THE SANDLER RULES

49 Timeless Selling Principles

and How to Apply Them
DAVID MATTSON

DAVID MATTSON is CEO of Sandler Systems, Inc., an international training and consulting firm. He has
worked for the company since 1988. Mr. Mattson continues to act as a trainer and business consultant. He is
the co-author of Five Minutes With VITO: Making the Most of Your Selling Time with the Very Important Top
Officer.
The Web site for this book is at www.sandler.com

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 The Sandler Rules - Page 1

MAIN IDEA
“People make buying decisions emotionally . . . and they justify those decisions intellectually.” – David Sandler
Sandler’s quotation is widely known and used every day. The underlying human relations model he used to develop this quote and the
49 Rules which make up his sales methodology states every person has three ego states which dictate and influence behavior:
1. The Parent ego state – the part of us where information is stored about what is good and bad, desirable or otherwise.
2. The Adult ego state – the logical, analytical and rational part of our minds.
3. The Child ego state – the emotional part of our intellectual makeup where many of our decisions originate.
A sale will only happen when you get all three of those ego states in sync and in agreement:
• When the Parent says: “Okay, this seems like the right thing to do. You have my permission.”
• When the Adult says: “After weighing all the pros and cons, this makes good logical sense. Go ahead.”
• When the Child says: “Yes, that’s definitely what I want”.
The 49 Rules are all about bringing about that kind of alignment and agreement between the three ego states in your prospects.

The 49 Sandler Rules 1

1. You have to learn how to fail first before you can learn how to consistently win Core Concepts
2. Never “spill your candy in the lobby” – don’t share too much information too soon
3. Don’t merely hear what you want to hear – Find out for certain what people are thinking Rules 1 - 6 are the
4. Tell prospects it’s better they say “No” straight away rather than saying “I’ll think it over” core concepts of the
5. Never answer a prospect’s “unanswered questions”– don’t bring up elements they haven’t mentioned Sandler System and
6. Defuse “buyer’s remorse” by always giving customers a chance to back out before the deal goes ahead can be used to
7. Nobody says you have to like prospecting – you just have to do it transform your selling
8. When prospecting, go for the appointment – don’t try to give your entire sales pitch process.
9. Use your unsuccessful prospecting contacts to improve the next call you make
10. Develop awareness – prospect anyone you interact with and they may turn out to be interested
11. Money does grow on trees – if you take the time and effort to build a referral tree
12. Answer every question with a question – so you can figure out the prospect’s intent
13. Don’t be a mind reader – never assume you know what people are thinking without asking
14. Get prospects talking – if they are just passively listening, they’re not buying 2
15. Help prospects discover for themselves why they should buy from you
16. Never ask for the order – make the prospect give up searching for alternatives Execute
17. Act like a dummy on purpose – so the prospect does 70 percent of the talking
18. Pitch ideas indirectly – make it possible for the prospect to discover the need for change themselves Rules 7 - 33 are the
19. If ending a sales call without success, ask what you could have done differently to make the sale heart and soul of
20. Never forget the bottom line of professional selling is to make a sale and go to the bank executing your sales
21. Sell today – and worry about “educating” the prospect at some future time process. You have to
22. Only give a sales presentation when you’re serious about making a sale today do what works.
23. Defuse bombs early on – always try and bring up tricky issues before the prospect does
24. Don’t sabotage sales with your expertise – use your superior product knowledge sparingly
25. Use the “let’s pretend” approach to avoid doing lots of preliminary work for nothing
26. Always remember people buy in spite of your hard sell and not because of it
27. You can’t sell anything – people have to discover for themselves they want what you have to offer
28. When customers reprimand you, fall back – surrender up front and work on solutions
29. Always be professional – which means the meter is always running
30. You can’t lose what you don’t already have so replaced stalled sales with fresh prospects
31. Always be prepared to close the sale or close the file
32. Get into the habit of always procuring an I.O.U. for everything you do
33. Always keep your eyes open whenever you’re presented with a “done deal”
34. Work smart, not hard – and stop cheating yourself out of the income you should be getting
35. Never do what your competition is already doing – come up with a unique game plan instead
36. Never lose sight of the fact only a decision maker can get others to make their own decisions
37. Expect your prospects to lie all the time – that’s what they will do
3
38. Never accept problems at face value – the problem the prospect brings you is never the real deal
39. When all else fails, move from being a salesperson to acting as a consultant instead Course correct
40. Never send the message you “need a sale” – if necessary, fake it until you make it
41. There’s no such thing as a “bad” prospect – only bad salespeople Rules 34 - 49 are all
42. Winners always have alternatives whereas losers tend to put all their eggs in one basket about reminding
43. The best way to learn how to get “yes” from prospects is by getting lots of “no”’s first yourself of those
44. When it comes right down to it, don’t be your own worst enemy principles which are
45. Become adept at using third-party stories to express your feelings in sales situations all too easy to forget.
46. In selling, there is no such thing as a “good try” or any other weasel words
47. Selling requires that you remain objective at all times – getting emotionally involved is fatal in sales
48. Recognize a life without risk is a life without growth
49. Remember transactional analysis – and always leave your child ego in the car when you are selling
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