The Sandler Training Hour

A prospect says the words every seller wants to hear: I need help. You show them everything you know, they thank you for the advice, and the deal goes nowhere. If that pattern sounds familiar, this episode names what is causing it.This week we dig into what happens in the seconds after someone asks for help, and why the instinct to start fixing costs sellers deals, leverage, and time. Most people in business development are natural problem solvers, and that reflex is exactly the trap.The inbound lead trapAn inbound lead lands squarely in your wheelhouse and the happy ears switch on. We walk through why giving a prospect the information that lets them judge you, before you gather the information that lets you qualify them, puts you in a lose-lose position from the first call.Unpaid consultingJumping straight to solutions earns you plenty of referrals, and almost none of them pay. We break down why free fixes get politely received and rarely acted on: a prospect who has not shared everything they know will treat any answer as half baked.Gauge commitment before you prescribeHaving a problem is not the same as being willing to invest time, money, and energy in solving it. We cover why measuring commitment is the first job when someone says they have a problem, and what happens when you skip it: you insert yourself into a feedback loop you will grow to resent.The problem they bring is never the real problemNine times out of ten, what a prospect describes is the surface indicator. What they are actually saying is: I am stuck, help me think through this. We connect this to why some companies live with surface-level problems forever.The ego underneath chronic fixingThe uncomfortable part of the conversation. If you are compelled to answer every question, you are getting a need met: being needed, being appreciated, staying in the thick of things. Jim owns his own history as a chronic fixer and the value he lost to it.Facilitate discovery insteadThe job is not solving problems. The job is facilitating discovery, then reaching a mutual agreement about next steps. We also get into why the word itself matters: framing a call as discovery instead of a sales call changes how you show up, because mindset has to drive behavior.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You avoid pushing because you do not want to look like the stereotypical salesperson. So you soften, you hedge, and you leave calls without a firm next step. Then you spend the week chasing. The problem is not that you are too aggressive. It is that fear of aggression has quietly turned you into a professional visitor.In this episode we separate assertiveness from aggression and show why the gap between them is where most sellers lose clarity, and deals.Why your read on your own assertiveness is unreliable We open with an uncomfortable truth: your sense of how assertive you are is subjective. It is anchored in how you were raised. Jim describes being told by his wife, "why did you say that," about a comment he did not even register as sharp. If you lean passive, asking for help or interrupting a server can feel aggressive. If you lean forward, you may run over people without noticing. You cannot calibrate off your own perception, so we look at what the situation actually requires instead.The fire hydrant problem Jim tells the story of learning to ride a bike, fixating on the one fire hydrant down the sidewalk, and hitting it. Sellers do the same thing. They stare at the salesperson stereotype they are trying to avoid and steer straight into it. The fix is not to focus harder on what to avoid. It is to map where you actually want to go.Assertive and permissive at the same time Being assertive does not mean pressuring the buyer. We break down how to hold your position while leaving the decision genuinely in the buyer's hands: "I am here to help you decide whether you want this or not. It is completely fine if you don't." Most buyers reached out because something has been frustrating them for months. They are closer to a decision than you think, and pressure is the wrong tool.The clear future commitment We get into the Sandler idea of never ending a call without a clear future commitment: a scheduled meeting on the calendar, a mutually agreed agenda, and a defined outcome. For a lot of people who come to Sandler, that feels almost unthinkable, so they chase instead. We make the case that direct leadership, being crystal clear on when you meet and what happens next, is the healthiest way to move from passive to assertive.Why a plan beats courage Conversations move at a thousand miles a minute. If you have to summon nerve in the moment and invent the words on the spot, you will find every wrong way to say it. We compare it to a shooter at the three-point line who has repped the motion enough that it runs on autopilot. Assertiveness with a plan is not a complicated move.If you tend to avoid being direct because you do not want to pressure anyone, this one reframes the whole thing.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You finally had the hard conversation. You said the thing you had been avoiding. A week later the same behavior is back, and now you are bracing to have the exact same talk all over again.This week we get into the part of hard conversations nobody prepares you for: the follow-up. One conversation does not buy permanent compliance, and no human has ever worked that way. We break down why the reminder matters more than the confrontation, and why quietly treating a person as a problem to fix turns the whole relationship into a game.Five Seconds of Courage Gets You Started; the Follow-Up Gets You Results Working up the nerve to open a hard conversation is a real hurdle. We talk about why thought precedes action, and how our own supposition about the other person's reaction stops us before we say a word. But the courage to bring it up is only the first half. The harder skill is what you do the second, third, and fourth time the issue surfaces.Compliance Is Not a Magic Button A lot of us manage the way a bad manager once managed us: through compliance only. We walk through why that fails, using a simple example of an employee who keeps showing up late. Telling someone to stop is not leadership; finding the gap between what they intend and what they actually do is.Stop Fixing the Person; Start Helping Things Go Right Here is the reframe that changes the conversation. When you treat a person as a problem to fix, you have turned them into an object, and controlling an object that has free agency is manipulation. We swap the fix-it demand for a better question: "How can I help you be on time?" Same issue, completely different posture. It puts ownership where it belongs and takes the finger-pointing out of the room.The General Process Fails the Specific Person Define your process so tightly that every prospect and every person gets handled the same, and you have solved for a category while ignoring the individual. We get into why the payoff grows the more you understand what makes each person different, and why the most efficient move is rarely the most effective one.If you have ever caught yourself thinking "they must have forgotten," or repeating the same feedback until you are sick of your own voice, this episode is about what to do instead.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You are doing the activity. Day after day, the calls and the follow-up and the pipeline work; the results you expected never show up. And the advice you keep hearing is the worst advice there is: try harder.This week I tell a story from a bicycle tour across Wyoming, where I got six flat tires in a single day and fixed every one the same way. I was not getting better at changing a tire; I was managing the emotion of getting another flat. That is the trap, and it has a sales version that quietly costs people their whole year.The cost of managing the emotion instead of the problem Practicing emotional management instead of changing your approach has a cost: it compounds. I patched six flats before I went through the tire itself and found the metal shard that caused all of them. One real diagnosis up front would have saved the other five. The sales version is doing the same activity and never asking what I expect it to do differently tomorrow that it hasn't done yet.The Success Triangle: behavior, attitude, technique Behavior is what you actually do, not what you intend. Attitude is what you believe about what you're trying to accomplish. Technique is how you do the thing. Behavior and attitude with no sharp technique behind them look like one thing from the outside: poor execution dressed up with good intentions.Your cookbook is the dashboard you actually control The cookbook is your daily minimum sales behaviors, the things that tell you a year from now you're still standing. Without it you get the roller coaster: a ton of prospecting, then panic about delivery, then nothing left to deliver, then a scramble back to prospecting. Audit what the cookbook is producing or you're running on hope.Why beating yourself up in private keeps you stuck Shame only survives in the dark. Most of the people around you actually want you to win, strangers included; they just don't know you're struggling, because you never asked. If you don't practice directness about asking for help, everyone keeps going about their day.A mood log audit for your prospecting David Burns covered daily mood logs on his podcast this week. Point that idea straight at sales: right after you hang up a prospecting call, log what you felt, what set it off, the thought underneath it, and a more accurate way to see the same moment. Do that for a couple of weeks and your emotional volatility stops being the weather; it becomes data you can audit the same way you audit your cookbook.Two roads from here. Find the right direction and audit whether the results back it up, or accept that you're at the mercy of your own volatility. The difference between 30 years of experience and one year of experience 30 times is whether you stopped to audit the data and leaned into what was working.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You explain your solution clearly. You make your strongest case. The buyer nods, goes quiet, and the deal never moves. The instinct is to sharpen the pitch; the fix runs the other direction.This week we sit with one idea: for a buyer to see you, you have to see them first. We talk through why the most polished, confident pitch can quietly push people away, and what changes the moment you stop being the one with all the answers.The "look at me" pitch repels the people it's built to win Before Sandler, Jim sold the way most of us were taught: here is what I do, here is how I fix your problem, here is why I am the best option. We unpack the attitude hiding underneath that approach -- "you're broken, I'm not, let me fix you" -- and why it reads as repulsion instead of attraction, no matter how good the solution actually is.From information giver to information receiver The shift is not about talking better; it is about receiving. We get into what happens when you ask questions that pull out things a buyer may not even know about themselves. Bonding and rapport do not inch up. They skyrocket.People change, so stop rejecting yourself on their behalf You reached out. They went cold. So you decided they were a no and moved on. We name the quiet move underneath that: "You didn't reject me; I just didn't hear back. But I'm rejecting it." Priorities change, problems change, people change. Your job is not to paint the solution -- the buyer already knows what a solution looks like -- but to find the gap between the pain they feel and the commitment it takes to close it.Seek first to understand We land on Covey's old habit, the one that still holds: seek first to understand, then to be understood. Show genuine interest in someone at a networking event and watch what happens. Your interest triggers their interest. That is a relationship in the beginning.One scheduling note: starting next week the audio drops Monday, so the episode reaches you heading into the week instead of out of it. Jim is traveling, so Monday is a solo episode, and the video moves to Wednesday.If you're tired of hoping you'll be different tomorrow, give us a call today.