Sharon Drew Morgen

Selling with Integrity

By Sharon Drew Morgen | Nov 20, 2009 Book Reviews 1599Leave a commenthttp://sharondrewmorgen.com/2009/11/selling-with-integrity/Selling+with+Integrity2009-11-20+11%3A11%3A46Sharon+Drew+Morgen

In 1995 I wrote a book called Selling with Integrity: reinventing sales through collaboration, respect, and serving, published in 1997 and subsequently on the NYTimes Business Bestseller list. The book continues to sell well, being considered one of the top sales books of all time. At the time I wrote it, it took a month of hassling before my publisher agreed to me using the term ’serving’ rather than ’service.’ And, at the time, I didn’t know how to talk or write about Buying Facilitation® as clearly as I do now.

Selling with Integrity was my nascent attempt to explain the idiosyncratic way buyers buy behind-the-scenes, and our jobs as sellers to serve them by being neutral navigators, GPS systems, and decision facilitators. But I wasn’t that clear, and I ended up writing about our spiritual values and how we, as sales professionals, can actually use our positions to actually lead buyers through their own criteria and values. I actually wrote several articles with titles such as ‘The Seller as Servant-Leader.’ Indeed, an article with that title was the most requested reprint from Leadership Excellence magazine. Read More..

Selling from home

By Sharon Drew Morgen | Nov 19, 2009 Sales Related 1605Leave a commenthttp://sharondrewmorgen.com/2009/11/selling-from-home/Selling+from+home2009-11-19+11%3A10%3A21Sharon+Drew+Morgen

I was recently told that Mary Kay has a home-based sales force of 750,000. I don’t know if that’s accurate – sounds plausible. But I bet between Mary Kay, NuSkin, Amway, Mannentech, and Nutrilite (and some I don’t even know, I’m sure), there are many, many million people selling from home. And now with the economy being so quirky, and people losing jobs, I bet that the industry is going through profound changes.

Some of these folks have been trained to sell by their up-lines. Some have never been trained. Some just bought-in to the business because of some terrific hype heard at one of those Learn How To Get Rich Like Me rallies. But they have all learned to make a double sale: sell the product AND buy-in to the ‘business opportunity’ at the same time. Read More..

Is the world ready for a new sales model? Yes!

By Sharon Drew Morgen | Nov 17, 2009 Sales Related 1602Leave a commenthttp://sharondrewmorgen.com/2009/11/is-the-world-ready-for-a-new-sales-model-yes/Is+the+world+ready+for+a+new+sales+model%3F+Yes%212009-11-17+11%3A55%3A15Sharon+Drew+Morgen

Over the next few weeks I’ll be going to several countries to spread the word, teach Buying Facilitation®, keynote, and license new trainers who will be teaching Buying Facilitation® in other countries. The most interesting fact about this is that the interest is not coming from my new book Dirty Little Secrets but from my years/decades of writing and lecturing and speaking about Buying Factiliation®. I’m hearing things like: I’ve been waiting until I had a stable sales force to bring you in; I’ve had to wait until I was promoted before I could bring you in; I’ve read your books with interest, and am now in charge of the bottom line and can’t imagine doing it without us learning Buying Facilitation®. Read More..

What do you do once your content strategies bring in the prospects?

By Sharon Drew Morgen | Nov 16, 2009 Sales Related 15771 Commenthttp://sharondrewmorgen.com/2009/11/what-do-you-do-once-your-content-strategies-bring-in-the-prospects/What+do+you+do+once+your+content+strategies+bring+in+the+prospects%3F2009-11-16+15%3A30%3A03Sharon+Drew+Morgen

After speaking with my friend Jill Konrath, I realized that I can actually help those of you who are bringing prospects in the door with a great stratigic marketing plan.

Let’s look at the layout of how companies are using marketing today: with great content, white papers, webinars and podcasts, companies are driving interested buyers to their sites. With good content, prospects are being educated, informed, and hopefully influenced, and get great data to help them make informed decisions as to how to become Excellent. In fact, Ardath Albees new book eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale she talks about how B2B marketers need to really get to know their customers in order to improve their marketing effectiveness. [Peronal note: Ardath is the queen of helping buyers develop content strategies. But her book immediately if you want to know what to do and how to do it. She's light years ahead of any other thinker in the field. Here is a link to read two chapters of her new book: download 2 chapters]

With all of the competition out there, having good content is not enough so companies need to not only offer great content, but follow up strategically so prospects can get everything they need when it’s time for them to need it during their decision making process when choosing a new vendor. Read More..

What is email for?

By Sharon Drew Morgen | Nov 12, 2009 Sales Related 1593Leave a commenthttp://sharondrewmorgen.com/2009/11/what-is-email-for/What+is+email+for%3F2009-11-13+01%3A48%3A37Sharon+Drew+Morgen

I don’t know about you, but when I get long emails my eyes go running around my head. Too many words for me to take in during a busy day when I’m sure I’m suffering from some form of ADHD as I try to multitask beyond human capability. So I ask folks to please, please, puLEASE not send me long emails.

But they do anyway. And then they get mad when I don’t read them – especially when they’ve written something personal. They actually expect me to put down what I’m doing and read a one-way missive, interpret what they are meaning and feeling against how I interpret their words, then gather my own thoughts and feelings along the way that I can’t manage cuz the communication is one-way and obviously my thoughts and feelings have no credence – and then, then… then what? I can’t remember what I was thinking and feeling with each paragraph or thought, so I have to go back. And god forbid if I miss something!! Read More..

Developing Strategic Content

By Sharon Drew Morgen | Nov 11, 2009 Sales Related 15853 Commentshttp://sharondrewmorgen.com/2009/11/developing-strategic-content/Developing+Strategic+Content2009-11-11+11%3A29%3A45Sharon+Drew+Morgen

I’m going to ask you a few questions. No answers today. Just questions you may want to answer for yourselves.

How will you know that the content you are providing is the appropriate content for your prospect base?

What skills do you need to have in addition to the ones you already have, to ensure that the right folks find – and purchase – your solution? Read More..