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Ten reasons up-front contracts work
When it comes to sales, they can make a huge difference
Gary Harvey

The level of a child's fear about going to a dentist has everything to do with the dentist. In one office the dentist abruptly examines the child, pronounces the presence of a
cavity, and yanks a drill into position.
The child is gripped by fear--not knowing what's going to happen or when the pain will begin. A second dentist's waiting room is filled with children's books and toys. After
the dentist introduces herself, she offers the parent and child a tour of the office, meanwhile getting to know the child.
When a cavity is found, the dentist explains what the means, and brings out a model of a tooth to illustrate. The dentist reassures the child in going over each step of how
she'll fill the cavity.
In the same way, mutual agreements, what I call verbal "up-front contracts," that you can make with buyers at the beginning of the sales process contain a clear understanding
of the steps you will take "together." This reduces their resistance and encourages them to listen rather than defend.
Up-front contracts benefit you as well by clarifying expectations for buyer behavior during the meeting. Here's why they work.
1. Up-front contracts give both you and the buyer the opportunity to ask questions.
"Pat, can we agree to some ground rules for our meeting? I'm going to need to ask some questions about your business, and I want you to be able to ask me anything you'd
like about my what I offer. Is that okay?"
2. They give both you and they buyer the right to say no if there isn't a fit.
"As we ask and answer each other's questions, we may decide there isn't a fit between what you need and what I offer. If we reach that point, can you just tell me no?
3. They enable the buyer to say yes if there is a fit.
"On the other hand, if you see that my service makes sense to you, we can decide that at that time. Is that okay?
4. They provide an end result to your sales call.
"If we decide to move forward, before we finish today, can we discuss what the next steps might be? Does that make sense?"
5. Up-front contracts allow for enough time.
"How much time have you set aside for this meeting? Your time and mine are valuable, and I want to make sure we make the best use of it."
6. They make sure there are no interruptions.
"Pat, will we be able to meet today uninterrupted?"
7. They establish an agenda for the meeting.
"Pat, what are some of the things you would like to accomplish today?" Can you share those with me?"
8. Up-front contracts give you the opportunity to manage your biggest concerns up front.
Use this step only for genuine fears or concerns you have. For purpose of illustration, maybe you fear hearing "think-it-over's" when you know 90% of the time it's a no. Deal
with that "upfront."
9. They enable you to be "invited" in to a meeting set up by a telephone call.
Have you ever arranged a meeting on the telephone, but were caught off guard by the buyer's defensiveness or antagonism when you met? Buyers will say one thing over the
telephone and another thing when they get you face-to-face. You enable that to happen when you fail to use appropriate ideas from this list to establish an up-front contract
during your telephone call.
10. They help you control the proposal process.
Here are four up-front contracts to see when you do a proposal:
The Rough Draft. Ask to do a rough draft for the buyer's review based on what you know now, with a commitment to sit down with the buyer to make revisions before you
submit the final proposal.
The Last Look. If you're in a competitive situation, you want to be the last person in front of the buyer. Try to get a "last look" promise.
The Confidentiality Commitment. How many times have you lost a bid only to learn that the winning proposal had incorporated some of your ideas? Submit proposals with
a stated agreement ( up-front contract), from the buyer that none of the information in your proposal will be revealed to any of your competitors.
The Price Promise. When you suspect you won't be the low bidder on a proposal, say this: "Pat, just so you understand, we're never the low bidder. In putting this proposal
together for you, I'm assuming you're looking for the highest value and not the lowest price. Am I right on that, or will you be forced to choose the least expensive supplier
regardless of quality?"
Up Front "verbal" contracts provide both parties one major benefit, what I call "no mutual mystification "on either side of the table. Salespeople have rights (another rule of
mine), and we have a right to ask for certain agendas to be followed, as do your buyer. This is why before every baseball game umpires and managers meet at home plate to
discuss the "game rules."
Be willing to meet at home plate with your prospects and discuss "up-front" the game rules. I assure you it will create less "mystification."