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You demonstrate your expertise in the first meeting, the prospect nods along, and then nothing happens. No decision, no follow-up, no deal; just a buyer who walked away with your best thinking for free. We call it unpaid consulting, and it may be the most common deal killer that never gets noticed.This week we break down why salespeople fall into the trap of proving themselves by giving away solutions, and what to do instead.The Beauty Pageant of BidsWhen the buying convention is three quotes and a comparison, every seller performs the same routine: identify problems, propose solutions, attach a price tag. We talk about why the three-bid structure is the easiest place to slip into unpaid consulting, and why standing out by "demonstrating competence" puts you in a lineup instead of a conversation.The Movie Theater ProblemJason offers a frame for why we default to the performance: a sales call runs on a social construct, the same way an audience suspends disbelief at a movie. Buyers stereotype you as a salesperson; you either push back or play the part. Most of us play the part.Insecurity Disguised as ExpertiseJim names the real driver. Most salespeople are insecure about their lack of knowledge of the buyer, so they compensate with an abundance of knowledge about their subject. The Sandler shift flips it: you may be the expert in your field, but you know nothing about this buyer until you build expertise about them first.Doing Nothing Is the Most Popular SolutionThe most used way humans solve a problem is to do nothing. We talk about why finding a prospect's commitment matters more than proving your capability, and why a good discovery process disqualifies the bad-fit clients you would otherwise regret winning.Jim also shares the two years he wasted trying to make the Sandler system fit his business before learning the lesson the hard way: it is a proven system, just work the system.If this resonated, check out last week's episode on reticular activation, where we cover why you cannot stop noticing something once you have learned to see it.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You run a strong call. You hear the problem, you explain how you would fix it, you watch the prospect nod along. Then nothing. The deal that felt alive goes quiet, and you are left wondering what changed.On this episode we look at the brain science underneath that silence. The reticular activating system is the filter that decides what you notice; we see what we have been programmed to see. For a seller, that filter is dangerous: a prospect names a problem, you instantly hear your solution, and you start presenting before you have finished listening.Why your best advice talks you out of the deal When you hand a prospect the fix for free, you do not create urgency; you create relief. They feel the problem is handled, so the compelling reason to act disappears. Instead of a reason to move forward, they walk away with a justification for living with it longer.Coming in with a clean plate The alternative is to interrupt your own pattern. We talk about arriving void of assumptions, listening instead of solving, and resisting the pull toward premature presentation that turns discovery into unpaid consulting.A device that activates their awareness Jim walks through the intake process he actually uses: a short qualifying call, then a survey built to switch on the prospect's own filter. The goal is not to tell them what is wrong; it is to help them discover a problem they had stopped noticing and quantify what it costs them.What the buyer's filter is hunting for Your prospect has a filter too, and it is scanning for the stereotype of a salesperson out for blood. We get into why a flash of insecurity reads as hidden motive, and why practicing your questions and your presentation is not polish; it is trust.Want to feel this for yourself? Email us and we will send you the same survey Jim uses, so you can experience your own awareness sharpen through the lens of selling.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

There is a conversation you have been putting off. You know which one. Maybe it is the cold call you have been postponing for a week; maybe it is the awkward check-in with a stalled prospect; maybe it is the honest conversation with a team member who keeps missing the number. The longer you avoid it, the more it costs you.In this episode, we break down the Sandler concept of the pattern interrupt and how to combine it with an upfront contract to open conversations most people avoid. We start with cold calling as the entry point: when you open with "this is a cold call, do you want to hang up?" you do something the prospect has never heard, and most of them lean in instead of hanging up. From there, we expand the same move into family conversations, stalled deals, and any situation where the other person has already braced for what you are about to say.Why pattern interrupts workCold calls fail because prospects know what is coming and have a script ready to end the call. Pattern interrupts strip the script out of the conversation. When you say something the other person did not expect, you have their attention for the next few seconds. That attention is what you needed.The cold call opener Jim has used for yearsJim walks through the "this is a cold call, do you want to hang up?" opener, what happens when prospects say yes, and how he turns the rare "yes, hang up" answer into a conversation about why they think more sales would not fix a problem in their business.Pattern interrupt plus upfront contractCatching attention is step one. Step two is asking permission to have the conversation you actually wanted to have. We walk through how to name the difficulty out loud, propose how the two of you should handle it, and only then move into the substance. The same move works whether you are talking to a prospect, a team member, or a family member.The pre-mortem on a conversation that scares youBefore a high-stakes conversation, run it in reverse. Imagine it went poorly. Why? The fears living in your head are usually the fears living in the other person's head, and surfacing them first removes most of the risk.Doing nothing is still a decisionThe Sandler rule we land on: the refusal to take action is a decision. Avoidance is not neutral. It is a bet that the situation will resolve itself, and most situations do not. We close with a question worth asking yourself: where are you watching a slow-motion train wreck, and what would it cost to interrupt it?The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You finish another sales call. You move on to the next meeting. Two weeks later, you cannot recall what you committed to or what the buyer actually said about budget; you also cannot say whether the call went well by any measure beyond gut feel. This week we unpack the two bookends that decide whether your sales calls compound into skill: the pre-call plan and the post-call debrief.Ride-alongs were never a training systemWe open with the years Jim spent training new salespeople by inviting them along on calls. The instructions sounded reasonable: take notes, write down what you saw, describe how you would do it in your words. Every notebook came back the same. Blank, or random, or incoherent. The gap was not effort or talent: it was the absence of a trainable process behind the selling.Becoming the expert in themMost salespeople prepare for a discovery meeting by reviewing what they sell. We argue the preparation that actually moves the call is the opposite: becoming the expert in the buyer, not the offering. We work through the moment a prospect says "you're the expert, you tell me," and how to redirect that energy without surrendering authority. An upfront contract sets the expectation on both sides: you will ask questions, they will answer them.Memory is a loose toolAfter the call, most of us hope. We hope we remember what we said we would do. We hope we recall the buyer's specific words about pain or budget. Memory does not deliver on that hope; what it does deliver is a sharper recollection of what everyone else did wrong. Without a structured debrief, every call becomes a one-off event instead of a data point you can learn from.Why AI is only as good as the sales language you give itJim has been experimenting with an AI scorecard that rates his own calls red, yellow, or green against the Sandler selling system. The data does not lie; the readout has been humbling. We work through why the same tool is dangerous in the hands of a seller with no sales language to map against. Without structure, AI returns platitudes, placating responses, generalities. Pattern recognition only sharpens skill when it is tied to specifics you have already defined.The closing point matters most. Behavior is not what you think you should do. Behavior is what you actually do. The pre-call plan and the post-call debrief are how you close the gap between the two.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

A client comes at you upset. Maybe a deal went sideways, maybe a promise got missed, maybe they just had a hard week and you are the closest target. Your instinct is to defend, explain, or jump straight to fixing it. That instinct is the problem.This week we walk through how to disarm someone in the middle of a hard conversation without losing the relationship or your own footing. We start with why arguing back against an irrational position only entrenches it, then move into the practiced habit of acknowledging what is true in what the other person is saying before anything else.Nurture, nurture, nurture We open with one of the most repeated Sandler rules and tie it to a basic human need: to feel seen, heard, or felt. A frustrated client is not looking for your logic; they are looking for vindication. Skipping that step shuts the conversation down before it begins.The three responses that make it worse Blame, defend, fix. We break down why each of these is a natural reaction and why each one tells the other person that their emotions do not matter. If you do not control the emotion in the room, the emotion will control every future conversation.Fight, freeze, or flee We talk through the three default modes people fall into when conflict shows up, and why none of them gets you back to a healthy relationship. Bad news is not like wine; it does not improve with time. Avoiding the conversation is almost always the most expensive option.Conflict as the doorway to intimacy The reframe that changes everything. Conflict is not the thing that breaks a client relationship; it is the thing that deepens one when handled well. We talk about how to find something genuinely positive to say in the heat of a disagreement, and why that small move resets the entire dynamic.The ownership question The simplest disarming move is one question: should I have seen this coming before they brought it to me? In most cases, yes. We walk through how to acknowledge that without falling into apology theater, and how a third-party story with a soft disclaimer can replace finger-pointing in a tense moment.If you handle frustrated clients, anxious prospects, or hard internal conversations as part of your week, this is the episode for you.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You spend ten hours qualifying a prospect; they return your calls, agree to the next meeting, never quite say yes. You tell yourself one more conversation gets them across the line. The relationship feels good, so you keep going.On this episode, we work through the gap between being likable and being credible: the gap that quietly turns well-intentioned sellers into accommodating helpers their prospects never quite buy from.Likability Is Not Credibility Every salesperson grows up on the maxim that people buy from people they like. We talk about how that belief gets twisted into a behavior pattern: giving prospects everything they ask for, demonstrating expertise on demand, avoiding anything that might feel uncomfortable. Credibility runs in the other direction. It is built by challenging things that may not be in the buyer's best interest, by holding equal business stature, by being a trusted advisor instead of a helpful answer machine.The Sunken Cost Spiral in a Sales Cycle Ten hours in, what is another two? We pull apart the trap of stretching a sales cycle because the time is already spent. If you had disqualified the prospect at hour two, would the next ten hours have gone toward a real opportunity? The longer the puttering continues, the lower expectations drop on both sides; by the time you ask for a decision, the relationship cannot hold the weight of the ask.The Upfront Contract Reset The shift sounds simple: move away from "what can I do to help you want to buy from me?" and move toward "let's determine if we are a good fit, and we may not be." We talk through what it takes to install that pattern, and why the answer is practice, not a switch you flip on demand.Winging It vs. Working a System Jim offers the analogy that finally broke the pattern for him. If a bookkeeper picked and chose when to apply generally accepted accounting practices, you would fire them on the spot. Yet most sellers wing it with existing clients while reserving the system for new ones. Customizing how you deliver the system to fit a personality is fine; abandoning the system is what creates the inconsistency that costs you deals.Knowing Which Hills to Die On Buyers act like children at times; they want to die on every hill. The seller's job is to know which hills actually matter for the buyer's outcome and disqualify the rest, including the prospects who keep pushing buttons to see what gives.If you have been running existing relationships on autopilot and the deals feel softer than they used to, this conversation is the reset.