The sandwich rule in sales examples. Employee Feedback Models

So, attention! Let's say you go to the store to buy a new TV. (Well, they quarreled, the TV was smashed, with whom it doesn’t happen.)

Look at the counter and ask the seller: "How much does this TV cost?"

Seller: $1,000. (Pause, turning into grief over the lost money).

What is on your mind as a client right now? Different thoughts, different but similar.

"Expensive", "A thousand dollars, a thousand, you-sya-cha." Take 2

You: How much does a TV cost?

Seller: TV company SONY, diagonal - meter. 1000 dollars. Flat screen. Design term of use - 15 years.

What's on your mind right now?

SONY, warranty, diagonal ~ 1 meter.

There are two global effects - the effect of primacy and the effect of recentness.

We are most impressed by what comes first, the primacy effect.

We are most impressed by what follows last - the effect of recentness. (And Stirlitz knew about these two effects when he asked either Bormann, or Goering, or neither one nor the other, but I don’t remember who had headache pills.)

If we wrap the price, if we wrap it up and down like the buns in a hamburger wrap around a patty, the price itself is no longer felt so sharply. The client begins to be affected by what was before the price, and what followed after. A simple, reliable rule, like American jeans or boiled potatoes. The Russian man loves both.

So, when you say the price, do not forget that before and after it you need to place some advantages of your product, company.

General principle the sandwich rule is formulated by a sequence of arithmetic signs - *-+. Plus, minus, plus. Here's a sandwich for you: two positive buns and one negative cutlet. (Based on the last sentence, this rule can be called the rule of a vegetarian: a roll is good, meat is bad.)

Of course, it is necessary to measure the quality and size of rolls and cutlets. That is, the pluses that you place around the price should be commensurate with the minus.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to say that the sandwich rule applies not only when pronouncing the price, but also in the case of demonstrating any minus, negative feature that is inherent in your product. Any working business has something negative.

I'll give you a bad example.

Client: How much does the TV cost?

Seller: TV company SONY. SONY was founded in 1903, during which time it has come a long way of development, in 1924 ... (for another half an hour).

What is your reaction? Naturally, no one likes to eat hamburgers with huge buns and thin cutlets. Measure things.

The above examples relate primarily to the relationship between a leader and a subordinate, but the conclusions can be extended to other situations (for example, communication between spouses).

Many leaders are afraid to criticize subordinates

The exchange of opinions is the main component of the relationship between a leader and a subordinate, but often managers are afraid to give a constructive (negative) assessment of the work of subordinates. They feel that negative feedback will offend employees and violate the principle of trust on which relationships are based. As a rule, such leaders keep their dissatisfaction to themselves. They are silent in a variety of situations, turning a blind eye to being late, inappropriate appearance and behavior (especially in relation to employees of the opposite sex).

Guaranteed Benefits of Sandwich Criticism

The sandwich principle is a popular technique that makes it easier to make negative remarks and comments. In this case, the statement is built according to the scheme "praise - criticism - praise". In other words, the sandwich principle involves discussing the negatives mixed with the positives.

The advantage of this method is that it:

Softens criticism and simplifies its perception.
Allows the speaker to feel more confident when discussing awkward moments (for example, if a manager needs to inform an employee about behavioral problems, it will be easier for him to start with praise).

Sandwich principle. Example 1

Andy recently joined a financial consulting firm and was offered a one-week internship in New York. Andy stayed at the hotel and watched pay movies every night. It cost him $65, which he included in his trip expense report. In addition, Andy dined in expensive restaurants.

Andy Jean's boss got his report. Obviously, the payment for the films was not included in financial plan companies. Jean used the sandwich principle to refuse to pay and ask Andy to be smart about travel spending.

Praise: "Andy, I'm very impressed with your professional growth for the last month. I see that you are actively using the knowledge gained in New York to work with clients' financial records.”

Criticism: “By the way, this morning I reviewed the report that you filed upon returning from New York. It says you spent $65 on movies at the hotel. I am forced to refuse to pay you, since such an item of expenditure is not provided for in our budget. Besides, you ordered very expensive meals for dinner. This time we will pay for them, however, given the limited budget for travel, I would ask you to be more careful about your expenses. Most likely, you have not had time to get acquainted with the policy of our company. I have asked Human Resources to provide you with a copy of the documents that describe the acceptable level of spending.”

Praise: “But I'm glad the trip to New York was good for you. I appreciate your hard work and diligence in dealing with clients. Keep it up!"

Sandwich principle. Example 2

Sofia is in charge of general meetings where the details of important projects are discussed. She usually never announces the topic before the meeting. After one of the meetings, Sophia's manager used the sandwich principle to encourage her to improve the organizational process.

Praise: “Sofia, the meeting went great! Representatives of all departments came to it, and we received all the necessary information. You are a great organizer, thank you!”

Criticism: “Did you notice that sometimes the discussion was incoherent? If you don't announce the topic before the meeting, attendees can't prepare for it. They are forced to rummage through their papers, run after documents, and so on. In addition, we often deviate from the course and spend a lot of time on side conversations. Do you think this can be avoided? What follows is a discussion of the issue.

