You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar: The Sandler Sales Institute's 7-Step System for Successful Selling [Hardcover]

David H. Sandler (Author), John Hayes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

A guide to the Sandler system of sales uses examples of successful and unsuccessful sales to illustrate Sandler's ideas on turning ordinary salespeople into crack sales reps who can control any situation. 15,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Review

David Sandler's sales principals are the best. This book, packed with powerful, revolutionary ideas, will take its place on bookshelves everywhere along side classics in the field such as Think and Grow Rich!, The Great Salesmen in the World, and How to Win Friends and Influence People. --Richard S. Newcomb, President and CEO, Creators Syndicate

After twenty-five years of feeling the intense pressures of selling, I discovered a system that is truly pressure-free. And it works. That's why I've invested in Sandler training for my entire sales team. --Carlton L. Miller, President, The Office Works, Inc.

This is the best book on selling I have ever read. --Dan Lerner, owner, Y100 Radio --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

In the world of professional selling, David H. Sandler, founder of the Sandler Sales Institute and creator of the Sandler Selling System, was a hunter and a killer. His weapons were honesty and wit, incisive intellect, and a fundamental grasp of human nature. He died in 1995, but his legacy lives on through the more than 200 Sandler Sales Institute franchisees teaching the Sandler Selling System throughout North America. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525941959
• ISBN-13: 978-0525941958
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #373,027 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sandler was a sales genius!, May 2, 2006

By 

Rhino (Saint George, Ut United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar: The Sandler Sales Institute's 7-Step System for Successful Selling (Hardcover)

Here's the thing--I have been in high-end straight commission selling for a long time. I have seen sales people come and go in my industry. Those sales people who survive end up figuring out and using the Sandler strategies intuitively, even if they never heard of Sandler. These salespeople figure out that they better find out pretty quick if they've got a viable prospect or not, instead of being a walking brochure and giving presentations and dog and pony shows to anybody who will listen.

Sandler was a genius sales trainer because he told it the way it is for the day-to-day salesperson. Case in point--before I ever heard of Sandler, I had already made enought sales to realize that the best prosepct was a prospect with "pain." My first sales manager years ago used to ask me, "Where's the pain"
when I told him I had a hot prospect. "Find the pain, find the pain," he used to say.

I often wondered why the traditional sales/motivational gurus(you know, the giants at NightingaleConant company) never talked about "pain." Oh, sure. They talked about a prospects "need". But they never took it further than that.These gurus never talked about getting the prospects nitty-gritty "pain".

(Alot of sales gurus tout "Spin Selling." Like that is some new revelation in selling. Give me a break.Salespeople in my industry call "Spin Selling"--"Sandler lite" because that's what it is. "Spin selling" is taking Sandler and making it agreeable to the mass of sales people out there.)

Anyway, I think I've said enough. Except that learning the Sandler Selling System will change your sales life. You'll be happier, have more self-esteem, have more control of the sales call, and most importantly, you'll go to the bank more often!!

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely different strategy that actually works, January 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar: The Sandler Sales Institute's 7-Step System for Successful Selling (Hardcover)

This system is absolutely revolutionary. It is different at a foundational level from any other sales method that I have ever heard about...and it works consistently. I bought this book and read it after listening to tapes and joining President's Club. It clearly outlines the Sandler selling system and gives a written record of what the tapes teach. I have been involved with Sandler for 15 months and my income has more than doubled over last year (or any other year for that matter) I enjoy sales and am not providing free consulting services that I once used to provide. I also have no trouble with potential clients shopping my information with the competition...I close sales for more money that my competition and I know what the rules of the game are before I give a lot of free demonstrations and information. If what I have will not do the job that the client needs to do, I close the file. I am not chasing prospects that want to think it over. If they have a legitimate problem, the money to solve the problem, and the ability to make a decision to solve the problem, then we move ahead. If any one of these three components is missing...we close the discussion. I don't burn bridges...maybe they will call in the future, but I stop spending time on things that will not provide any return. I know where I stand during the sales cycle.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book is a nutshell account of a peerless system., April 15, 2005

By 

mb - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar : The Sandler Sales Institute's 7-Step System for Successful Selling (Hardcover)

Ever heard of unpaid consulting? If you like living in a fools paradise about prospect honesty, then do not use this system. You're all set. Otherwise, read on. Indeed a prospect can be incredibly honest, like salespeople. Just know the world you live in, and facilitate an honest transaction using this system. Innocent as a dove, wise as a serpent. Use technique, don't mislead. Play rough at times, not dirty. Uncover needs the prospect can't see or won't admit to, but don't sell a bill of goods. Interrupt the prospect's idea of a sales pattern. Talk to the point of what good you do before talking about what you do good. And only talk 30% of the time. 2 ears, 1 mouth.

And really, technique is academic. In addition to technique, this system addresses Attitudes and Behaviors, and introduces powerful psychology. This isn't a week camp with an emotional high. This is a sales martial arts program that involves ongoing training to develop (if you go get a trainer that is). Through this type of training, along with daily goal setting and journaling, the ability to persevere and succeed is there with support. How you act determines how you feel, not the other way around. Get your behavior right, drive attitude, and let the technique develop over time.

The book is definitely just a nutshell. You won't develop as well without the coaching. However, the essence of the system is there. If you are a proper fit for sales AND want it badly, then don't [...] foot around. Jerk your own reigns and decide what you really want to be as a salesperson 2 years from now--which includes thinking about health, personal, family and spiritual goals. Financial goals are just a part of it, and a means to an ends.