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You know your sales routine has become predictable; you also know that some part of you keeps making excuses for why now is not the time to change anything.That gap is the topic of this episode. We talk about why salespeople and sales leaders fall into mental autopilot, why awareness is biologically expensive (the brain is 2% of your body weight but burns 20% of your calories, so it actively tries to coast), and what to do about it.Why Autopilot Wins By DefaultYour brain conserves energy by treating familiar situations as routine. The fifth sales call of the day is not as sharp as the first. The new prospect who reminds you of an old prospect gets handled like the old one. The discount request triggers an automatic 10% concession because that is how you have always handled it. None of this is a character flaw; it is the way the system is designed.The Bobsled TrackWe use the metaphor of a sledding hill. The first run is slow, awkward, full of friction. By the thousandth run, the track is packed and there is nothing slowing you down. That is your sales day. Your scripts, your habits, your default responses are the sled. The only question worth asking is whether they are still serving you.Become a Friction EngineerThe fix is not dramatic and it is not a broad commitment. It is a 45-second daily practice we walk through in the episode: an upfront contract with yourself, written down, read out loud every morning before the day takes over. The point is to engineer friction back into your routine so awareness arrives before 11 a.m. instead of after the fires have already started.Firefighting Versus Fire MarshalingJim makes the point that firefighting feels effective. You handled a thing. You crossed a thing off. But the real win is what does not start in the first place. The morning practice turns you into a fire marshal for your own day, walking through the traps before they get sprung.If you sell for a living and you have noticed that your week looks a lot like last week, this episode is for you.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Most salespeople will tell you they have a process. What they actually have is a set of habits that work often enough to feel like success; that is not a system. In this episode, we make the case for the sales playbook most reps resist, and we explain why the resistance itself is the real problem.We get into the head trash that makes scripts feel inauthentic, the reason actors get celebrated for doing the exact same thing we are asking salespeople to do, and why most reps feel good about their calls until someone else is in the room.Why Scripts Feel InauthenticThe first reaction to a sales script is almost always the same: these are not my words. We talk through that reaction and offer a different frame. Actors memorize lines and deliver them convincingly; that is the skill we celebrate them for. A salesperson preparing responses to common buyer situations is doing the same work.The 90 Percent RuleIf you have been selling for more than a year, you have already seen 89 or 90 percent of what a buyer is going to do or say in any given situation. A playbook captures those patterns. Instead of improvising, you come in prepared, anticipating what might happen, locked and loaded with how you will respond.Why "Winging It" Breaks Down Under VisibilityMost reps feel fine about a call when they are the only one in the room. Put a manager on a ride-along and suddenly the wheels come off. That gap is not random; it is the difference between a routine that works ish and a process that can be coached.You Already Have a Script (You Just Do Not Know It)The salesperson who swears they do not use a script is running one anyway. It is just unconscious, stitched together from reactive habits that work maybe 55 percent of the time. In school, 55 percent is failing. In sales, it is a career.You Cannot Listen and Plan at the Same TimeWhen you are thinking about what to say next, you are not hearing the buyer. Jim talks through how this was the pain that finally broke him of winging it, even at a respectable 30 percent close rate. The ratio looked fine. The experience was exhausting.Without a Plan, There Is Nothing to CoachIf a rep cannot describe what they intended to do on a call, there is nothing for a manager to work with. Intention is where coaching begins. Without it, feedback becomes two people arguing about two different versions of what they think happened.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Your last lost deal probably was not lost in the proposal. It was lost in the discovery call, when you heard a prospect describe a problem and assumed you already knew what they meant.Jim is back from an unexpected hiatus -- a sepsis diagnosis that put him in the hospital and gave him a front-row seat to one of the most disciplined diagnostic processes in the world. Three specialists, exhaustive testing, no assumptions. We unpack what that experience taught us about how salespeople actually run discovery, where assumptions creep in, and why the best sellers operate more like physicians than presenters.Diagnose before you prescribeThe instinct in sales is to hear a familiar problem and reach for a familiar solution. The instinct in medicine is the opposite: ask, test, collaborate, then treat. We talk through why that sequence matters and how it changes the quality of every deal that follows.Team selling and the cost of frictionJim watched specialists collaborate over text instead of in the same room, and he could feel the friction slowing things down. The same friction shows up on sales teams every day: the engineer, the account manager, the CSM, all working a deal but never in proximity. We discuss what to do about it.The upfront contract as theaterBefore Jim's endoscopy, the team ran a checklist out loud: patient name, procedure, anything missed. That moment of structured clarity is exactly what an upfront contract is supposed to do on a sales call. We break down why that visible discipline builds buyer confidence the way nothing else can.The Dictionary of Misunderstood WordsWhen the doctor asked Jim how often he gets headaches, he said he does not get them. He had been having headaches for a year and stopped noticing. The same gap shows up every time a prospect uses the word "investment," "growth," "support," or "problem." We dig into how to surface those definitions before they cost you the deal.The real disservice of assumptionsThe biggest disservice in sales is not failing to close. It is assuming you know what the buyer means before they have finished telling you. We talk about the curiosity and skepticism that protect you from that trap.If this resonated, you will get a lot out of our earlier conversations on upfront contracts and on running discovery calls that uncover real pain.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Your prospect was engaged, the call felt good, and then the follow-ups went into a black hole. If that pattern keeps repeating, the problem probably is not your product; it is that you played it too safe.This week Jim is still out recovering, so Jason goes solo on a rule that separates professional salespeople from order takers: go looking for trouble. Trouble is the thing the prospect is hiding, the consequence they are minimizing, the budget question they are dodging. We unpack why pushing into that tension is the only reliable way to raise your equal business stature and move a deal forward.Why playing it safe backfires Prospects walk in with a stereotype of what a salesperson is; their defenses are already up. A salesperson who avoids friction reinforces that stereotype and becomes easy to reject behind their back. No hard questions, no real conversation, no real relationship.Information is not the product If information alone closed deals, every prospect would already be wealthy and healthy. The more data you hand over without pushback, the more confident the prospect becomes that they can solve the problem on their own. We talk about the ratio of questions to information that keeps you positioned as a guide, not a brochure.The "you're the expert, what does it cost" trap When a prospect baits you into naming a price early, they are usually setting up a bid comparison where every option looks like the same piece of fruit. We walk through why that framing is a loss for you and how hard questions reroute the conversation back to consequences and fit.Uncovering why they actually came to the table Nobody wakes up wanting to switch operating systems, switch vendors, or rebuild a process. Something pushed them. We talk about probing for that push instead of assuming their problem matches the last five deals you closed.The two easiest salespeople to reject The order taker who never pushes back, and the know-it-all who prescribes before diagnosing. Both get cut first. We explain why.The one takeaway for the week: in every sales conversation, ask at least one question you can point to afterward and say, "that was the hard one." If you are getting ghosted, there is a good chance you are not asking it yet.Good for sales professionals, sales managers, and anyone running a consultative sales process who is tired of deals stalling after a "great" first call.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You sat through the training. You took the notes. A week later, you cannot recall half of what you learned. That is not a discipline problem; it is a memory problem, and it has a name.In this solo episode, I walk through the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve and what it means for salespeople on two fronts: how you retain the skills you are trying to build, and how your prospects retain what you tell them.The Numbers Are BrutalWithin one day of any learning experience, roughly 60% of it is gone. By the end of the week, you are sitting at 90% loss. This is not a failure of effort. It is default brain function. Unless you do something deliberate to counter it, your mind works against you.Your Prospects Are Forgetting You TooThe same curve applies to your pipeline. A prospect reads your newsletter, gets interested, and then life happens. If your follow-up sequence does not reinforce that initial interest within a day or two, the forgetting curve does its work. The gap between "I have a newsletter" and "I have a sequence" is the gap between hoping someone remembers you and making sure they do.Just-in-Case Learning vs. Just-in-Time LearningThere is a shift happening. The old model was reading ten or fifteen business books so you would be prepared when a situation arose. Just-in-case learning. AI has made just-in-time learning possible: feed it your specific problem, get structured answers, find the resources, move. But the efficiency comes with a catch. The more time you save, the more things you find to change, and suddenly the prep work to use AI well eats the time you thought you were saving.Grade Yourself in Real TimeThe most actionable piece of this episode: use conversational intelligence tools (Fathom, Granola, Plaud) to transcribe your sales meetings, then run those transcripts through an AI prompt built around the specific behavior you are working on. Define what a 10 looks like. Define what a 1 looks like. Get scored on every call. The difference between this and a weekly debrief from your manager is the difference between finding broccoli in your teeth at 8 a.m. and finding it at 6 p.m.Retention Is Not an AccidentWithout deliberate reinforcement, your growth is restricted to pain moments. You get embarrassed enough, you change. Otherwise, you wait for a crisis to teach you. Devotionals, daily prompts, written scripts of what you want your upfront contract to sound like: these are the tools that keep the thing you are working on at the front of your mind before the situation that demands it shows up.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You have been doing this for years. You know the process, you know the objections, you know your product inside and out. So why would you spend a thousand dollars and a few days of travel to sit in a training room?We just got back from the 2026 Sandler Selling Summit in Orlando, and this episode is our debrief. We talk about what we saw, what surprised us, and why Jim, after 25 years in Sandler, still walks away from every session feeling like he learned something new.Mastery Is Not a DestinationThere is a difference between knowing a subject and having it flow naturally from you. We break down what mastery looks like in practice: not just competence, but the curiosity to keep asking what you do not know. That curiosity is what separates experienced salespeople who plateau from those who keep growing.You Cannot Be Curious and Afraid at the Same TimeKeynote speaker Rebecca Heiss made a point that stuck with both of us. Our brains are still wired for fight or flight, even when the "threat" is an email or a cold call. Her insight: curiosity and fear cannot coexist. No one feels curious while a tiger is running at them. The practical question for salespeople is how to shift from a fear response into a curiosity response when the pressure is on.The Power of Being in the RoomThe sessions were excellent, but some of the most valuable moments happened at lunch, at dinner, during breakouts. Being around people who have committed to the same methodology and share the same language creates a kind of energy that is hard to replicate on a Zoom call. We contrast that with a conversation we had this week: a client who is excited about AI and technology, but has no one in his organization who shares that interest. When you are pushing uphill to share your enthusiasm, it drains you. Events like the Summit solve that problem.If You Are Going to Dance, LeadWe revisit one of Sandler's core principles: the seller should lead the buyer to a conclusion, whether that conclusion is "yes, we are a great fit" or "no, we are not." Both are good outcomes. Having the structure to guide that process eliminates the emotional roller coaster of being ghosted after a great meeting.2027 Sandler Summit: April 12-13, OrlandoNext year's Summit is already on the calendar. The investment is roughly $1,000 plus travel, and we are making a push to bring more of our Idaho clients out to experience it firsthand. If you are interested, reach out to us directly.