My first class of the ASMPNY's Sandler Sales Training began last week and I'm really excited for what is to come. Bob Heiss has been training people in the Sandler method for years, and I can already see how valuable this will be for all of us in the class. I plan on blogging about this for the entire length of the class, so keep checking back. The class meets every other Monday.

We began by naming our biggest problems/fears:
*underselling yourself (talking about money)
*cold calling
*fear of negotiation (being too needy)
*worried about rejection/being too aggressive

As Bob explained it, prospects (client) have a default psychological system. They lie to you since they initially don't trust you. Maybe they give you the real budget, maybe not; maybe they fish around for specific information from you. Therefore you have to ask questions and talk about how you can solve their problems. But the common thing is for the photographer to give away too much information. Then the client can take that information and shop it around to others, so that you may end up losing the job. Your willingness to give out lots of useful information before you've closed the deal has worked against you.

When you talk with a client you need to close. "Every close is visible," said Bob. You need to be able to tell what is real and what is not when talking with a prospective client. Are they just trying to get you off the phone? Do they tell you to call back? Have you asked them the right questions to make the close go in your favor?

That's the most interesting thing to me: the psychological aspect of dealing with getting the work. I can see that to understand what people are really saying, by asking the right questions, the pressures and fears fall away and you can deal from a non-personal perspective. That way you can be clear and unemotional in your dealings. After all, it isn't personal.

You need to know what is driving people to reach out to you. According to Bob, the number one thing that drives people is pain. They come to you because their status quo isn't working. It's your job to figure out what's not working for them and show how you can relieve their pain.

Maybe the best thing I took away from this first class was what to do when you've been repeatedly reaching out to someone and gotten no response. Bob suggested leaving a final message (email or phone) telling the person you realize there must have been a delay in the project and it isn't personal, you'd just like to know.

I had a situation like that,m and applied his suggestion and BINGO! I got back an email right away telling me what was going on. Wow!

I can't wait for my next class on Monday.