The founder of Client Builder Sales & Marketing, Larry Lewis, began his sales development business in 1996 as a franchisee of the Sandler Sales Institute. At that time, the Sandler selling system was one of the very best programs on the market. However, like many of the marquis sales training programs currently being offered today, the Sandler selling system was developed more than 30 years ago.
When David Sandler designed his system for selling personal computers hadn’t been invented yet. Email and the internet didn’t exist; neither did cell phones, CRM systems, video conferencing or voice mail. Today, people are much more sophisticated and far better informed. They are also much more skeptical of salespeople. The gamesmanship that once characterized many of the “old school” sales training programs of the eighties and nineties (including Sandler’s) doesn’t cut it today.
While comparing his program to the name-brand sales training programs of his day thirty years ago, David Sandler explained that there was nothing wrong with the selling systems and programs sold by his competition, except for one thing: “their stuff is old.” Ironically, what David once said about the competition is true of his own namesake program today.
The Client Builder Selling process has incorporated the very best prospecting and selling practices available today.
Client Builder Selling incorporates the psychology of behavioral psychologists like Robert Cialdini and Neil Rackham along with the selling strategies of great sales minds like the Miller-Heiman organization, Dave Kurlan, Jeff Thull and Randy Schwantz. It also incorporates the bonding and rapport skills made famous by the likes of Dale Carnegie and Napolean Hill with the fresh insights of today’s up-and-comers like Art Sobczak and Sam Richter. Mix it all together with the sales expertise that Larry Lewis has accumulated over the last twenty plus years and you have one of the best sales training programs you’ll find anywhere.
If you liked Sandler, you are going to love Client Builder Selling.
Clients who come to us from Sandler frequently tell us that our program is more intuitive, easier to execute and more in-line with today’s prospecting and selling realities. In addition, there is nothing deceptive or manipulative about it. Selling is meant to be a collaborative process where both parties win. It should never be a zero-sum game in which one person wins at the expense of another. Selling is very intentional, but it should never be perceived as harsh or pushy in any way.
Look at both the methodology and the trainer.
When choosing a sales training program, there are two fundamental elements that need to be evaluated. The first element is the message. Does the approach fit the context of what you sell and whom you sell to?
The Client Builder Selling process is a selling system tailor-made for businesses that sell solutions to problems regardless of whether those solutions come in the form of products or services or a combination of both. If you are attempting to make a transactional sale or compete solely on the basis of price, the Client Builder Selling process is not for you.
The second element of choosing a sales training program is the messenger. Does the sales trainer understand your business? Do they have the ability to step into the shoes of your salespeople and tailor their approach to what you sell? The Client Builder Selling process can be completely customized to fit the context of a consultative sale in almost any industry. It’s one of the primary reasons why Larry Lewis developed his own process – so that he had control over his own intellectual property and could customize it to fit the nature of what his clients sell.
To succeed today, you have to be different.
When selling, you don’t want to imitate David Sandler, Larry Lewis or any other sales trainer. You want to be yourself. Using the Client Builder Selling process, your sales coach will help you to develop your own personal style customized to fit the context of what you sell and who you sell to.
Let’s face it; selling is a different game today. Most prospects already know the “old school” tricks or 101 different ways to close a sale. The minute you use one and get caught, your credibility is shot. That’s why so many salespeople and sales managers have become frustrated with traditional selling methods.
Teaching salespeople to be just like everybody else puts them at a competitive disadvantage. When a salesperson is perceived to be “the same” as everyone else, they are only average by definition and their chances of winning are significantly diminished. Prospects and customers usually don’t buy “average” products from “average” salespeople. If you are going to train your sales organization, make sure to invest in something that gives you and your team a competitive edge. Client Builder sales training gives you that edge.