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Most salespeople who score low on criticism tolerance already know it. They can give you examples before you finish the sentence. The problem is that knowing does not change the default response when feedback actually arrives.In this episode, we connect the concept of a daily devotional to something salespeople deal with every day: the gap between what the assessment says and how you actually behave under pressure.Why Awareness Without a Plan Just Makes It WorseScoring sensitive to criticism on a Haber or Extended DISC assessment gives you a label. It does not give you a response. Without a plan, that score becomes a club to beat yourself with after the fact. We talk through why awareness alone keeps you anchored in self-criticism rather than moving you toward actual change.The Devotional as a Sales Behavior ToolA personal devotional does not have to be spiritual to be useful. Two paragraphs, read out loud, before your day starts. The point is simple: if you read a plan for how to respond to criticism differently every morning for two weeks, you change the probability that you actually respond differently when it happens. That is not motivation; it is programming.What a Criticism Tolerance Talk Track Sounds LikeJim walks through an actual affirmation built around criticism tolerance. A specific internal script, not a vague aspiration: I recognize areas I want to improve; I am eager to hear what others say; when I hear something difficult, my first response is curiosity. That is the rudder Jim references throughout the episode. Read it out loud every morning. That is the entire system.The Sandler Success Triangle AngleBehavior is what you actually did, not what you intended to do. If you are managing your behavior on autopilot, you are not managing it at all. The devotional interrupts that default; it shifts you from autopilot to awareness, and from awareness to a repeatable plan.If you have an assessment on file and one competency keeps coming up, this episode gives you a practical starting point for addressing it.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Title: How to Stay Top of Mind With Clients Without Being AnnoyingDescription:You know you should stay in touch with clients and prospects. You also know that most of your outreach feels hollow, sporadic, forced. If the only time someone hears from you is when you need something, that is not a relationship; it is a transaction with a lag time.We break down the concept of the fuzzy file: a simple system for tracking what actually matters to the people in your network so your outreach lands with intention, not accident. Jim traces the idea back to his dad's tickler file. A recipe box. Three-by-five cards. Each one held a client's name, a phone number, and the things that mattered to them. No CRM, no automation. Just a daily habit of picking a card and picking up the phone.The Facebook Birthday Effect When Facebook started surfacing birthdays, a personal gesture became a flood. The first year felt genuine. The second year felt obligatory. By the third, people were hiding their birthdays because the outreach had lost its meaning. The same dynamic plays out in sales. Automate your way out of genuine connection and the system runs, but nobody is behind it.The Chiropractor Card vs. The Car Salesman Who Still Writes Jim shares two stories that sit at opposite ends of the same spectrum. He still receives a birthday card every year from a chiropractor he has not visited in 15 years. No relationship, no follow-up, no context. Just an auto-dial nobody turned off. The first time it was nice; the second time, a little campy; now it is noise. Compare that to a vehicle salesperson who sends Jim's stepmom a handwritten note every year on the anniversary of her purchase. She moved to Alabama. She will never buy from him again. He writes anyway. The difference is not the system, not the frequency, not the medium. It is motivation: a compassionate heart that wants the relationship versus a mercenary heart that wants the money.Why Visibility Beats Urgency Every 90 to 180 days your clients go through transitions. New priorities, new problems, new budgets. If you are visible when those shifts happen, you are a choice. If you are not, they solve the problem with whoever is in front of them. It does not matter how strong your relationship used to be. We frame the fuzzy file as passive prospecting: the structured approach to building referrals and staying relevant between the deals you close.Jim closes with a question worth sitting with. Am I the kind of person people want to refer business to? They will not refer you because of the project you delivered or the product you sold. They will refer you because of who you are. So be that person.If this resonated, check out our recent episode "Relationship Management: Gratitude That Lands, Not Just Words" where we dig into the TSP framework for making appreciation specific and meaningful.Audio quality will be back to normal next week!The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You've probably heard it — maybe you've even thought it yourself: "I can just pull Sandler techniques from ChatGPT. Why would I pay for training?" It's a fair question, and it's one we hear more and more. But it misses something fundamental about how people actually get better at selling, communicating, and showing up in conversations that matter.In this episode, we dig into why technical competence is rapidly becoming a commodity — and what that means for anyone whose livelihood depends on conversations. The short version: if everyone has access to the same techniques, the differentiator isn't what you know. It's how well you execute when the pressure is on and your blind spots are running the show."Do I Really Sound Like That?" — The Blind Spot Problem AI Can't SolveJim shares an analogy that lands: we've all heard our own voice on a recording and cringed. Now imagine that same disconnect applied to how you communicate in a sales call — except nobody's hitting playback for you. A technique pulled from an AI prompt doesn't help you see past your own patterns. Structured practice with feedback does.The Selling System That Starts With Listening, Not PitchingWe break down what makes Sandler fundamentally different from traditional sales training. Most people picture a great salesperson as someone who's persuasive and articulate. In the Sandler world, the best sellers are the best listeners — capturing what the other person is thinking and feeling, then determining fit. Jim describes a recent sales call where someone pitched him a solution to a barely-defined problem, and how that disconnect killed the interaction despite genuine enthusiasm from the seller.People Buy for Their Reasons, Not YoursThis is the line that should be taped to every salesperson's monitor. We talk about why passion for your solution — without curiosity about what your prospect actually wants — comes across as pushy. And why the fix isn't to tone down your energy, but to redirect it toward understanding before prescribing.We're kicking off our next Sales Essentials bootcamp on April 7th — ten weeks, 90 minutes every Tuesday. It's designed as a 10,000-foot view of the Sandler system: concepts to build understanding, techniques to drive action, and weekly accountability to make sure you're actually doing the work. Reach out to Jason at [email protected] if you want to learn more.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You fought hard to get the meeting — but once you're in the conversation, do you actually know what to do next? Most salespeople spend half the call figuring out their next move instead of executing a plan. Jim and Jason break down what a real sales playbook looks like — not scripts, but a defined operating system that takes a prospect from "I heard you do good work" to a closed deal and raving fan. They cover where to start building yours: identifying what you get for free in your sales process, running autopsies on dead deals, flushing the "maybes" from a bloated pipeline, and knowing whether your CRM is driving your behavior or you're driving it. If you've ever ended a sales call with "let's schedule another meeting" because you didn't know how to close — this one's for you. The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Hook: You fought for the meeting, navigated the decision-making process, handled the objections, and got the signature. So why is the deal still at risk? The uncomfortable truth is that the period between a signed contract and the first deliverable is one of the most dangerous stretches in the entire sales cycle — and most sellers treat it like a vacation.Summary: This week on The Sandler Training Hour, we step outside the typical prospecting-and-pipeline conversation to tackle what happens after the close. We dig into why buyer's remorse doesn't just live in the moment of purchase — it festers in silence — and what we need to build into our post-sale process to keep clients engaged, informed, and confident they made the right decision.Key Topics CoveredEmpathy for the Buyer's Journey Doesn't End at the Signature Before a buyer ever reaches us, they've already been cycling through indecision: Should we do this? Should we still do this? By the time they sign, they've made a big emotional commitment — and they're ready for what comes next. If we go silent, we leave them sitting alone with that decision, and that's where cancellations are born. We talk about why recognizing the weight of their commitment is the first step in protecting the deal.Jim's "Ring the Bell" Ritual — Building a Celebration Into Your Close Jim shares a story from his remodeling sales days: a large showroom, a school-style bell mounted at the front of the office, and a ritual where every new client was invited to ring it. Half a dozen team members would pour out of their offices, clapping and congratulating. It transformed the emotional residue of a long, difficult buying decision into an exclamation point — a peak moment that cemented the client's confidence. We discuss why building a deliberate celebration into your process matters more than you think, and how to adapt the concept regardless of what you sell.The Timeline, The Point of Contact, and the Communication Cadence We break down the three non-negotiables for the post-sale handoff: (1) a clear timeline showing the client exactly when they will hear from you and about what, (2) a named primary point of contact so they never wonder who to call, and (3) a communication cadence that keeps them informed even when there's nothing new to report. The lesson: define who takes the next action, or the client will take theirs.Over-Communication Is Almost Never the Problem We challenge the instinct to hold back because you're afraid of "bothering" the client. Jim's team called clients every two days when a product was late — even just to say "no update yet" — and never once received a complaint. The real risk isn't that you communicate too much; it's that you mind-read your way into silence. And if you're the kind of person who prides yourself on "reading the room," we push back on that too: reading a room without acting on what you see is functionally the same as not reading it at all.Challenge of the Week Audit your post-sale process this week. Map the timeline from signed contract to first deliverable and ask yourself: does my client know exactly what happens next, when they'll hear from us, and who to contact if something feels off? If any of those answers are unclear — or if the answer is "silence" — build the communication bridge before you lose the next deal you've already won.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

