Buying Facilitation by Sharon Drew Morgen

Sharon Drew Morgen teaches a different sales paradigm than most. IMO, she is on target with buying facilitation. Will this approach work for everyone? Maybe, maybe not. However, this doesn't mean that the Buying Facilitation Model isn't valid.

Hi folks: Sharon Drew here. Thanks for the kind comments!
Actually, I've developed a wholly original model based on helping buyers manage the entire system that created their Identified Problem. So it's a Systems Resolution Event and sellers need to learn a different skill set to manage this (the issues that created and maintain the Identified Problem keep it in place and must be resolved before buyers make a buying decision).

Sales remains a Problem Solving/Product Placement model that uses creative forms of push to help buyers understand why a particular product would work as their solution, and when it seems that the product solves the apparent problem. But it's an outside-in approach and works only when buyers decide, and sellers can never know all of the internal criteria being used to decide with - which means, the entire decision process is hidden, unique, and idiosyncratic. And not necessarily about the seller's product, or even their Identified Problem. And there is nothing sellers can do about that - hence the 90% failure rate of sales. Great products, hard working, professional sellers, good branding, integrity among the sales professionals, and then sellers fail because they can't get inside of the buyer's decision making.

Buying Facilitation demands that sellers become Neutral Navigators and use the facilitative sequence I've developed that leads buyers down through their decisioning process. After all, until or unless buyers can figure out how to manage whatever disruption will occur when something new enters (and all purchases, all decisions, require change), and can come up with their own answers, no decision will be made.

This is the length of your sales cycle - the time it takes buyers to come up with their own answers. They need to do this anyway - with you or without you. So instead of helping them choose your product, help them go through their entire decision making system (not just about what appears as the Identified Problem), and they will meld your product into their solution design. I call this Buying Facilitation and it's wholly different from sales.

This process will help buyers buy in 1/8th the time of a normal sales cycle. We used control groups for these measures in major corporations world-wide, and from banking to IT to consulting to closet systems, results were consistent over the past 17 years.

Sales is an outmoded model that was designed for different times in history. Product placement isn't good enough when the decision to find a solution is based on so many factors that are hidden from outsiders (like sellers) and independent of the Identified Problem.

Go to my site www.newsalesparadigm.com. It will help. Also, sign up for my free essays - 5 pages of original thinking a month. A bargain.

Thanks for the kind words, folks. Makes me proud to know that folks hear me amidst the clutter.

sharon drew

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharondrew

Sales remains a Problem Solving/Product Placement model that uses creative forms of push to help buyers understand why a particular product would work as their solution, and when it seems that the product solves the apparent problem. But it's an outside-in approach and works only when buyers decide, and sellers can never know all of the internal criteria being used to decide with - which means, the entire decision process is hidden, unique, and idiosyncratic. And not necessarily about the seller's product, or even their Identified Problem. And there is nothing sellers can do about that - hence the 90% failure rate of sales. Great products, hard working, professional sellers, good branding, integrity among the sales professionals, and then sellers fail because they can't get inside of the buyer's decision making.

Don't salespeople ask about the decision making process already?

Hi Thomas: great question!

here's the deal: the questions that we, as sellers, ask, are biased around what appears to us to be a 'problem' or 'pain' (i've written an article called 'Pain: Buyers Don't Have It, and Sellers Can't Resolve It') but the Identified Problem is merely one visible aspect of the system that the buyer lives within (their rules, roles, relationships, strategies, goals, feelings, history, unspoken communication over time, initiaties, etc.).

unfortunately, sales has acted as if the Identified Problem is an isolated event. at one point in history, it probably was. but not now. the questions we end up asking are only around the Identified Problem as an outsider can never NEVER understand the hidden and idiosyncratic norms within a system (group, company, team, relationship, etc) that s/he doesn't live in.

so, yes, some sellers might ask questions about the decision. but these questions don't address the entire range of elements that created and maintain the status quo through time,and need to be addressed before any change (i.e. purchasing decision) can happen. this has been the problem with sales, and delays sales cycles more than 5x.

there has been no way (until now) for sellers to help buyers recognize and address all of the hidden decisions buyers need to make throughout all of their systems elements. and the time it takes them to make these decisions is the length of the sales cycle - hence the long sales cycles and funny decisions (seem funny to us as sellers, sometimes).