Sales means getting knocked down

But you gotta get back up
Gary Harvey

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places. - Ernest Hemingway
Im optimistic by nature, so this quote might seem a strange way to start a column. While I'm an optimist, however, Im a realistic optimist.
So what does that mean, and how does this quote relate to sales and leading sales teams? Coach Vince Lombardi famously said, Its not about getting knocked down it's
about getting back up. That's the realistic optimist.
Those of us in sales have picked a career that means we'll get knocked down everyday and put our self-esteem on the line by being rejected. Prospects hang up on our cold
calls and hide from us behind voicemail and email. Its enough to discourage the toughest person. Its enough to break us if we dont look at all these occurrences the right
way.
So what is the right way? Mentally/consciously separating your self-esteem, your self-worth from the roles you play each day either as a salesperson or sales leader/manager.
Understand that all the various roles you have to play in sales are just that. Its not who you are inside; its what you do your role.
Selling is a Broadway show put on by a psychiatrist. Actors have their bad and good days on the stage in their roles. Those roles are not who they really are as people.
But if they allow accolades or criticism of their performance to impact their self-esteem and self-worth, it can have a major negative impact on future role performances.
This doesn't mean you should not try to do your best in your role everyday. However, we are human and will have good and bad "role performance" days. On those bad days,
when the world of sales leaves you feeling as if youve been run over by a bus, remember: Never let a prospect impact your sense of self-worth.

No prospect has the right to make you feel bad about yourself unless you take rejection, phone hang-ups and nos personally. Take the no on your role side of what you
sell. Thats what they said no to not to who you are or your self-worth side.
Realize at times in sales, and in life, we all experience a feeling of being broken, knocked down. But learn from it. Grow from it. Always get back up, as Coach Lombardi
says, and never take anything personally in sales.

The pain imperative in sales

Solve it and sell it
Gary Harvey

Selling is not all about price. This is a rampant excuse that salespeople use to justify not getting a deal. Low price is not essential to closing a deal. Price plays a role, but it's
essential only if salespeople allow it to be.
Price becomes essential when we haven't provided anything else as criteria for buying, sold any value, or better yet understand the real reason why people buy and the
value attached to that. Pricing and value selling is only a component of the sale and can't be allowed to be the predominant one.
Before I opened my sales training business, I was fortunate to learn how to sell in the very competitive international chemical business. The products and services we sold
were two to three times higher in price than the 1,700 companies we competed against. I was fortunate to dominate my competition in those 14 years as a top performer.
Why? Was it because the 125 products and services we offered were so superior? Sometimes. Mostly, it had to do with my belief going in that price doesnt matter. The more
salespeople go to a sales call believing its about price, the more their sales call will end up being about price, period!
It's not unusual to lose a deal and find yourself thinking, "If only my price were lower, they would have gone with me." In most cases, that simply isn't true. If it were, every
time someone bought a product or service, they would buy lowest. And by the way, selling on low price creates another problem. There is always someone cheaper to beat
your low price that you sell on.
If it was all about price, in a retail environment stores would carry one brand of every object because there would not be anyone that would buy a different brand. In reality,
we have a multitude of choices because people see value in products that are more expensive. When was the last time you saw expensive products or services sold with an
apology for why they were higher than their competition?
As salespeople, we have ways of adding value to a product or service. To use price as an excuse is equivalent to saying, "I utterly failed in this sales process because I was
unable to show any value in my product or service to the prospect. But everyone preaches selling value, right? I propose salespeople understand more about what really
motivates people to buy versus just selling value. People buy for two major reasons. One to move away from pain, or toward pleasure. I call it "Pain or Gain," and moving
away from pain is often more motivating.
Bring value to the solution to solving what I call the prospect's pain, and stop selling on price. Ask questions and discover the compelling reasons why someone wants or
needs your product or service to solve that pain. Price will not be essential if you sell a solution to that pain.
Focus on value associated with your pain solution, and don't trick yourself into the cutting price game. Sales is about selling value and solutions to pain, not about the price.
When a prospect needs a solution now to their pain, and a salesperson knows how to help their prospects discover this, prospects do not shop on price. When was the last
time you saw someone compare emergency room prices when they are in pain?

