Sandler Sales Institute Case Studies (Brad Massey, Principal)

Company:  Austin Telephone Co.

Contact:  Chris Flenniken, Director of Sales & Marketing

Industry / Product:  Business Phone Systems

The Situation:  ATC was a 25-year old, family-owned business that had grown through reputation and word-of-mouth advertising.  Increasingly ruthless competition in recent years had made it increasingly difficult to win good business at a fair price.  Questionable tactics by some supplies were giving all phone equipment companies a bad reputation.

 

ATC's client base had changed as well.  They were spending a lot of time on low profit or money-losing clients and projects, while the "good" projects were becoming increasingly scarce.

 

The sales team at ATC wanted to stop wasting time with "problem" clients, and focus instead on their more profitable "sweet spot" target market of medium-sized businesses.

 

The Results:  Closing ratio is up.  Recently closed at $34K deal against 3 other competitors in just 2 meetings, as a result of using just one of the techniques taught by Sandler (The "Up Front Contract").

Client Comments:

"I have taken a lot of stress out the selling situation.  This "low-pressure" approach makes me a lot more comfortable in any selling situation, and it makes my prospects more comfortable too."

"I now find out much more quickly whether a "hot lead" is really a GOOD lead or just a waste of time.  I have walked away from multiple deals that I now know would have been bad for the company.  Two years ago, I would have hung on to them, wasting several weeks of time on business that would have been bad for the company.  Now I let the other guys take those."

"Even when I use these techniques POORLY, I still do better than when I didn't use these techniques at all."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Company:  Hill-Partners Commercial Real Estate

Contact:  Sam Houston, Office Project Partner

Industry / Product:  Commercial Real Estate Sales & Leasing

The Situation:  Prospective customers can be demanding, and will sometimes run their agent ragged, and never buy anything.  The long learning curve makes it tough to hire & retain good sales people.  We needed to accelerate the production rate and success of the new agents.

The Results:  Closing ratios are up, employee retention is up, and the learning curve has been cut in half.

Client Comments:

"When the agents are new, they're "hungry" and eager.  They'll jump through whatever hoops the prospect puts in front of them, when that prospect might not even be qualified. They're much better at qualifying now, and wasting a lot less time with the wrong prospects."

 

"It tends to be a long, hard learning curve for a new commercial real estate agent.  It can take 3 years before an agent starts making good money.  That makes it tough to keep good people on board.  Now that we are putting our people through the Sandler training, we've cut that 3 year learning cycle down to less than a year and a half.  The agents are making more money faster, and they are feeling much better about their future in the process."

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Company:  James Environmental Management, Inc.

Contact:  Mike James, Owner

Industry / Product:  Environmental and Safety Compliance Consulting Services

The Situation:  JEM had a good national reputation and lots of referrals within their existing market niche, which made it made it easy for the sales team to close sales.  But as they expanded into new markets, more "real selling" was required.  More cold-calling was required; stress went up, and closing ratios went down to less than 25 %.

The Results:  Consulting income is up 16%; Sales rep incomes are up by 24%, and profitability is up by 46%.  Revenue on one "hard-to-sell" new product is up by 442% over last year.

Client Comments:

"The attitudes have changed.  The accountability is there that didn't used to be there.  My three reps are in the same room, so they can hear each other.  If one guy skips a step in the Sandler process, the others guys will call him on it.  All of them are getting better every day."

"I've stopped giving raises, because now the guys can make more money just by selling more.  They're making more money now than ever."

"I haven't got time to be the salesperson.  That's why I signed up with Sandler.  Now my reps handle the calls that I used to handle in the past."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Company:  Capital Wealth Management

Contact:  Chris Webb, Owner

Industry / Product:  Financial Consulting

The Situation:  Getting lots of prospects to show up at seminars, but very few would close. 

The Results:  Closing ratios are up and continue to improve with practice.

Client Comments:

"My closing ratio has doubled."

"I listen to the Sandler CD's all the time.  They remind me to stay on the Sandler system, and not slip back into the old habits."

"I walked out of a Sandler class and went straight to a prospect meeting.  I followed the script (that we had just learned in the class) verbatim, and I closed the sale."

 

Testimonials