The Myth of the Helpful ServantThe traditional sales trope is a landscape of desperation, where professionals beg for entry at closing doors and allow clients to dominate the narrative under the guise of "good customer service". We are conditioned to believe that "under-promising and over-delivering" is the gold standard, yet this often devolves into over-promising, under-delivering, and a subsequent erosion of professional credibility. When we allow ourselves to be stereotyped as "less than," we surrender our agency and invite the very scope creep and budget overruns that sabotage our success.In this episode, we dissect the psychology of Equal Business Stature—the radical notion that your value as a professional is equivalent to the client's value as a buyer. We explore how to dismantle the "subservient posture" that plagues sales interactions and replace it with a disciplined, assertive framework that demands respect. By separating identity from role, you can move past the "victim loop" of externalizing failure and begin to own the responsibility of being a true peer in the boardroom.Key Topics CoveredThe Trap of Unequal Stature: Unequal business stature occurs when a provider allows a client to dominate through over-accommodation and a failure to set boundaries. This often stems from a "less than" posture—the subtle habit of asking "What can I do to earn your business?"—which predisposes the salesperson to a subservient position simply because the buyer holds the money.The "Foot in the Door" Fallacy: We use the visceral metaphor of a person trying to force their foot into a closing shop door to illustrate the power struggle of desperation. If you are desperate to get in, you have already ceded authority to the person pulling the door shut; true professionals recognize that acting out of desperation is never in their best interest and choose instead to exude the authority of their professionalism.The President-to-President Mindset: To visualize equality, consider a conversation between the presidents of Ford and GMC; there are no "mother I" shenanigans or attempts to "one up" because they see each other as equals. Maintaining this mindset allows for honest, open communication where you can admit when you are "over your head" or lack an answer without sabotaging your results.Assertiveness as the Antidote: Assertiveness is the specific tactical requirement for maintaining stature. It moves a professional away from passivity—where they are merely taking orders and being "friendly"—toward a structured process where expectations are set early, boundaries are held, and bad news is delivered right away.Challenge of the WeekThe battle for equal stature begins in the brain through a shift toward a growth mindset. Your task this week is to identify one specific area of your life where you can practice being more assertive. Create a "talk track" to validate this shift, play out the exact words you will say, and practice them until you feel confident. Do not wait for the moment to arrive to "adapt"; prepare the plan now so you don't forget your value when the pressure is on.About the ShowJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Bringing a Subject Matter Expert (SME) or technical lead into a sales meeting can add immense credibility, but without the right guardrails, it often creates a "operations centric" call rather than a "sales centric" one. Technical experts often equate helping with teaching, leading to deep dives into the weeds that can confuse the prospect and accidentally migrate the meeting into "unpaid consulting".In this episode, Jim and Jason Stephens explore the critical dynamic between sales and operations. They discuss how to choreograph team selling situations to ensure technical competence supports the sales process rather than hijacking it.KEY TOPICS COVEREDThe "Confused Mind Says No": Jim warns that support staff often feel their job is to demonstrate exactly how much they know to validate their presence. However, this flood of information often tilts the buyer’s thinking from "let's do this" to "I hadn't thought about that, maybe I'm not ready.". The team must balance expertise with clarity, remembering that a confused buyer rarely buys.Defining the RACI Roles: To prevent the meeting from going off-road, Jim applies the RACI model (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) to the sales call. Regardless of who is speaking, the salesperson remains the "Responsible" party charged with shepherding the buyer to a decision. The technical expert is there to consult, not to drive the strategy.Internal Upfront Contracts & Safe Words: Jason suggests establishing clear signals—or "safe words"—before the meeting begins to manage flow. Whether it’s a phrase like "That's a good point" or a physical cue like tugging an ear, the team needs a pre-agreed method to pivot the conversation back to the sales track without looking disjointed or unprofessional to the client.Orchestration Over Luck: Hoping that operations does a good job and sales does a good job is not a strategy; the "batting average for getting lucky" is significantly lower than training and practice. The hosts emphasize the need for mock presentations to align the team on the specific strategy of the call so the client sees a cohesive unit rather than a disconnect.CHALLENGE OF THE WEEKReview your internal preparation process before your next joint call. Don't just "wing it"; put in the work to establish an internal Upfront Contract with your operations team regarding expectations and roles. Determine your "safe words" or signals to ensure you can correct the trajectory of the meeting if technical details get too heavy.ABOUT THE SHOWJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

IntroMany talented professionals find themselves trapped by a "tolerance gap," where the fear of underdelivering or the subtle self-sabotage of the fear of success keeps them from turning their mastery into a thriving business. We often let amorphous anxieties—the "imposter" feeling or the worry of failing to meet expectations—prevent us from taking the calculated risks necessary for growth.In this episode, Jim and Jason Stephens explore the psychological battle of balancing a growth mindset against the inherent risks of professional advancement. They break down how to ground your risk tolerance in reality and why "winging it" is often just as dangerous as total risk avoidance.Key Topics CoveredThe Subtle Sabotage of the Fear of Success: While the fear of failure is a common motivator, Jim highlights that the fear of success is often harder to identify because it is so subtle. Subconsciously, professionals may fear that success will force them to live outside their comfort zone, requiring them to find new clients, generate revenue, and transform a passionate hobby into a high-pressure job.Naming and Granularizing Your Fears: Jason emphasizes that to overcome the things that prevent action, you must get "in the weeds" to define exactly what you are afraid of. By moving away from amorphous descriptions and getting as granular as possible—such as imagining the specific frustration of a partner or client—you can objectively evaluate the consequences of a risk.The Worst Case vs. Best Case Framework: Instead of being reckless or avoidant, the hosts suggest a deliberate risk assessment: identify the worst-case scenario, determine if you can live with it, and then decide if the best-case outcome is worth the fight. This calculation helps transition from "intuitive" risk-taking to a more effective "planning" approach.Building "Guts" Through Low-Stakes Practice: Jim shares an anecdote about his early days door-knocking, where he would sit in his car and realize the worst thing that could happen was being "thrown out by the scruff of the neck". By practicing courage in low-stakes environments like cold calling or door-to-door prospecting, you reap the benefit of "gut building" for the moments when the gain is truly sizable.CHALLENGE OF THE WEEKIdentify a risk you have been avoiding and pinpoint your specific part in "not doing the thing". Stop defaulting to blaming your environment or external influences; instead, name the specific fear holding you back and evaluate whether the worst-case scenario is truly as dangerous as your mind has made it out to be.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Are you entering 2026 with a strategy, or just a "hope-based" mindset?Many salespeople confuse a positive mood with a winning strategy, relying on hope that things will go well rather than executing measurable activities. If you feel like the world is going wrong, or if you are naturally skeptical, you might be sabotaging your own growth before the year even begins.In this episode, Jim and Jason Stephens make the case for why 2026 is going to be the best year yet. They break down the mathematics of opportunity in the US economy and discuss the critical difference between consuming information and "shipping" results. Jim opens up about his own struggle with being a "glass half empty" person and the specific audit he uses to keep his mindset from becoming a constraint.KEY TOPICS COVEREDThe GDP Reality CheckRegardless of what the news cycle implies, business in America is on the rise. Jason breaks down the $43 trillion US GDP [correction, 29 trillion in 2024, 30 trillion in 2025]  to illustrate that your specific sales goal is a tiny, achievable percentage of the available market. If you measure the math against the opportunity, success is realistic.Attitude is a System, Not a MoodJason distinguishes between "mindset"—which can often devolve into hoping things go well—and "attitude," which is your core belief system. You cannot outperform your mental self-image; to have a great year, you must align your belief system with your behavior system.Jim’s "Glass Half Empty" AuditJim discusses his personal battle with skepticism and "realistic" thinking that often masquerades as negativity. He details his process of auditing his thoughts to identify constraints and verifying his core values by looking at his calendar and checkbook. If you aren't investing time or money into a belief, it isn't a core value.Shipping the Signal vs. Consuming the NoiseJason introduces his potential themes for the year: "The Year of the Alchemist" and "Ship the Signal". The focus is on moving away from endless information consumption (digest) and prioritizing output (shipping projects) to avoid getting stuck in the noise.CHALLENGE OF THE WEEKDefine Your 2026 Annual Theme.Jim’s theme is "Choice," focusing on the decisions made in every moment, while Jason is focusing on "Input/Output". Your challenge is to determine your guiding theme for 2026. Ask yourself: Do your dreams feel random, or are they a result of what you are consuming? Once you have your theme, share it with the team—if it's good enough, they might just steal it.ABOUT THE SHOWJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Most salespeople learn to treat an objection like a surprise attack—something they must battle with logic the moment it happens. However, this reactive approach usually leads to "salesperson ping pong," an argument where nobody wins and the prospect eventually shuts down.In this episode, hosts Jason and Jim Stephens break down the concept of "objection awareness." They discuss why veteran salespeople should never be surprised by a roadblock and how to stop relying on creative improvisation in favor of a "locked and loaded" plan that disarms pressure and keeps the sale moving.KEY TOPICS COVEREDThe "Creative" Bookkeeper Analogy Jim challenges the common resistance to using scripts: the fear of being inauthentic. He asks listeners to imagine a bookkeeper who decides to be "creative" every time they open an account rather than following standard accounting principles. Just as you want a bookkeeper who follows a process, successful selling requires following a system rather than relying on personality or "winging it".Building Your Objection Playbook If you have been in sales for more than a year, you have likely experienced every obstacle you are ever going to face. Rather than reinventing the wheel every time a prospect says "no," Jim and Jason advocate for building a specific playbook with pre-planned, multiple-choice responses for positive, negative, and neutral scenarios.Systematic vs. Gregarious Selling Jason highlights a paradox in sales: the "gregarious, people-oriented" salesperson often struggles because they rely on their ability to improvise and "be genuine" rather than planning. Conversely, systematic people often adapt to Sandler faster because they are concerned with "not knowing what to do," forcing them to build a plan before they act.Reviewing the Game Tape Self-awareness is critical for growth. Jim shares his personal practice of reviewing video recordings of his Zoom sales calls to analyze his reactions under pressure. The camera doesn't lie, and reviewing these interactions helps eliminate nervous habits—like awkward laughter—that devalue the conversation.CHALLENGE OF THE WEEKThis week, Jason wants you to audit your obstacles before your next set of sales calls.Write down the three objections you hear most often. Do not try to solve them yet—simply list them. Once you see them on paper, they start being problems you can proactively plan for.ABOUT THE SHOW Join hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