Sales obsession
If you don't have it, it's not too late
Gary Harvey

Successful salespeople have an absolute need to do what has to be done each and every day to reach their goals. They have a need to do those things to their very best ability
no compromises.
They are absolutely, positively obsessed with their work while they are doing it. That doesnt mean they work 15 hours per day, seven days a week. It does mean that while
they are working, they have no time to shoot the breeze at the water cooler, watch the clock, read the sports page or participate in the radio station phone-in contest. Those
activities are reserved for non-working hours.
Successful salespeople are also disciplined. They know what they have to do and when they have to do it. They have a plan. Their effort and energy are focused on those
activities that take them closer to their goals.
Successful salespeople take advantage of all the resources available to them. They learn everything they can about their product or service, their industry, their competition
and their marketplace. They keep informed about industry trends, new technologies and legislation that can affect their business and/or that of their customers.
Successful salespeople take action. They are continually moving forward. Strategies and techniques are worthless unless implemented. Successful salespeople know that in
the sales arena, there are only two operating statesmaking a sale and not making a sale. They have learned to maximize the former and minimize the latter. They dont get
bogged down with over planning and over preparationtheyre too busy making things happen.
Successful salespeople are motivated. While money is a convenient element with which to keep score, successful salespeople are driven by a larger purpose than just making
money. Whether it is to become the very best in their industry or simply make a contribution to their company or clients, there is something more than money that causes
them to start work early and stick steadfastly to their mission.
So, are you obsessed? If youre not, its not too late. Decide exactly what you want for yourself, your family, your business, and your clients. Develop your plan short-term
and long-term goals, monthly, weekly and daily goals and activitiesyour cookbook to success.
Start each and every day with a list of the business objectives to accomplish. List the necessary activities required and then work relentlessly to get them done by the end of
the day. Decide what your bigger purpose is. Utilize the resources available to you and take action consistently. Higher levels of success await you.

Up Front Contracts
Posted on November 4, 2003 by Derek

Its been a while since I posted, so sorry to all three of you who have been waiting so long for me to speak from on high. (Thats a
joke. Laugh.) Seriously, blogging hasnt been a priority for me of late, and I frankly am not sure when it will become a priority.
That said, Im sure occasionally something will come along that I want to post, so Ill try to get the fires burning on at least a
semi-regular basis.
Which leads me to todays topic: Up Front Contracts. Up Front Contracts are a sales techniques that Ive been using for a
while now, and Ive found them to be very effective, so I thought Id share what Ive learned.

Before I get into the details, let me just note that these are a key component to the Sandler Sales System, which is the program
Ive been learning since last Spring. There are seven major components. The first is Bonding & Rapport, which is probably
self-explanatory its the first part of a sales call, where you establish a relationship with the prospect. Sandler has some
interesting things to say about Bonding & Rapport, but nothing really earth-shaking, so I wont bore you with that.
Up Front Contracts are the second component. So what is an Up Front Contract? Its just a verbal agreement between you and
the prospect on exactly what will happen next, even if that next step is for the prospect to tell you no. Let me outline a couple of
scenarios where this is useful:
Scenario 1
You talk to an interested prospect on the phone and he agrees to schedule a meeting. You decide on next Thursday at 10.
PROBLEM: Have you ever shown up for a meeting and a) found that the prospect is not there or b) had the prospect either
show up late or rush you through the meeting because he inadvertently scheduled something else for 30 minutes after your
meeting?
This may not happen often, but its frustrating when it does. In particular, being forced to rush through a meeting puts you in a
pressured, get-to-the-point mode, so its tempting to try to shove all your features and benefits into a quick presentation. The net
effect is you spend too much time talking and not enough listening to the prospect. And the end result is that the prospect does
not truly get engaged in the problem youre helping them solve. Instead, he is looking at the clock and/or getting bored while you
try to wow him with features and benefits.
SOLUTION: Establish an Up Front Contact with the prospect committing him to show up and give you his full attention. It
doesnt have to be confrontational, just assertive. An easy way to pin them down on the date and time is simply to ask, should I
write this down with a pen or a pencil? If the answer is pencil, suggest another date and time. If the answer is pen, say are you
sure? You dont have anything that might bump this off the calendar? Get them to commit!
Also, during this stage make it clear that you really need a full hour so you can fully understand their business before you can
determine whether youre a fit for each other. Ask them to commit to that. If they resist, suggest another time or (and this takes
guts, but it could save you a lot of wasted time), say Mr. Prospect, it sounds like youre not really interested in solving this
problem. Which is fine, maybe its not a big enough issue for you right now. So should we just hang up now and call it quits? If
the answer is yes, be thankful that you saved yourself a couple of hours trying to convince someone who is not going to buy. If
the answer is no, ask the prospect So what should we do? And SHUT UP! Dont rescue the prospect. He will realize that he
has to make a commitment or youre not showing up. Once he makes that commitment, his ego is on the line, so hes much less
likely to blow you off.
Scenario 2
You go to the meeting and the prospect is there. You spend an hour doing your whole dog and pony show. At the end, you ask for
the business. He may raise some objections, which you handle, but then he says he wants to think it over and to please call him
next week.
PROBLEM: You go home, wait a few days and make the call. Voice mail. Hi, this is Joe Salesman. Just wanted to touch base
and discuss next steps. Please give me a call. Blah blah blah. He doesnt call back, so you try again a few days later. Same result.
Eventually (or maybe not), you reach him and he tells you theyre still thinking it over, or theres some other decision maker
involved or any one of a hundred other excuses. He doesnt say no, so you continue following up every now and then, knowing
in your heart that hes probably avoiding you. But hey, persistence pays off, right?
SOLUTION: Wrong! Persistence pays off maybe 1% of the time, but the other 99% of the time its just a giant time sinkhole
that has the awful side-effect of undermining your confidence.
The key to avoiding this is to gain control of the sales process with Up Front Contracts. Earlier I talked about how to do them
when scheduling the meeting, so now lets talk about how to use them in the meeting itself.
Its really pretty simple. Just remember the acronym TTAP (pronounced t-tap).

