Sharon Drew Morgen - Buying Facilitation

I watched your video yesterday... Sharon Drew Morgen - Buying Facilitation Method®

...and in that video you said that information doesn't help people make decisions. My question is have you used facilitative questions in advertising before and if you have was there a noticeable difference in response rates?

Hi Speedracer:

I use FQs with everything I do. One of my dreams is that marketing will begin using them to design interactive ads rather than one-dimensional ones. Imagine instead of a beautiful ad for a very expensive car, there is also the question: How would you know it was time to buy a luxury car?

The nature of the question itself makes the ad interactive and memorable, plus will connect with far more people than a visual.

Do you want to try it? Are you creating an ad campaign and want to design some FQs for it?

The problem I"ve had is that so few folks (relatively) understand what these questions do that they can't get their brain around them (literally). For me it's so simple.. and so vital.

sd

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharon Drew Morgen

I use FQs with everything I do. One of my dreams is that marketing will begin using them to design interactive ads rather than one-dimensional ones. Imagine instead of a beautiful ad for a very expensive car, there is also the question: How would you know it was time to buy a luxury car?

The nature of the question itself makes the ad interactive and memorable, plus will connect with far more people than a visual.

Do you want to try it? Are you creating an ad campaign and want to design some FQs for it?

The problem I"ve had is that so few folks (relatively) understand what these questions do that they can't get their brain around them (literally). For me it's so simple.. and so vital.

sd

It reads like the idea is to get people thinking along certain lines and asking questions like the one you posted will do that to a degree. I can see where follow-up questions would be important. Almost like deepening a trance. You're not a hypnotist are you?

ahahaha...
Nope. Not a hypnotist!

What I am actually doing is leading the other person's brain through the steps that their brain must take naturally anyway in order to make their next decision. Problem is most folks do it slowly because it's an unconscious process and the time it takes them to do it is the length of the sales cycle.

I'm just helping them go through the process consciously and without bias (there is NO manipulation or bias around selling my product other than the positioning of the questions. so i could ask How are you currently going about choosing new content to add to the current sales training you are offering your employees? That question doesn't bias the answer toward my product, but teaches where in the brain to look for its own answer).

It does take a bit of practice to learn how to listen for where the question needs to be placed and then how to choose the right words to use to get to that decision making place. Doable,just takes a bit of practice. and very very powerful stuff.

sd

Sharon, great lover of your work - Welcome.

And what is your opinion on NLP?

Hi Snowboy:
For some reason, there seems to be a mixup on my responses.

It seems to me that my printed response in re your question about NLP was not a direct response and it seems like a non-sequiter.
so let me reply here properly:

I think NLP is amazing - one of the most imortant communication tools of the 20th century. But I also believe it has been misrepresented as a manipulation tool, rather than a communication tool.

I studied NLP for 3 full years - I have every diploma available plus one, and have studied with the greats and founders. The material breaks down the systems of how excellence happens - the subjective experience of excellence - and teaches learners how to attain choice. From what I learned over the years, I developed a Choice Model, and the basis of my questioning/decision making sequence was one aspect of NLP that I took to a new and different level.

Used with integrity and the belief that we are all here to serve each other, NLP is brilliant. Used as a manipulation, it becomes an evil genius.

Your decision as to how to use it. Hope this is clearer than the answer that appears under your question (and I am not sure how that answer ended up under your question and will contact Jeff to find out.)...
hope this helps..
sharon drew

I agree with Sharon Drew - I usually do.

NLP can facilitate clear and open communications very effectively - unless it is used to gain an unfair advantage.

NLP can also clarify your own thinking - to get straight with yourself.

Unfortunately, most of the people who are teaching NLP to salespeople are advocating its use as a manipulation tool. Used for that purpose, it is counterproductive. It will lose as many sales as it gains. When used to manipulate a prospect, the resultant long-term relationship is seldom a good one.

Hi Jaques:
Nice to 'meet up with you' again, as it were.

One of the unfortunate labels that both salesfolks and nlp folks have is that of manipulation. Since sales has focused on product sale, rather than buyer's decisions, selling has a history of using every form of 'tool' available, and sometimes that has become manipulative.

It's a shame, because I believe that most sales people (like most folks using nlp) truly care about others and want to facilitate folks in truly making their best decisions. Funny how things get a bad rep and get reduced to their lowest common denominators, rather than rise to ethical, values-based stances.

But, between us, Jacques, I suspect we're giving the world a different experience of what's possible.

sd

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharon Drew Morgen

Hi Jaques:
Nice to 'meet up with you' again, as it were.

One of the unfortunate labels that both salesfolks and nlp folks have is that of manipulation. Since sales has focused on product sale, rather than buyer's decisions, selling has a history of using every form of 'tool' available, and sometimes that has become manipulative.

It's a shame, because I believe that most sales people (like most folks using nlp) truly care about others and want to facilitate folks in truly making their best decisions. Funny how things get a bad rep and get reduced to their lowest common denominators, rather than rise to ethical, values-based stances.

But, between us, Jacques, I suspect we're giving the world a different experience of what's possible. sd

Sharon Drew, I apologize - because it is only recently that I have come to realize that Buying Facilitation really is compatible with High Probability Selling.

Sharon Drew Morgen is truly one of the most advanced thinkers in the sales training and sales consulting industry. (Feel free to use that quote).

Peace and joy,
Jacques

In this forum I see many references to the word, "manipulative"....and I'm a bit confused by all the rhetoric taking place about whether it is or it isn't.

I've been in the sales field for over 40 years and while I consider myself successful I don't consider myself manipulative by any stretch of the imagination.

I should first say that I have not a clue what NLP means.

I have learned through trial and error that how I say something or phrase a question can make a tremendous difference in the kind of response I get.

For example: If I'm making a cold call on the telephone, or in person the first question after I've introduced myself is: Besides yourself, who else in your company buys the product/service I sell?

Is that kind of phrasing considered manipulative?

Thanks,

Chuck

Sharon Drew Morgen - Buying Facilitation

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