You can have the perfect script and the perfect product, but if you don't have the agility to adapt to the market, you will lose the deal to the competitor who does. We often think technology is just about the tools, but it is actually about how you show up when the ground shifts beneath you.In this episode of The Sandler Training Hour, Jim and Jason Stephens discuss the "Adaptability Quotient" and why the speed at which you embrace change distinguishes average reps from top performers. They explore the integration of AI not as a replacement for human connection, but as a tool to sharpen your skills in a risk-free environment.Key Topics Covered:The Rate of Change Axiom: Jim lays down a fundamental rule: If the rate of change within your organization is slower than the rate of change in the culture, you are going to be left behind. Being an "early adopter" offers a higher probability of success than being a laggard because delay simply gives your competition an advantage."Creative Accounting" & Just Starting: Jim shares a story about buying his first computer—a 256k model—and how his early attempts at digital ledgers were messy but necessary steps toward modernization. The lesson? You have to be willing to make mistakes. If you are waiting for the perfect path to appear, you are already too late.Risk-Free Roleplay: One of the most powerful applications of AI is using it to practice Sandler strategies, like Upfront Contracts, without burning productivity. Practicing on a prospect is dangerous; practicing with a coworker costs company time. AI allows you to simulate objections from "skeptical" or "blunt" prospects so you can practice in a safe environment.The Emotional Buffer: Jim reveals a personal "hack" for handling conflict. When he receives an email that makes him angry, he uses AI to rewrite his response. It removes the emotional undercurrents that might ruin a relationship and often provides a more effective, diplomatic solution than he would have consciously drafted.Challenge of the Week:This week, Jim and Jason challenge you to audit your Internal Rate of Change. Identify one AI tool or future tech you have been ignoring because it feels uncomfortable. Spend just 20 minutes this week experimenting with it. Don't try to master it—just prove to yourself that you can adapt.About the Show: Join hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Are you accidentally talking your prospects out of a good experience before they’ve even had it?In sales, we often think we are building rapport by being "honest" about the tedious parts of our process. We say things like, "Okay, now comes the boring part—the paperwork," or "I'm sorry, this next step is a bit of a slog". We think we are managing expectations, but in reality, we are engaging in self-sabotage. We are literally selling the client on having a bad experience before it even starts.In this episode of The Sandler Training Hour, Jim and Jason Stephens break down the concept of "Poisoning the Well". They explore why salespeople feel the need to qualify the experience negatively and how to shift your mindset to sell the commitment to the result rather than apologizing for the path to get there.Key Topics Covered:The Assumption Trap: Just because you hate paperwork doesn't mean your prospect does. Jim shares a personal example regarding his wife, who actually enjoys filling out forms. When you apologize for a step in the process, you are making an assumption about the other person that may be flat-out wrong. Without intending to, you "telegraph" your own negative feelings onto the buyer.Selling the ROI, Not the Cost: Jason uses the example of Sandler assessments. These take 15 to 20 minutes to complete. An amateur salesperson warns the prospect that it is time-consuming. A pro sells the ROI on why that investment of time is valuable. If you feel apologetic about imposing requirements, you invalidate your own process.The "Amazon" Standard of Friction: We live in a culture that expects frictionless ease. Jim notes that even when we could buy something at the store, we order it on Amazon to get it "off the list". Salespeople must continuously critique their systems to ensure they aren't adding unnecessary friction.Mastery vs. The Comfort Zone: Mastery doesn't come from hitting a plateau and coasting; it comes from proactively challenging what you are doing. If you have done a process a thousand times, you might be on "autopilot," unaware that you are projecting boredom or resentment onto the client.Stop Mind-Reading: Jim highlights a common error where salespeople interpret a prospect's facial expression as rejection. The probability that their face means what you think it means is almost non-existent. Instead of assuming ("Oh no, they hate the price"), simply ask: "I can't help but notice your reaction—would you mind explaining what that means?".Challenge of the Week:This week, Jim and Jason challenge you to perform a Language Audit on your sales conversations.Ask yourself: What part of your process are you selling in a negative light? Are you telling prospects that your contract is "long"? Are you warning them that onboarding is "tedious"? Catch yourself using these negative adjectives and stop. Your job is to lead them to the result, not warn them about the path.About the Show: Join hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, Jim and Jason explore the difference between saying thank you and expressing gratitude in a way that actually connects. Gratitude, they explain, is not just a statement—it carries emotion, intention, and meaning. When words and emotion don’t line up, even well-meant appreciation can feel hollow or disingenuous.The conversation introduces a practical framework for expressing appreciation using the TSP model: Truthful, Specific, and Positive. Rather than defaulting to vague compliments, the goal is to notice what people actually do well, name it clearly, and deliver it in a way that builds others up. The discussion also touches on how understanding how others receive appreciation—through words, actions, or presence—shapes whether gratitude is felt or simply heard.If you're looking for ways to improve how you connect with others, strengthen your presence in conversations, or build goodwill through intentional communication, this episode offers a thoughtful approach to making appreciation meaningful—especially during a season when words are plentiful and sincerity matters most.The core message: Gratitude that is felt changes relationships. Gratitude that is rushed disappears just as quickly as it’s spoken.Quick Poll: Is cup the worst example you ever heard? Let us know!🏆 About Crossroads Business DevelopmentAt Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim Stephens is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at: [email protected] Stephens helps individuals and organizations turn goals into daily behaviors that drive measurable growth. Known for his structured, analytical approach, he equips clients with practical systems that turn complexity into clarity, and ideas into action. Whether he’s coaching a leader through change or building a sales process that sticks, Jason focuses on alignment, execution, and long-term success. Clients rely on him to uncover what’s really getting in the way, and to create frameworks that spark momentum—not just motivation. With a coaching style rooted in curiosity and accountability, Jason delivers tools that help people think clearly, act intentionally, and lead with purpose. 📧 Reach out to Jason at: [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, Jim and Jason explore how the information you consume directly shapes your beliefs—and how those beliefs influence every decision you make in sales, leadership, and your long-term success. Drawing on insights from an economics conference and ITR Economics' extraordinarily accurate forecasting model, they break down why mindset—not the market—is often the biggest threat to performance.The conversation covers the danger of echo chambers, the need to audit the sources influencing your worldview, and how pessimistic narratives can become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you’re looking for ways to strengthen your Positive Outlook competency, this episode challenges you to separate data from drama, to recognize when your beliefs are drifting into scarcity, and to take back agency over how you interpret the world around you.The core message: you don’t control the economy, but you do control the lens you bring to it—and that lens determines whether you see decline, possibility, or opportunity.🏆 About Crossroads Business DevelopmentAt Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at: [email protected] helps individuals and organizations turn goals into daily behaviors that drive measurable growth. Known for his structured, analytical approach, he equips clients with practical systems that turn complexity into clarity, and ideas into action. Whether he’s coaching a leader through change or building a sales process that sticks, Jason focuses on alignment, execution, and long-term success. Clients rely on him to uncover what’s really getting in the way, and to create frameworks that spark momentum—not just motivation. With a coaching style rooted in curiosity and accountability, Jason delivers tools that help people think clearly, act intentionally, and lead with purpose. 📧 Reach out to Jason at: [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

n this episode, Jim and Jason explore the subtle, yet powerful skill of active listening in sales—and how it distinguishes top performers from average ones. Together, they reflect on the idea that credibility isn’t about what you know—it’s about what you notice. In a world where salespeople often feel the pressure to present, educate, or impress, this episode challenges that urge by highlighting the importance of slowing down, asking better questions, and helping your buyers feel seen.Jason shares his thoughts on how practicing a consistent process allows for deeper focus on the person across the table, not just the sales tactic. Jim brings up two key Sandler rules:“You gain more credibility by the questions you ask than by the information you give,” and“Sell today, educate tomorrow.”If you're doing most of the talking, you may be alienating buyers without realizing it. The duo urges listeners to consider: Are you truly present in your conversations? Or are you stuck in the cycle of over-explaining and under-connecting?Whether you're trying to improve a sales call or build stronger client relationships, this episode reminds us that being curious and listening well is more persuasive than being the smartest person in the room.🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at: [email protected] Jason helps individuals and organizations turn goals into daily behaviors that drive measurable growth. Known for his structured, analytical approach, he equips clients with practical systems that turn complexity into clarity, and ideas into action. Whether he’s coaching a leader through change or building a sales process that sticks, Jason focuses on alignment, execution, and long-term success. Clients rely on him to uncover what’s really getting in the way, and to create frameworks that spark momentum—not just motivation. With a coaching style rooted in curiosity and accountability, Jason delivers tools that help people think clearly, act intentionally, and lead with purpose.  📧 Reach out to Jason at: [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, we break down a subtle but important distinction in prospecting strategy: the difference between evergreen outreach and time-sensitive messaging. Jim and Jason explore how consistent, repeatable prospecting efforts (like evergreen campaigns) can build a reliable pipeline over time—while also recognizing when real-world events, market shifts, or internal changes demand a more responsive approach.We explore metaphors like panning for gold and fishing, showing that successful salespeople know their “cookbook” behaviors and stay consistent—without relying solely on lead flow or waiting for the “right” moment to prospect. Instead, the challenge is to build systems that support steady outreach while leaving space to adapt when opportunities surface. If you’re looking for ways to sharpen your sales presence, apply consistent behaviors, or think more strategically about how you build your week, this conversation will offer both practical and mindset-based takeaways.The core message: stop treating prospecting as an emergency response—build a system that works whether the river is flowing or not.🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at: [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at: [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, Jim and Jason explore the critical role of sales management—not as a title, but as a function—especially for companies transitioning from founder-led sales to team-based selling. If your team is hitting plateaus, missing follow-through, or struggling with inconsistency, the issue might not be your people—it might be the absence of management infrastructure.They unpack why many salespeople underperform after being hired, how over-attributing outcomes to personality rather than process creates blind spots, and why founders often assume their salespeople will “just figure it out” the way they did.You’ll hear insights on daily minimums, weekly review rhythms, and the importance of pipeline visibility as early warning signs. The conversation also touches on the dangers of conflating activity with progress—and how subtle feedback loops help teams stay aligned and engaged.If you’re looking for ways to improve self-awareness and bring more structure to the way your team sells, this episode offers a practical approach to building the habits of sales management, even if you’re still wearing multiple hats.The core message: Sales management is not optional—it’s a necessary ingredient for consistent growth. You don’t need a VP title to implement it. You just need a system.🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, Jim and Jason reflect on how sales professionals can embrace change without losing sight of what makes us human. Drawing on decades of experience and recent AI innovations, they explore the real question behind all the hype: What does it actually mean to adapt to technology?Jim shares how technology has evolved across his career—from pagers and fax machines to AI-powered roleplay coaches—and how resistance to change (like Blockbuster's refusal to buy Netflix) is more than a history lesson; it's a cautionary tale. Jason emphasizes how tools like ChatGPT or Sandler’s own Yoodli Roleplay Coach can help remove “blank page” paralysis, making it easier to build SOPs, brainstorm ideas, and reduce friction in sales processes.Together, they explore a key attitude question: Are you curious enough to experiment with tools before you’re forced to catch up? The more commoditized the world becomes, the more valuable strong communicators will be. Use technology as a force multiplier—but never lose the human edge.🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, Jim and Jason unpack a hidden but critical force that shapes how we sell and how we live: our belief wheel. They walk through a powerful framework that starts with beliefs, shapes our judgments, guides our actions (or inaction), and leads to the results we keep repeating—whether we like them or not.This episode zooms in on how that internal belief system reacts during periods of uncertainty. What happens when pricing, markets, or the world itself feels unpredictable? And more importantly, how do you respond instead of react?“Your brain doesn’t recognize the difference between a positive or negative thought. What you perceive becomes your reality.”The key takeaway: If you're feeling uncertain, the solution isn’t to analyze the uncertainty more deeply—it’s to take action. Not wild, ungrounded action—but thoughtful steps that challenge the default scripts running in your head.If you're looking for ways to explore self-awareness, challenge your mindset around fear and decision-making, and take intentional steps forward even when the path isn't clear, this episode is a timely listen.🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, we explore a counterintuitive but powerful sales idea: don’t be creative. That doesn’t mean don’t adapt or think—but it does mean stop spending so much time inventing responses on the fly. Jason and Jim walk through the five common responses prospects give—yes, no, maybe, I don’t know, and I’m not comfortable telling you—and explain how building a repeatable system for handling them is a smarter strategy than winging it every time.We discuss the difference between rigid scripts and flexible talk tracks, and why the best sellers come across as authentic because they’re practiced—not because they’re improvising. There’s also a helpful analogy to acting: great actors follow a script but make it sound natural. If you’re looking for ways to improve your presence, sharpen your self-awareness, or build consistency in the way you run calls, this episode gives you the framework to start acting with more intentionality and less guesswork.The core message: trust your process, test it thoroughly, and stop trying to prove it wrong before you’ve even given it a chance to work.🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Every salesperson runs on scripts—internalized beliefs and stories about money, people, and success. In this episode, Jim and Jason shine a light on two critical scripts that silently derail performance:Money Tolerance: Your internal beliefs about what you can afford often cap what you believe others should pay. If you're uncomfortable with large numbers, you’ll unconsciously soften your ask.“You’ll never ask someone to spend more than what you’re comfortable spending yourself.”Mental Presence: Your ability to stay emotionally engaged in a sales conversation often depends on how quiet—or loud—your internal script is. When you’re in your head, you’re not in the room.“Presence isn’t just listening—it’s freedom from the noise in your own head.”These attitudes aren’t fixed traits; they’re rewritable. When you change the script, you change your performance.🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode, Jason and Jim explore how time management is less about controlling your schedule and more about understanding your personal priorities and the emotional and financial costs of misalignment. They introduce the concept of “Pain by Numbers”—a strategy for quantifying the cost of inaction and bad habits in your daily behaviors.“Time management is really a myth... I can’t manage time. I can manage my priorities in a set of time.” – Jim“When you quantify issues, the real issue is that it’s a me solution. And if I don’t deal with it, no one else will.” – JasonKey topics include:Why most people float in default mode and how that drains productivity and energy.How to conduct a time audit to identify your true behavior vs. your stated goals.What it means to quantify emotional impact, not just financial ROI.Why small daily decisions compound, and how to measure their long-term cost.The difference between using pain/shame vs. gain/opportunity as motivational fuel.Jim shares the humbling story of trying to “optimize every minute” with a personal mantra—only to end up emotionally wrecked from the pressure. Jason ties in a powerful Faulkner quote, "I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools." about forgetting time to live in the moment, flipping the script on traditional time management advice.“It’s not what you do on a Tuesday night... It’s how you are—forever.”🏆 About Crossroads Business Development:At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode of the Sandler Training Hour, Jim and Jason dive into what makes great sales managers thrive—and why many sales leaders fall into a trap of being reactive instead of intentional. The conversation kicks off with a core question: "What’s the role of a sales manager—really?" and quickly gets into tactical and philosophical ground.Jason shares that many managers default to "reactive management", where coaching happens only in response to problems. He says, “We have to change the cadence—we wait until people screw up before we coach them.” Jim adds that proactive coaching starts with clarity: “You’ve got to know the expectations and you’ve got to track the behaviors that get there.”The episode highlights a key coaching trap: Managers spending too much time in the trenches doing the work for others. Jason reflects, “You can’t grow your team if you’re constantly rescuing them.” Instead, managers should measure success not just by results, but by how many people on their team improve each month.Great sales management requires true leadership that comes from a manager’s ability to build capacity in others, not from being the smartest person in the room. Coaching is not about answering questions—it’s about asking the right questions.As Jim puts it, “Great managers create space for their team to grow, reflect, and own their outcomes.”At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 Reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 Reach out to Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this final episode of our Barriers to Success series, Jason and Jim unpack what may be the most important roadblock to sales success—being “I”-centered. This powerful episode challenges you to examine how your internal focus and emotional needs can derail your sales process, communication, and personal growth.Key Takeaways:🔹 Your need for approval may be undermining your success. “If I want people to like me… I'm likely to not ask questions that are going to be perceived as challenging” – Jim highlights how our psychological need for validation can keep us from asking the tough—but necessary—questions in a discovery process.🔹 You are not your role—focus on the process, not your feelings. Jason explains, “You can either be a performer or a critic, but you can’t be both.” Emotional self-judgment can paralyze your ability to act effectively in the moment.🔹 The prospect only cares about their world—not your discomfort. “The number one problem is that you spend so much time worrying about yourself when the prospect only cares about themselves and their plan” – Jason frames the core issue with being “I”-centered in selling.🔹 Use systems to stay out of your own way. Systems like Sandler help redirect your focus from self-consciousness to structured discovery: “You don’t have to think about what to do, because it’s part of a process that removes that focus on yourself”.🔹 Your inner critic is not your sales coach. Drawing from quotes by Philip K. Dick and Marcus Aurelius, Jason explores how self-punishment keeps us stuck: “The worst things we do, we do to ourselves,” and, “Instead of choosing to become a good person today, you choose to become one tomorrow”.Call to Action: This is the final installment of our Barriers to Success series—don’t miss this culminating episode! It’s packed with mindset shifts and personal challenges that will help you reframe your internal dialogue and show up with purpose in every conversation.At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Reach us at:[email protected]@sandler.comThe Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In this episode of the Sandler Training Hour, Jim and Jason return to the series on Barriers to Success with two more hidden saboteurs: Stamp Collecting and Excess Baggage. If you've ever blown up at a client, found yourself avoiding confrontation, or felt frozen by your past failures, this one’s for you.🔥 Barrier #7: Emotional Stamp CollectingMost people don’t explode at others over just one thing—it’s the 99 things they held in that finally boil over. Jim frames this behavior as emotional stamp collecting:“We collect stamps... It might be anger, it might be resentment, it might be bitterness. And the straw that breaks the camel’s back is the final one that causes you... to finally blow up.”But it’s not just you. When your client is the one collecting stamps—especially unspoken disappointments—you’re sitting on a time bomb:“Your client goes and talks to five people in their world... and when your client comes back, they’re ready to explode on you.”The fix? Assertive communication now—not emotional catharsis later. Jason urges:“If you feel it, say it.”That doesn’t mean dumping emotions without purpose, but rather confronting misalignments early and with intention. Don’t let avoidance today create chaos tomorrow.🧳 Barrier #8: Unfinished Business (aka Baggage)Next up, the internal weight you carry—old belief systems, limiting assumptions, or workplace scars. Baggage shows up in passive behavior, over-cautiousness, and unclear boundaries:“That unfinished business... is often a belief system that keeps you from being assertive, not aggressive.”In sales, this might look like endlessly checking in, asking for updates, or avoiding the tough conversation because of internal guilt or fear. Jim and Jason describe this state as invisible—not even passive anymore.Jason warns:“If you are passive, you have a slow sales cycle... and it’s never in your control.”Jim follows:“They’ve swung the pendulum so far that now they’re not even passive—they’re invisible.”🧠 Mindset Challenge: Audit Your Emotional LedgerBefore you go into another sales meeting, coaching call, or difficult conversation, Jason recommends doing a quick self-inventory:What emotional stamps are you collecting?Who do you need to clear the air with?What baggage are you carrying that is keeping you from being direct, firm, and intentional?By naming it, you reclaim it.Reach out to us at [email protected] if you want to connect.The Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

🔹 #7 – The Mr. Nice Guy Model“It happens when you’d rather leave having someone think well of you than leave with an order or money,” Jason says.Jim expands:“We don’t want to be pushy. We have in our mind the imprint of a stereotypical salesperson who has their own agenda… and we avoid being that person.”But avoiding pushiness often leads to indirect conversations and unclear expectations, which in turn creates bloated pipelines and lost opportunities.“Your opinion of me is none of my business,” Jason reminds us, encouraging authenticity over constant approval-seeking.🔹 #8 – Dependence on Others“That’s where you’re looking for motivation, support, and approval,” Jason explains, “and because of this, you have difficulty working alone and being self-contained.”Jim offers a healthier frame:“Neither dependence nor isolation is ideal. The place I encourage my clients to land is interdependence… I win when you win, and you win when I win.”🔹 #9 – Not Knowing the Difference Between Needs and Wants“If you want an order, you can be independent. If you need an order, the prospect owns you,” Jim says.They discuss how desperation repels buyers:“There’s almost a smell to a desperate salesperson,” Jim shares. “It drives people away. Instead, adopt the mindset: I don’t need the business—I’d like it, but I’ll succeed either way.”Jason wraps it up by noting:“Those are the talk tracks that elevate us from a subservient position to an equal business conversation.”💡 This Week’s ChallengeReflect on Barriers 7–9:Where do you see the Mr. Nice Guy model showing up in your conversations?Are you dependent on others for motivation, or practicing healthy interdependence?Do you approach opportunities from need or from want?Be intentional and see how shifting these mindsets opens up new levels of success.At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. 📧 For inquiries, reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 You can reach Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Breaking Through the Next Barriers to SuccessIn this week’s Sandler Training Hour, Jim and Jason continue exploring the 21 Barriers to Success from No Guts, No Gain. Last time, they covered resignation, lack of priorities, and low self-esteem. This week, they dive into the next three:🔹 Hopelessness“Most of us live in a hope-based system,” Jason says. “We’re not intentional on the tactics we’re using.”“Once you start down that track, your brain anchors on the negative,” Jim adds.🔹 Lack of Confidence“The best time to make prospecting calls is right after you’ve closed a piece of business,” Jason explains. “Hopelessness can carry over into lack of confidence.”“People without confidence don’t see possibility. They only see outcome.”🔹 Fear of Rejection / Need for Approval“When someone mixes up their need to get emotional needs met with their job, that’s terrible for everyone,” Jason notes.“Instead of celebrating your yeses, celebrate your no’s,” Jim suggests.💡 This Week’s ChallengeNotice which of these barriers—hopelessness, lack of confidence, or fear of rejection—are showing up for you. Reframe your narrative, be deliberate, and celebrate your no’s to fuel momentum.🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Sandler Training Hour: “Barriers to Success: Hopelessness, Confidence, and Fear of Rejection.”At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. 📧 For inquiries, reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧 You can reach Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