The first T is for Thank you for inviting me in today. Not letting you in, but inviting you in. Salespeople have rights. Do not
beg for anything. If the prospect treats you like crap, dont accept it. Period. But I digress
The second T is for Time. Ask the prospect how much time you have for the meeting. If they dont give you enough time, cancel
the meeting. Yes, you heard me right: cancel it! Explain that you need to ask the prospect a lot of questions to determine whether
youre a fit.
If the prospect resists, dont wimp out! Ask him this: Mr. Prospect, how long have you worked for your company? Hell say
something like 5 years or 10 years or whatever. Then ask him, If I were to ask you to explain everything youve learned about
your company, industry and current situation in the past X years in 20 minutes, would I come away with a thorough
understanding of everything necessary to solve your problem? He will say no, so you then say So do you really think Ill be able
to understand your situation and give you a thorough understanding of my solution in that time?
If he still resists, another tactic is to apologize. Thats right: apologize! Dont get into an argument with the prospect. Instead,
fall on your sword as a way to gain empathy. Say Mr. Prospect, Im sorry. Ive done you a disservice. Ive given you the
impression that I can come in here and give you a good presentation in 30 minutes. Im sorry for doing that, but I just cant in
good conscience try to shoehorn this in. So what should we do? The prospect will probably cave in and reschedule by now.
If not, just take it away from him. Im sorry, but it looks like were not a fit. Good luck finding a solution to your problem and
leave. The prospect may come after you and tell you hes changed his mind. If so, great! If not, great! You do not want to work
with a prospect who cannot even commit to an hour. Believe me, its not worth all the uncertainty that will surround the
situation.
And you know what? Wishy washy prospects are almost impossible to close unless you confront them. Start doing it at the
beginning of the process, not at the end. And by the way, if youre concerned about losing the sale, just remember: you cant lose
something you never had.
A is for Agenda. This is a great one because the prospect so rarely gets this from other salespeople. Simply ask Mr. Prospect,
what do you need to see, hear or get a feel for in order to make this a successful meeting? By doing this, you will quickly get a
sense of how the sales process is going to evolve, what you should focus on, and how they want it presented. The see, hear or get
a feel for is a tactic to get them to reveal how they think: visual, auditory or kinesthetic. I wont spend time on that point now,
but suffice it to say that it can be useful in determining how you present your solution.
There may be several things they want to achieve in the meeting, so make sure you write them down and parrot them back.
Make sure you understand exactly what he wants and dont make any assumptions. So if he says something vague like I want to
learn more about your product, drill down into that by saying. That makes sense, but could you give me a better sense of what
that means? A better answer is I want to understand how your Foo integrates with our Bar.
One more thing with Agenda. Once youve established the prospects goals, get an Up Front Contract as to what will happen next.
Mr. Prospect, this is very helpful. Ill make sure to focus on X, Y and Z. Pretend for a moment that weve done that and the
meeting is finished. What would happen next? As with above, dont accept wishy washy answers. Nail down the exact next step.
An reasonable answer is, well schedule a due diligence meeting with our IT department. A bad answer is Ill think it over and
show it to my boss. Which leads to
P is for Permission to say no. What? You heard me. You give the prospect permission to say no. This helps you avoid wasting
your time on someone whos decided not to buy. Heres how you do it. Mr. Prospect, you said the agenda is X, Y and Z. Lets
pretend for a moment that were on the other side of this meeting. Can I ask you a favor? If for whatever reason you decide were
not a fit, are you comfortable telling me no? I think some prospects are embarrassed or dont want to hurt my feelings, so instead
of saying no, they say they want to think it over, when what they really mean is no. The prospect will almost invariably say
something like Absolutely. Im real straightforward about that.
Not to be catty or anything, but hes lying. Most prospects hate to say no because theyre afraid of confrontation or, even worse,
that youll try to sell them even harder. If you make them feel okay about saying no, perhaps even saying and by the way, I wont
try to sell you again after you say no, because I dont want to waste your time or mine, it takes the pressure off the prospect and
usually leads to a more open, honest discussion.

