We’re all familiar with a classic salesperson stereotype: charming, persuasive and perhaps a bit pushy — good at getting customers to say “yes” to the product.
One Northeast Ohio company, however, has built its reputation on an approach that turns that strategy on its head. Westlake-based Sales Concepts Inc. specializes in training sales professionals in a method that puts the individual customer’s needs front and center. “Traditional sales is typically about going in and telling people about your product and service and pitching them on the benefits,” explains Keith Strauss, Sales Concepts owner and president. “The Sandler methodology is kind of 180 degrees from that.”
Instead, the Sandler method — named for inventor David Sandler — emphasizes listening. Sandler-trained salespeople ask about a client’s issues, problems and desired changes. They learn about the client’s budget and decision-making process. “Then you ultimately show them how you’re going to solve their problem,” Strauss says. Too often, he says, sales professionals talk to prospective customers without knowing anything about them or their needs. “There’s way too much talking in traditional selling. We’re about asking questions and listening.”
Sales Concepts’ use of Sandler dates back to 1987, when Strauss’s father, Al Strauss, became a licensed Sandler trainer and franchisee, making him an early adopter of the methodology in the Cleveland market. Today, there are a handful of others in the area and about 250 training centers worldwide. Sales Concepts has used the system to serve clients in hundreds of industries, ranging from insurance to telecommunications to manufacturing. Strauss has been involved with the business since its early days, and eventually bought it from his father, who continues to work with clients.
Sales Concepts works with everyone from individual salespeople to company CEOs to assess sales, then devise and implement a training plan. “Everything [clients] do as they’re interacting with people from outside the company is what we help them with,” says Strauss. “Anybody who is interacting with customers, where there is competition, price objections, the need to be able to have a dialogue with somebody — that seems to be a good fit.”
Greg Dennison, president of ServiceMaster by Disaster Recon, became a client two years ago after a friend and longtime Sales Concepts client told him about it. Dennison says Service Master, a Northeast Ohio based disaster restoration company, has seen vast sales improvements since hiring Sales Concepts. “We went from just everybody doing their own thing to a proven system that gets results, that everybody follows due to the consistent reinforcement through the Sales Concepts system,” he says.
In particular, Dennison is impressed with the consistent, individual attention his sales team gets from Sales Concepts employees. Instead of a one-time training session, Sales Concepts stays engaged with clients through weekly classes, regular accountability phone calls and unlimited sales coaching. “You’re not sitting in a seminar listening to somebody talk, where you pay a lot of money one time,” he says, adding that reps are free to call Strauss if they need advice. “They can bounce ideas off of them. They will make sure we’re following the system…It’s a lot of constant reinforcement, which is what all the other sales programs do not have.”
Before a big presentation, for example, Dennison’s team will call someone at Sales Concepts. “They will help you any time of day to make sure you’re fully prepared and feeling confident before you go into your meeting,” he says.
Perhaps most important is the consistency it has brought to ServiceMaster’s sales team. “We all can help each other because we understand the concepts, the steps in the Sandler sales system, so we’re all speaking the same language, which is very helpful when it comes to coaching and having our weekly sales meeting,” Dennison says.
Sales Concepts does this with a team of about five employees based out of the company’s Detroit Road office. Strauss credits them with setting Sales Concepts apart from other consulting firms in the field. “It’s the history and longevity of our employees,” he says. “I think my shortest-term employee who is engaged with clients [has been here] 10 years.”
He also points to the results clients get from the Sandler method, as well as the ongoing nature of the consulting his company provides. “A lot of sales training is just a one- or two-day seminar,” Strauss says. His company has clients who have been working with the firm for decades. “The manner in which we deliver it is vastly superior to what other companies would do…[Clients] will come to classes, they’ll call in to coaches, they’ll talk to coaches once a week.”
Sales Concepts, like many other companies, felt some of the challenges that came with the rise of internet sales. There were fears online retail would leave the firm with no salespeople left to train, but that concern has died down. “As long as human beings talk to other human beings in a business setting, we’ll have a market. We’ll continue to grow,” Strauss says. With that projected growth, he plans to remain focused on Northeast Ohio, which is Sales Concepts’ primary market. Looking to the future, Strauss is optimistic about what’s in store. “We’re 30 years in business. I could see another 30 years of successfully helping individuals and companies grow.”