftentimes a "wait it out" mentality, as your team has seen it all before, and knows it's likely to change.

However, assuming you believe in what you've invested in, it's paramount to revisit the training, and create systems that will ensure proper adoption. Here, we've tried to set a framework around 1:1's, "Film Clubs", team meetings, etc. to revisit aspects of Sandler (and more) so we might uncover questions, and identify gaps. The overall growth and adoption that we've seen from our reps over the last few months more than validates the need for reinforcement - I strongly recommend that you do the same, regardless of what methodology or systems you adhere to.

Additionally, reinforcement is easy in regards to this book specifically. Since finishing, there's been a number of times that I can pick it up and thumb to various "dog-eared" pages and highlights to remind myself of best practices, and therefore speak with my team and reps about ways in which we can further control our sales process.

In Summary

At worst, "You Can't Teach a Kid How to Ride a Bike at a Seminar" is a good reminder of some of the basics and best practices in selling. Progressing through the "Sandler Submarine" will provide you with a system that is easy to follow, and replicable in nature. Identifying "Pain" is a key to any sales motion, in my opinion, and Sandler doubles down on this concept to give you the best opportunity for success.

At best, the book will transform your approach to selling, and force you into a much more consultative and curious approach to your prospects. We've always thought three questions were all that mattered when qualifying an opportunity:

1. How do they make money?
2. Do they want to make more money?
3. Can I help them make more money?

Sandler helps you ask those questions and position your product/service more appropriately, all while giving the prospect perceived control of the sales process. You could do worse than starting here to learn from some of the best.