An upfront contract is a verbal agreement at the start of a sales meeting on its purpose, both sides' agendas, the time, and the outcomes allowed, including no. It is a Sandler concept, often shortened to UFC, and the second compartment of the Sandler Submarine after Bonding and Rapport.
The five elements
Sandler's own materials list five elements: the purpose of the meeting, the other person's agenda, your agenda, time and logistics, and the outcome, including that a "no" is okay. They name three acceptable outcomes of a productive call: yes, no, or a scheduled next step with a clear purpose. Reps set an upfront contract at the start of every meeting and again when the topic changes.
- Purpose of the meeting
- The other person's agenda
- Your agenda
- Time and logistics
- The outcomeIncluding that a no is okay
- Purpose of the meeting
- The other person's agenda
- Your agenda
- Time and logistics
- The outcomeIncluding that a no is okay
Opening a second meeting
This example is illustrative. An AE opens a second meeting with a hospital's procurement lead: "Thanks for the 30 minutes. You said you wanted to understand implementation; I'd like to ask how decisions like this get made and funded. By the end, let's decide whether it makes sense to bring in your CFO. If it doesn't, that's a fine answer too. Does that work?" The buyer adds a question about data security to the agenda. The meeting ends with a CFO call booked for next Thursday, which was one of the three agreed outcomes.
Using it in a deal review
For managers, the agreed outcome is a gate. The question in a deal review is "What outcome did you agree at the start, and did you get it?" From the hospital meeting above, the two answers a manager might hear:
- Weak: "It went really well. They're going to think it over and come back to us."
- Strong: "We agreed we'd decide whether to bring in the CFO. We did, and the CFO call is booked."
"Let me think it over" is none of the three outcomes, so a meeting that ends there has not passed the gate, however warm it felt. The deal stays at its stage until a meeting ends in yes, no or a dated step.
Replicate Labs has no partnership with Sandler Training. A team that sets upfront contracts can build its own AI sales expert on its own playbook and have it check, deal by deal, whether the agreed outcome happened (master your sales methodology).
Related terms
- What is the Sandler selling system?
- What is the pain funnel?
- How to forecast with Sandler: upfront contracts as stage gates
- How to run a deal review with the Sandler system
FAQ
What are the five parts of an upfront contract?
The five parts are the purpose of the meeting, the buyer's agenda, the seller's agenda, time and logistics, and the outcome. The outcome includes telling the buyer that no is an acceptable answer, so the meeting ends in a decision.
What are the three outcomes of an upfront contract?
The three acceptable outcomes are yes, no, or a scheduled next step with a date and a clear purpose. Sandler trainers treat any other ending, such as "let me think it over", as a meeting that did not do its job.
When should you set an upfront contract?
Set an upfront contract at the start of every sales meeting, before the meeting when you schedule it, and again when the conversation moves to a new topic. It works on the phone, by email and in person.