No is good, because then you dont waste time chasing a prospect who is not going to buy. Of course, yes is best. But do not
accept think it over for an answer. This doesnt mean they have to sign the contract in the same call some sales cycles are
complex and take multiple calls but it does mean they have to tell you at the end of the call whether they are serious about
moving forward or just blowing smoke.
This is pretty different from traditional sales training, which generally revolves around convincing the prospect that he should
buy from you. By contrast, Sandler is about helping the prospect discover why he should buy from you. Convincing is very
difficult, time-consuming and energy intensive. Discover is fun, enlightening and relaxed. To compare it to the web, discovering
is like surfing web sites about a topic that interests you, whereas convincing is like getting hit with a blizzard of popup ads.
Which do you prefer?
Just yesterday I had a great sales call in which the prospect talked probably 80% of the time. I asked her a lot of open ended
questions that got her to understand the pain she is in and envision a solution provided by me. At the end of the meeting she
thanked me profusely and said I was very different from the other vendors she had talked to. This despite the fact that she did
most of the talking!
And thats another key point about the Sandler System you dont look like every other salesperson who walks through the
prospects door every day, so the prospect doesnt treat you like the stereotypical lying salesman. And lets face it, the prospect
assumes salespeople are liars. I mean, get real. What image pops into your mind when you hear the word salesperson?
So, to sum up. Use Up Front Contracts to get control of the sales process and understand exactly how it will evolve. Prospects
dont usually have a systematic buying process, so youre doing them a service by bringing clarity to the process. In truth, the
only things the prospect is concerned about are a) solving their problem and b) not getting cheated by a lying salesperson. Done
well, Up Front Contracts ease the pressure on both of you and makes for a much more manageable process.
Thats all for now. Stay tuned for more info about Sandler as I make progress.

The Up Front Contract

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Tim Hoyle

QUESTION
I am looking for advice on how to better manage my impatience (or at least the tell-tale signs of it) when communicating with
people who frustrate me. As an engineer, I appreciate logical, well-ordered, straight forward communications. However, I am
often in situations where I must work with true ideas people and their thinking is anything but linear. Just as soon as I think we
have a decision made and are moving onto the next point, they are back coming up with a million new ideas for the point we just
decided. It drives me absolutely crazy andthe real problemsince I am an open book emotionally, they pick up on it. Which
causes them to start walking on egg shells and hemming and hawing which only makes me more crazy because they are now
being even more indirect about getting to the point! Typically these are clients and coworkers so it is important that I learn to be
gracious and make them feel comfortable sharing their ideas. I do appreciate the fact that these people often have amazing and
creative ideas which are vital to making real progress, my difficulty lies in following what they are saying (they often ramble on
with seemingly no point, to great length), in getting them to stick with decisions we have already made to prevent costly rework,
and in managing my body language so that I dont appear annoyed.
ANSWER
Thank you for the question and let me congratulate you! Your observation of the situation is wonderfully objective! Plus you
understand the strengths of both approaches (linear engineers and creative types). Lastly, you are clear and comfortable with
your own shortcomings. You are making my job easier which, as we know, is my lifes pursuit.
Lets clear up one small point, then we can move right into the recommendation so I can get back to lying on the couch while
pretending not to notice the dirty looks and heavy sighs my wife is throwing my way.

