Stop Pitching and Start Controlling the Sale

Hi Reader,

💡 Today's Niblit: David Sandler discovered that traditional sales training — the kind that teaches you to memorize features and benefits — actually destroys your ability to sell effectively. In his book You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar, he outlines a seven-step system that puts you in control of every sales conversation.

🔑 Key Insight: The Sandler Selling System works like a submarine with seven watertight compartments. Each compartment must be completely sealed before you move to the next one, or the entire vessel sinks. The seven steps are: Bonding & Rapport, Up-Front Contracts, Pain, Budget, Decision, Fulfillment, and Post-Sell.

Think of traditional salespeople as surface swimmers — visible, vulnerable, and at the mercy of every wave their prospect throws at them. Sandler-trained sellers operate like submarine commanders. They stay below the surface, control their environment, and navigate safely through treacherous waters. When surface swimmers get hit by objections or stalls, they panic and flounder. Submarine sellers remain calm because they've sealed each compartment systematically.

This matters because most salespeople lose control of their sales process within the first five minutes of a conversation. They start pitching before understanding pain, skip qualification steps, and wonder why prospects ghost them after meetings. The submarine approach ensures you never advance to the next step until the current one is completely secured — eliminating surprises and maintaining momentum.

🦉 Nibble of Wisdom: "It's like a submarine — if you don't seal each compartment, the whole thing will sink." -Introduction to the book

🛠️ Practical Tip: Before your next sales call, write down the seven compartments on a notepad. Check off each one only when it's fully completed — don't skip ahead even if the prospect tries to rush you.

🚀 Quick Action: Take your last three sales conversations that didn't close and identify which compartment failed first. Most salespeople will discover they jumped straight to presenting solutions without properly establishing pain or budget — classic submarine breaches that sink deals.

🔍 Further Exploration:

• Reflect on how many of your current prospects are actually qualified versus just interested in "learning more"
• Consider how often you lose control of sales conversations and end up chasing prospects who never intended to buy
• Explore the concept of consultative selling and how it differs from traditional product-pushing approaches

🎬 Wrapup: Remember, selling isn't about having the best pitch — it's about controlling the process. Master the submarine approach, and you'll never again find yourself drowning in objections or wondering why qualified prospects disappear.

🔗 Links:

• Check out You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar by David H. Sandler on Amazon
• ​You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar on Kindle​
• ​You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar Audiobook​
• ​How to read You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar for FREE​

Diving deep with you,

Tom "still learning to seal the hatches" Bernthal

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