Let’s not beat around the bush and debate the question “Is the Sandler Training Sales Methodology manipulative?” Yes, it’s manipulative. I am getting that out on the table so that we can discuss what that means and whether it makes any sense to consider looking at it further. If the thought of manipulating another human being sends shivers down your spine and goes against all your moral fiber, we can part ways as friends. Either way works, I’m not going to try to convince you.
If you are still reading, then I will attempt to explain what I believe is the difference between good and bad manipulation in the sales profession. The definition of manipulation is “Influencing or attempting to influence the behavior or emotions of others for one’s own purposes.” Does a good sales process attempt to influence others? Absolutely. I would argue that we attempt to influence others all day, every day. Let’s look at an example:
If I wanted to go to a certain destination for our family vacation, then I could try to influence my wife and children to see why my choice is the best. I might show my wife pictures of a beautiful spa where she can get a massage as well as the healthy restaurants and the safe atmosphere. I would also show my daughters pictures of kid-friendly type activities that I know they would love in order to influence them to my way of thinking.
In that process, I would be using as many features and benefits that I could think of to get them emotional, prove my point, and ultimately drive their behavior. Does this process sound familiar?
“Traditional selling” has taught us to ask qualifying questions and then attempt to persuade our prospects why they should buy from us through good presentations, proposals, etc. Traditional selling has also taught us to overcome objections from our prospects so that they will be convinced that our solution is the right one. We are actually trying to influence others to think and behave a certain way for our own purposes, basically to get the sale and ultimately a commission check. Many times this process results in incomplete, more than needed, and/or just plain wrong solutions. This puts the buyers on the defensive. (Hence the new statistics that shower higher numbers of buyers doing more research on-line before ever talking to a salesperson - they don’t want to be manipulated into doing something that’s not good for them!)
This traditional process is still taught in the majority of sales books in the market today. So, how do we do it differently?
The simple approach might be to take the word “manipulation” and redefine what “one’s own purposes” should really mean. My belief is that the real purpose in a sales interaction is not about getting a “yes” but getting to a point when both parties can make a decision about whether it makes sense for a buyer to purchase your solution. That takes a disarmingly honest and sometimes challenging conversation by which the buyer has to “self-discover” whether the problem(s) are enough to matter and whether they are a real priority to fix right now. There also has to be an understanding of whether the buyer is willing and able to invest the time, money, and resources to fix the problem(s) and the decision process they (and anybody else involved) will go through to feel comfortable with the solutions put on the table. The whole process needs to be built upon the premise that we are both having “productive” conversations leading to a decision (“yes” or “no”) in the least amount of time, using the least amount of resources, with both sides feeling comfortable with the outcome. I can’t and don’t want to try to convince or persuade them because it would be only about “me” vs. about “us.”
Am I manipulating my buyer to be able to do the above? You bet! However, if the process is followed in such a way that my new client is part of the solution - meaning it’s really their idea vs. my agenda - then we can both feel comfortable that we have gone through a process to find what’s good for them vs. what fills my wallet.
With all that said, can you use the Sandler System for “bad” because there is buyer psychology tied into the process? “Yes” and some salespeople have, hence the articles you will see if you Google this type of subject. But you can take many situations in the world and do the same thing. Just look at weapons designed for hunting that are used every day to hurt people. It’s up to you to use it in the right way for “good” where your buyers will thank you for the experience.