One of the common fallacies I have noticed when working with people in the professional setting is this idea that somehow they
are going to manage their facial expressions and/or body language. If I had more time and a higher IQ I would break down the
physics of brain signals, emotional responses and facial expressions but I got s##t to do today so lets skip that. Suffice it to say
that theres a reason that even professional poker players wear sun glasses.
But enough about that, the main bullet point here is that its virtually impossible to control facial expression short of a frontal
lobotomy, really good medication or on overdose of Botox.
The trick is to change the circumstance that result in you getting mad.
Heres the deal. You engineer types are wonderfully efficient. You solve problems one time that forever addresses every possible
future scenario. We creative thinkers solve the same problem differently every single time. We actually enjoy revisiting
problems that were previously solved and trying a different tack even though the first solution worked fine. All well and good
but it can be a colossal waste of time. We would do well to understand the value your critical, linear approach provides. The
creative types you work with may not understand how a linear, critical approach applied to their creative ideas enhances the
quality of their solutions immensely and/or they may not posses the maturity to look at themsleves critically. But theres an
easy way around all this. On with my solution du jour.
RECOMMENDATION
In professional meetings I often recommend people create what I call an Up Front Contract (UFC). A UFC is simply a brief
discussion at the outset of a meeting that establishes the ground rules for communication. Let me give you an example of my
own UFC then we will create your specific UFC.
Example Here are my two biggest challenges when working with others. I am a creative thinker but often my ideas turn out
to not be very practical. Secondly, I have very little patience for people who ramble on, repeat themselves or otherwise
communicate in an unconscious fashion and it definitely shows in my body language, facial expression, and in the blood trails I
leave behind. So whenever I meet with people for the first time I start with the following introduction.
I want you to know that I am a very creative problem solver. I get LOTS of creative ideas, most of which should never be
attempted. I will generate lots of solutions to the problems we discuss but many will not be practical. I want you to feel free to
shoot down any idea I throw out because I have another idea right behind it and by not having to worry about the practicality of
a solution, it allows me to generate lots of ideas.
Secondly, I want to make the most efficient use of our time so I may interrupt you when I feel I get the gist of what you are
saying and I want you to feel comfortable to do the same. If I interrupt you and you want to finish your point, please feel free to
do so. Are you ok with this?
Thats it. Ive never had someone say no at the end of my intro and when I interrupt them its not a big deal. In fact, most
people like it because I do not make a big deal over it and it improves the communication in the meeting. One more point
notice I make the UFC about my own shortcomings, not about theirs. This makes it easier for the person to agree and go
along which is all I care about. If blaming me makes it easier, fine (Danger dont try this philosophy at home).
Now, heres your UFC.
Before we get going, I wanted to check-in with you guys about our decision-making process. You guys are wonderfully creative
thinkers but I possess a more linear approach. I enjoy and value the creative discussions but once we reach a decision, its
extremely difficult for me to go back and revisit those decisions. Is it ok if once we reach a decision we move on to the next
issue? Is it ok if I remind everyone when we forget his? This helps me pay attention and stay effective.
Once the group reaches a decision, you can say, Ok, is that our final decision? After that, if you catch them revisiting a closed
decision, simply remind them, Hey, we already solved this one, right? Everyone ok if we move on? Try and say these with a
light, matter-of-fact tone of voice. This helps the others remain open and non-defensive.
If you get frustrated just call it out, Hey sorry, I am such a linear thinker I get frustrated when having to go backwards on a
closed decision. Im working on this one. You guys ok if we move forward?

Trust me, when you say something like that last sentence when showing frustration you are demonstrating incredible leadership,
humility and self-awareness. Others in the room respond very well to these types of moments because they have been there as
well but few have the courage and self-awareness to handle the situation in such a diplomatic manner. Plus, you are simply
telling the truth anyway!
Try the upfront contract and remember to make it about you not them. If you get frustrated just admit it. After all, I have heard
engineers are human, too. Good luck and lets us know how it turns out.