What keeps people from achieving their goals? In this episode, Jim and Jason kick off a new multi-week series exploring the 21 Barriers to Success from Sandler’s classic No Guts, No Gain program.This week, they unpack the first three barriers:ResignationNo PrioritiesLow Self-Esteem“Resignation is giving up,” Jason says. “It’s surrendering to the state of affairs as they are and clinging to the status quo.”Jim reflects on how resignation creates comfort zones filled with passivity, warning that it often spirals into self-pity, remorse, and regret.Then the conversation shifts to the second barrier: lack of priorities.“Highly successful people are well balanced,” Jim says. “They work hard, they play hard, they live hard.”The problem isn’t having a to-do list—it’s having no clarity on what truly matters.“My to-do list was a tool I used to guilt myself into action,” Jim admits. “But once I began identifying the five most important things to accomplish each day, it reduced unnecessary stress and anxiety.”Jason emphasizes that starting the day by checking emails means starting with everyone else's priorities. Instead, define success the night before and protect your focus from other people’s agendas.Finally, they discuss low self-esteem, the third barrier, and how it subtly undermines performance.“If you don’t like yourself, you won’t do much for yourself,” Jason notes. “And the less you do, the less you like yourself. It’s a spiral.”Jim adds that we often don’t realize the narrator in our head is feeding us self-defeating messages:“I discovered that my narrative about myself was creating a strong negative influence. And while I used to praise my inner critic for driving perfection, perfection is a myth.”They close the episode with a call to reframe your narrative, celebrate the difficult things you’ve already accomplished, and remember:“If you don’t define success for yourself each day, you’ll risk feeling like you’ve failed—no matter how much you’ve done.”At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies. 📧 [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development. Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals. 📧  [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Independence, Interdependence, and ROI on a Day OffMost salespeople don’t associate national holidays with momentum-building activities—but what if you did? In this special 4th of July edition of the Sandler Training Hour, Jim and Jason share reflections on freedom, gratitude, and meaningful selling behaviors that don’t require closing a deal to create value.“What freedom or independence have you gained through your career that’s given you the ability to create the life you want?”This episode explores the mindset of celebrating your personal and professional independence while recognizing the role of interdependence in long-term success.They challenge listeners to ask:What hard-won independence have you earned in your sales journey?Who helped you along the way, and have you told them?How can you bring gratitude into your relationships today?“It's an acknowledgment of our interdependence on our clients for our success,” Jim says. “Shooting a quick text to say, ‘I'm celebrating the Fourth, and I'm celebrating you’—that kind of message lifts people up.”You’ll also hear:💬 Why thank-you cards and specific compliments build long-term trust💡 How passion and presence tie into sales leadership🔄 The reminder that independence isn't a one-time achievement, but a behavior you sustain through consistent effort“While you have enough independence to grow your business, leaning into interdependence is how you bring meaning to your world.”This week, challenge yourself:Reflect on the hard things you've done to get where you are.Identify one client, peer, or friend to thank—specifically.Celebrate what it took to earn your freedom—and who walked beside you to get there.🎧 Listen to the full episode of the Sandler Training Hour: “4th of July: Independence, Interdependence, and Selling with Gratitude.” Let this holiday be a reminder of both the freedom you’ve earned and the relationships that make it meaningful.At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies.For inquiries, reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development.Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals.You can reach Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

Do you ever find yourself going through the motions—reacting instead of responding? You’re not alone. In this episode, Jim and Jason explore how much of our daily behavior is driven by autopilot habits, and how to become more deliberate in shifting them.🧠 43% of your daily life is made up of habitual actions. That means nearly half of your behavior happens without conscious thought—rooted in cues, routines, and rewards.They unpack ideas like:Habit stacking from Atomic Habits—using existing habits as anchors for new ones.Why brute force doesn’t work: "I'm definitely going to change tomorrow" becomes its own habit loop.The importance of identifying your cues—the time, place, emotion, or interaction that triggers your behavior.The danger of developing a habit of planning to change, instead of actually changing.🔄 "We talk a lot about pattern interrupt, and it’s really about interrupting the current pattern of habits.”🎯 One tactical takeaway: If you're in a sales conversation, break the habit of answering every question right away. Instead, practice reversing or clarifying with more questions to uncover the real need beneath the surface.💬 “Not all of us are naturally being the person we want to be. But forming habits can take away indecision—it becomes just part of your routine.”This week, challenge yourself:Inventory a habit you want to change.Identify the cue that triggers it.Design a replacement habit and reward.Your autopilot doesn’t have to drive the whole way—let’s start taking the wheel back, one intentional change at a time.At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies.For inquiries, reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development.Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals.You can reach Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

We all have it—head trash. The internal noise that tells you you're not good enough, that you'll fail, or that you're not ready. It’s the voice that clouds your thinking and derails your confidence right when you need it most. But what if you could learn to pause, clear the static, and choose a better response?In this episode, we dig into the role of emotional intelligence in managing your inner dialogue and introduce the concept of the meta moment—a powerful pause where you stop, breathe, and imagine your best self responding. It's not about perfection—it's about awareness, intention, and direction.How do you recognize when your head trash is running the show? What tools help you reset emotionally before you react? We explore how emotionally intelligent leaders build space between trigger and response—and how that space is where growth happens.This week, challenge yourself: When something frustrates or triggers you, take a meta moment. Ask: “How would the best version of me respond right now?” Then do that. The head trash may never fully go away—but you don’t have to let it drive. Let’s take the wheel back, together.At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies.For inquiries, reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development.Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals.You can reach Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

The first 60 seconds of a prospecting call can make or break the conversation. Most salespeople lead with pressure or pitch—what if you led with permission instead? When done right, the opening minute disrupts expectations, builds trust, and earns you the right to continue.In this episode, we break down the three essential moves for a strong start:Pattern Interrupt – Stop the automatic "not interested" response by doing something unexpected.Permission to Speak – Respect the prospect’s time and ask for space to engage.30-Second Commercial – Deliver a clear, compelling reason why the conversation is worth having.What language puts the prospect at ease while also piquing curiosity? How do you balance confidence with respect? We explore real examples and show you how to deliver a powerful open that sets the tone for the entire call.This week, challenge yourself: Practice your opener. Try it on a colleague, write it out, or say it out loud until it feels natural. Remember—you're not just prospecting; you're inviting someone into a valuable conversation. Let’s get that first minute right.At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies.For inquiries, reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development.Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals.You can reach Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development

In sales—and in life—discounting happens on multiple levels. We discount prices to win business. We discount others when we assume too much or listen too little. And perhaps most dangerously, we discount ourselves when we undercharge, downplay our value, or hesitate to show up fully.In this episode, we take a closer look at the mindset and behaviors behind discounting. Are you making unnecessary price concessions out of fear instead of strategy? Are you unconsciously dismissing the ideas or needs of others during conversations? Most importantly, where might you be shrinking yourself in the process?What would it look like to lead with value—your own, your client’s, and your offer’s? We explore how to shift from a scarcity mindset to a value-driven one, so you stop giving away what should be earned, and start standing tall in your expertise.This week, challenge yourself: Notice one moment where you feel tempted to discount—whether it’s your price, your opinion, or your presence. Pause. Ask yourself, “What’s the real value here?” Let’s stop playing small. Your value doesn’t need a markdown.At Crossroads Business Development we are the recipients of the David H. Sandler award for 2021, the highest mark of achievement that the network passes out. We pride ourselves with our dedicated service to the success of our clients and our top-of-the-line training that keeps our clients engaged and coming back for more.Jim is a dynamic and engaging conference presenter and national speaker, renowned for his impactful presentations at a wide array of sales and industry events. With an impressive twenty-five-year track record in entrepreneurial small business creation, sales, and company management, he brings a wealth of real-world experience. Additionally, Jim has spent two decades honing his expertise through Sandler Sales & Management Training, equipping him with the tools to drive success in any organization. His keen insights and ability to identify and address roadblocks are instrumental in fostering growth and transformation for individuals and companies.For inquiries, reach out to Jim at [email protected] worked at the university before joining the team. He brings an analytical perspective to coaching and has several tracks to help with team and personal development.Our clients hire Jason for his systematic approach to help them integrate Sandler into their day-to-day operations. His attention to detail and expertise with our assessment tools help them create behavior-based plans to incorporate more processes and align their goals with the company's goals.You can reach Jason at [email protected] Sandler Training Hour Hosted by Jim & Jason Stephens | Crossroads Business DevelopmentJoin hosts Jim and Jason Stephens from Crossroads Business Development as they discuss techniques, tactics, and the occasional tangent associated with the Sandler Selling System. Whether you are prospecting, negotiating, or closing, The Sandler Training Hour gives you the actionable advice you need to stop "winging it" and start controlling the sale.📧 Reach out: [email protected] 🌐 Crossroads Business Development