Buying Facilitation codes the systems decisions necessary and gives sellers the tools to help buyers run through these and manage them, using their own internal elements that are systems related NOT problem-resolution-based, or product-sale based. it's that hidden part of the sales cycle that sellers have never been able to manage before - that place where buyers go when they say they'll call us back.

but please note: this model is NOT sales. the skills are different, the outcome is different, the responses are different; sellers must listen for different things, ask different sorts of questions (i've developed what i call a Facilitative Question which uses the actual brain function of the decision maker(s) to help lead them, sequentially, through their decision making. once the buyer recognizes all that needs to happen for them to internally and congruently resolve what is merely one aspect of their system that isn't working so well (the Identified Problem that we see) and ensure that there is minimual disruption, they can THEN be ready for a solution and will meld your product/solution into their solution design.

But it's a new skills set. and it's not sales.

Go to my site www.newsalesparadigm.com. My newest book Buying Facilitation explains the model thoroughly. Am writing a new one now about why/how the model of sales is broken and how to fix it.

Thanks for your interest. hope it helped.
sharondrew

This week two different people who said they were going to write a contract didn't.

The first lady said she couldn't decide between our listing and another. She said she needed time to make her decision. I asked how I could help her with the decision but she didn't let me in.

The second lady who was going to write but didn't said she changed her mind and wasn't going to buy at all. I asked why and she said for personal reasons of her own and gave no other information.

Is this is what you are talking about?

Yes. You don't know the inner, hidden issues going on within the decision making process. Asking questions like 'why' are gathering data around a decision already made.

Once you learn Buying Facilitation, you can lead people through the entire decision making issues that need to be managed and you'd never be in a position of not understanding what is going on as you would have helped design what would happen at each stage.

You are working from 1. attempting to manage the sale; 2. the Identified Problem as an isolated event; 3. the contact person as an isolated person rather than part of a larger decsion team; 4. the decision to buy as a unique decision rather than part of a group of decisions that get made around any internal issues that need to be managed.

It's not just you - it's the entire field of sales that has the exact same problem.

The model is broken. You're great, hard working, and professional.

Hope this helps. Go to my site and play a bit. It might help.
sdm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharondrew

The model is broken. You're great, hard working, and professional.

IMO the Buyer's model is also broken. David Sandler wasn't off when he coined the phrase, "Buyers are Liars".

fyi - david sandler called me before he died, and tried to buy me out, saying 'I tried to get where you got and didn't go as far out of the box as you did'. david said 'buyers are liars' not because they intentially mean to lie but because they didn't/don't know how to make decisions appropriately. it's difficult to know how to include all of the systems decisions necessary when you are so close to the problem - hence, the reason Buying Facilitation is so dynamic.

of course, you have every right to believe that. it's certainly a view held by many. but if the time comes and you wish to trial another way and do a control study to see what works best, i challenge you to get the same results we get by using the conventional model. and, yes, that belief has been around quite some time within the field of conventional sales thinking.

if you're getting the results you desire, and you serve and value your customers ethically, whatever works for you is best.
sdm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharondrew

of course, you have every right to believe that. it's certainly a view held by many. but if the time comes and you wish to trial another way and do a control study to see what works best, i challenge you to get the same results we get by using the conventional model.

I am not challenging your model Sharon Drew Morgen.

I am saying that I believe David Sandler had it right when he said "Buyers are Liars" which I interpret to mean that buyers aren't always 100% forthcoming for reasons of their own.

Example... how many buyers want to spill their guts to a complete stranger especially if they think that the stranger (salesperson) doesn't have their best interests in mind?

In practice how many buyers walk into a sales office with a prejudice towards salespeople? A lot. I don't have exact numbers but I'm confident if someone looked around they could find different polls that demonstrate distrust for "salespeople". I think the last I read about one of these polls salespeople ranked right above or below attorneys.

Example... how many buyers want to spill their guts to a complete stranger especially if they think that the stranger (salesperson) doesn't have their best interests in mind?