Praise: "You're doing great! I really like that you organize everything perfectly and effectively use the data received from colleagues.

Conclusion

The sandwich principle allows the manager to rephrase the remark so that it is easier to express and perceive. It encourages good behavior and encourages positive change.

Translation by Olga Airapetova

Giving someone critical feedback, thereby hinting that the person will change their behavior, is a delicate matter. To avoid the common problem of defensiveness, it is very important to be sure that you approach the matter with understanding and consideration for the other's feelings.

Done right, the person you're talking to will take your opinion positively, which will naturally lead to good results! One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to hide the educational device between other positive statements, like "sandwich". The instructions below describe how to do this, whether it's difficulty with friends or parenting a child. A similar technique, sandwich compliments, has similar steps. Technique feedback the “sandwich” method is most often used as coaching and support, while the related technique of compliments is aimed at softening or masking the necessary criticism.

Steps

"You really did Good work in your essay "Treat People Fairly" - it made a strong impression on everyone! For the future, it is better not to call names those people who do not accept your whole method. It's great that you've thought about all of this so carefully - you'll benefit a lot of people!"

Get ready: do not rush into a situation without prior and careful thought and planning. A good plan is a tool for success. Without it, you can easily get off track and lose control of the conversation. You must be clear about what you want to say and how you want to say it.

Praise - identify the positive points: Find something significant among the actions of this person. It must be related in some way to the coaching session you are planning, and be in the recent past. For example, if all the white clothes in the washing machine turned pink because of the red shirt that this person threw in there, the phrase "I really appreciate that you help me with the laundry!" could be the start of a conversation.

Conduct an educational reception - present the facts: Now you have captured the attention of a person, and arranged him to perceive your words. Pause to allow this feeling to solidify, then go straight to coaching. Avoid words "but" and "but next time"because they provoke a person to become defensive, which is exactly what you are trying to avoid. Be direct and firm, but never allow yourself to get angry and humiliate. Communication is a science, so if you want to achieve positive results, you must behave scientific. "Let me teach you how to sort clothes so we don't have to deal with a bunch of pink socks anymore.""

Encourage and inspire - give a favorable forecast: When you do a coaching session, the person is bound to feel a little empty. Do not leave communication at this point - such an unpleasant phenomenon must be eliminated quickly, but correctly. Mention the positive outcome of future attempts. The logical conclusion would be that the person has laid the foundation for a successful start (primary praise), and there are ways to improve this foundation (coaching), and the combination of these elements will give great results (encouragement and inspiration). "It's great to have another pair of hands to help, we'll all have more time for afternoon video game fights!"

Come back to this point later: to check for changes in behavior, you do not need to wait until the problem reappears; express friendly curiosity and willingness to help, continue to push the person to change. The goal is the anchor of the positive nature of changes in human consciousness. If you leave the situation unattended, your parenting moment may be forgotten. Without constant reinforcement, the process of "extinction" is launched - the desired changes in behavior will not come.

wikiHow Sandwich Feedback Example

Here's an example of feedback on the "sandwich" method: such an answer could be given on the wikiHow talk page.

Compliment: Thank you for patrolling last changes. I am amazed that you checked 400 edits today and prevented so much vandalism.

Encouragement and inspiration: Thanks again for patrolling the latest changes. You have done an excellent job and have really improved the quality of the information on wikiHow. I sincerely hope that you will continue to make an invaluable contribution to the improvement of our common knowledge.

For effective feedback, honesty has great importance. Avoid compliments in your review if you're having a hard time finding positive things.
Nonetheless.... Coaching is not a solution for every situation. The personnel management model of the 80s was left behind a management system more adaptable to individual characteristics, human experience and the actual current problem. Sometimes coaching is the right solution, sometimes you need a slap on the wrist, and sometimes you need to be fired immediately. Don't use coaching as a buzzword or as a prop when something else is required. In the wikiHow example where the person formatted the article incorrectly, they probably needed coaching. At the same time, systematic "sabotage" with a sufficient number of preliminary warnings justifies the transfer of a person to the ban list.
Practice coaching regularly: If you turn it on everyday life, then learn to use it more effectively, and people will gradually get rid of the fear of it. Try not to become obsessed with coaching, otherwise you will lose both persuasiveness and influence.
Practice: It's a good idea to practice in front of a mirror, even better in front of another person, before applying it in reality. Your task is to learn how to present your position smoothly, with even delivery,
Constantly monitor how your feedback is received. This will allow you to make the necessary changes to the approach, if necessary.
Keep a positive attitude: If you do this with a positive attitude towards the person and the situation, then your mentoring will bring good results. Moreover, a negative attitude is guaranteed to ruin your entire venture.

