UP - FRONT CONTRACT

“In the Sandler Sales Training Programme, an Up-Front Contract (UFC) is a tool that salespeople use to agree with their prospect, before the meeting, what will take place during that particular sales meeting.” ...

Do you use it in your sales process?

I do, and not only as part of the sales method during my meetings but to prepare meeting agendas; the results are wonderful.

An Up-Front Contract with a prospect must contain the following five elements:

? Objective. (This is our starting goal, a goal the prospect share with us).

? Time allotted. (If the meeting will take an hour, the prospect should agree with us that an hour will be set aside.)

? Our role is to get us there. (This is what we′ll be doing before, during, and after the discussion.)

? Prospect′s role to get us there. (This is what the prospect will be doing before, during, and after the discussion.)

? Conclusion. (This is a preview of the forthcoming discussion′s possible end position, there may well be more than one possible conclusion, but the prospect must agree with us on what they all are.)

Do you use “meeting invites” this could help you put into practice these five elements?

Remember that practice makes perfect and besides using UFC at your F2F or Zoom meetings you may use it by telephone too.

If you use the telephone to set up appointments or ton sell, here are some useful tips:

? Get the appointment.

? Confirm the appointment.

? Assign homework prior to the next call.

? Don′t accept “I′ll think it over” for a response.

? Qualify the prospect during your conversation.

UFC is not something you need to do once in a blue moon, make sure that you prepare it for each one of your sales meetings.

You need to let know your prospect that you understand him and what he may be facing, that you understand his business.

If you want to achieve this and at the same time establish an Up-Front Contract you should ask questions like this:

“X, I′d like to ask you some questions to make sure I can understand your business and to make sure I understand your concerns. You probably want to ask me some questions to see if we′re the right kind of company for you.” (You Can′t Teach a kid to ride a bike at a Seminar. David H. Sandler) ...

The main idea is that both sides need to know what is happening next and why.

I invite you all to use it, to include it to clarify discussion agendas, intentions, commitments, roles, and next steps with work teams and between a sales manager and salesperson.

Without a doubt, the Up-Front Contract is a powerful tool that David Sandler shared with us in his sales methodology.

I have had the privilege of putting it into practice in different facets of my professional life and the results have been positive, with external and internal clients.

To finish this article, I would like to remind you that in life there is no secret and a perfect formula for everything; The important thing is that we know how to take the positive aspects of all the things that surround us and know how to adapt them to the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Good selling everyone!

Xoán San Martín Sáder.

Founder of Inside Sales Leadership.