In practice how many buyers walk into a sales office with a prejudice towards salespeople? A lot. I don't have exact numbers but I'm confident if someone looked around they could find different polls that demonstrate distrust for "salespeople". I think the last I read about one of these polls salespeople ranked right above or below attorneys.[/quote]

IMO, being a good listener does help lower the distrust for sales people. Also, telling stories of people in similar situations.

Susan

	#11
SalesGuy	Sharon Drew Morgen Sharon Drew Morgen teaches a different sales paradigm than most. IMO, she is on target with buying facilitation. Will this approach work for everyone? Maybe, maybe not. However, this doesn't mean that the Buying Facilitation Model isn't valid.

	#12
Sharon Drew Morgen "Top Sales Expert"	Sharon Drew Morgen Hi folks: Sharon Drew here. Thanks for the kind comments! Actually, I've developed a wholly original model based on helping buyers manage the entire system that created their Identified Problem. So it's a Systems Resolution Event and sellers need to learn a different skill set to manage this (the issues that created and maintain the Identified Problem keep it in place and must be resolved before buyers make a buying decision). Sales remains a Problem Solving/Product Placement model that uses creative forms of push to help buyers understand why a particular product would work as their solution, and when it seems that the product solves the apparent problem. But it's an outside-in approach and works only when buyers decide, and sellers can never know all of the internal criteria being used to decide with - which means, the entire decision process is hidden, unique, and idiosyncratic. And not necessarily about the seller's product, or even their Identified Problem. And there is nothing sellers can do about that - hence the 90% failure rate of sales. Great products, hard working, professional sellers, good branding, integrity among the sales professionals, and then sellers fail because they can't get inside of the buyer's decision making. Buying Facilitation demands that sellers become Neutral Navigators and use the facilitative sequence I've developed that leads buyers down through their decisioning process. After all, until or unless buyers can figure out how to manage whatever disruption will occur when something new enters (and all purchases, all decisions, require change), and can come up with their own answers, no decision will be made. This is the length of your sales cycle - the time it takes buyers to come up with their own answers. They need to do this anyway - with you or without you. So instead of helping them choose your product, help them go through their entire decision making system (not just about what appears as the Identified Problem), and they will meld your product into their solution design. I call this Buying Facilitation and it's wholly different from sales. This process will help buyers buy in 1/8th the time of a normal sales cycle. We used control groups for these measures in major corporations world-wide, and from banking to IT to consulting to closet systems, results were consistent over the past 17 years. Sales is an outmoded model that was designed for different times in history. Product placement isn't good enough when the decision to find a solution is based on so many factors that are hidden from outsiders (like sellers) and independent of the Identified Problem. Go to my site www.newsalesparadigm.com. It will help. Also, sign up for my free essays - 5 pages of original thinking a month. A bargain. Thanks for the kind words, folks. Makes me proud to know that folks hear me amidst the clutter. sharon drew __________________ Would you rather sell... or have someone buy? \| Recommended Sales Resources

	#15
Thomas	This week two different people who said they were going to write a contract didn't. The first lady said she couldn't decide between our listing and another. She said she needed time to make her decision. I asked how I could help her with the decision but she didn't let me in. The second lady who was going to write but didn't said she changed her mind and wasn't going to buy at all. I asked why and she said for personal reasons of her own and gave no other information. Is this is what you are talking about?

	#20
susana	Buying Facilitation by Sharon Drew Morgan Example... how many buyers want to spill their guts to a complete stranger especially if they think that the stranger (salesperson) doesn't have their best interests in mind? In practice how many buyers walk into a sales office with a prejudice towards salespeople? A lot. I don't have exact numbers but I'm confident if someone looked around they could find different polls that demonstrate distrust for "salespeople". I think the last I read about one of these polls salespeople ranked right above or below attorneys.[/quote] IMO, being a good listener does help lower the distrust for sales people. Also, telling stories of people in similar situations. Susan __________________ *Join my new blog: www.sellingtotheaffluent.net* *www.susanadamshome.com*

Buying Facilitation by Sharon Drew Morgen

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