Warnings

Do not use this technique repeatedly for the same reason: When you are discussing with a person a particularly serious problem or a situation that has already been brought up with him, this technique will not be effective - you need a more direct approach.
Don't be condescending: You are trying to change behavior. No need to demonstrate your superiority, do not resent, do not act pretentious - this is guaranteed to destroy the attempt to establish communication.
During the educational process, you should not limit yourself to only positive feedback: If during the application of the “sandwich” technique you start to shower compliments, the person will become embarrassed, and he will begin to wonder what he did wrong.
Give sincere, personalized compliments: People will notice if you treat them patronizingly - your intentions will become obvious, and the technique will have less chance of success.
Avoid accusations: You are simply pointing to something that needs to be changed. What circumstances led to this is unimportant. What is important is what is happening at the moment, how the situation will develop, and how you will achieve these results. In general, conversation must run on positive emotions. Of course, there will be an unpleasant part, but the two positive ones will outweigh it. Leave your interlocutor in high spirits, and you will get the results you want.
Be sincere: Much has been said about intransigence, but remember that when you change the way you express your criticism, it can sound completely different. Be realistic and always seek behavior change. Remember that you need to change beliefs, and not just behavior, as their external manifestation; by changing your beliefs, you will push for changes in behavior.

Earlier we wrote about such a tool for bringing the cost of goods to the client as. This article will cover at least effective tool called the sandwich method. By the way this method can be used when bringing any negative information to the client.

The primacy effect and the recency effect

In a long monologue, the human brain remembers best only the first and last words. What was in the middle and was said in between times will also be heard, but the client will most likely think over the last phrase, and then remember the first one.

The first phrase should give the client food for thought and a little distraction from the subsequent text, this is called the primacy effect. It is not for nothing that people in Russia are so fond of saying that they are greeted by clothes. The last sentence should also give the client something to think about and take their thoughts away from what was said earlier.

Sandwich method example

Customer - how much does this car cost?

Seller - with a leather interior, the price will be 20,000 USD. this package also includes a fi-hi audio system.

In this case, the client will remember the leather interior and audio system. Naturally, you should not have previously spoken to him about these product benefits. It is also important that the benefits are significant enough, but you should not go far to the side. This can be perceived as a departure from the answer and cause negativity and wariness. Rather, you should voice the benefits as if in between times.

The sandwich method works great at preventing possible and greatly speeds up the process. Such trifles are often underestimated by sellers, as they seem insignificant and there is no direct benefit in them. But it is precisely from such trifles that the work of the most effective sellers is formed.

This article looks at the popular sandwich principle, which is used to make remarks and comments about what other people say and do. In the next article, we will look at the shortcomings of this principle and the main mistakes that reduce its effectiveness.

The above examples relate primarily to the relationship between a leader and a subordinate, but the conclusions can be extended to other situations (for example, communication between spouses).

Many leaders are afraid to criticize subordinates

Guaranteed Benefits of Sandwich Criticism

The advantage of this method is that it: 1.) softens criticism and makes it easier to perceive; 2.) allows the speaker to feel more confident when discussing awkward moments (for example, if a manager needs to inform an employee about behavior problems, it will be easier for him to start with praise).

Sandwich principle. Example 1

Andy Jean's boss got his report. Obviously, paying for the films was not part of the company's financial plan. Jean used the sandwich principle to refuse to pay and ask Andy to be smart about travel spending.

Praise: "Andy, I am very impressed with your professional growth over the past month. I see that you are actively using the knowledge gained in New York to work with client financial records."
Criticism: "By the way, this morning I reviewed the report you filed upon your return from New York. It states that you spent $65 on movies at the hotel. I have to deny you payment, because this item of expenditure is not included in our budget "Also, you ordered very expensive meals for dinner. This time we will pay for them, but given the limited budget for travel, I would ask you to be more careful about your expenses. Most likely, you have not had time to familiarize yourself with the policy of our company "I have asked Human Resources to provide you with a copy of the documents that describe acceptable spending."
Praise: "But I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to New York. I appreciate your hard work and diligence in dealing with clients. Keep it up!"

Sandwich principle. Example 2

Sophia is responsible for holding general meetings where the details of important projects are discussed. She usually never announces the topic before the meeting. After one of the meetings, Sophia's manager used the sandwich principle to encourage her to improve the organizational process.

Praise: "Sofia, the meeting was great! Representatives of all departments came to it, and we got all the necessary information. You are a great organizer, thank you!"
Criticism: "Did you notice that sometimes the discussion was incoherent? If you don't announce the topic before the meeting, the participants cannot prepare for it. They have to rummage through their papers, run for documents, and so on. In addition, we often deviate from the course and we spend a lot of time on side conversations. Do you think this can be avoided?" What follows is a discussion of the issue.
Praise: "You're doing a great job! I really like that you organize everything perfectly and use the data received from colleagues effectively." "

Conclusion

The sandwich principle allows the manager to rephrase the remark so that it is easier to express and perceive. It encourages good behavior and encourages positive change.

In the next article, we will look at examples that demonstrate the most common mistakes when using the sandwich principle, which completely destroy its essence. In short, criticism must be veiled (otherwise praise seems insincere).

rightattitudes.com, translation: Airapetova Olga