Talking too Much

Sandler Rule #5 reminds salespeople to never answer unasked questions. During my summer internship, I heard a story that confirms the usefulness of this rule.

A salesman described to me a scene in which he, an account manager, and a director of production were sitting at a board room table filled with representatives from a potential customer. This meeting was one of the company’s most important in years. The deal hanging in the balance was for several million dollars – it would be the company’s greatest contract to date. After many lengthy discussions, the two parties began discussing price. The salesman’s first suggested price was a fair price, but it was also slightly higher than that of most accounts’. The potential new customers did not know this, and several of them nodded in agreement with what they felt was a reasonable price. The close of the sale was perhaps only a matter of minutes away. The salesman and account manager were almost ready to celebrate an incredible deal and the beginning of a relationship with an exceptionally large client.

To everyone’s astonishment, the company’s director of production blurted out, “But if you need a lower price, we can do that too.” The room fell completely silent. The customers hadn’t asked for a lower price. After overcoming his surprise, the salesman struggled to quickly recover the situation. He said, “Gentlemen, please disregard that comment. We’ve reached an excellent price for all of us.“ Miraculously, the deal went through as originally planned. The account manager later told me, “When you look around the room and see heads nodding, you stop talking.” The director’s complete lack of sales experience caused him to violate an essential rule of selling and almost cost the company its best contract in history. Needless to say, sales reps didn’t invite him to sales-related meetings for some time afterward.