‘but if they aren’t ready to buy, you’ll waste precious time that could be better spent pursuing accounts that are ready to sign.’
I read this quote above as an intro to an ‘expert ‘ webinar, and it embodies the problem with the sales model’: it treats a need/problem as if it were an isolated event.
‘Ready to buy’ merely means that the internal decisioning hasn’t taken place within the buyer’s decision team. It has nothing to do with ‘need’ or ’solution’ – they’ve got the need, you’ve got the solution; but neither the need nor the efficacy of the solution are the issue here.
Instead of running around ‘pursuing accounts that are ready to sign’ (many of which will be face the same internal problems during this economy), why not help the buyers manage the buying decisions – including stakeholders, politicies, politics, initiatives, fears, initiatives, rules, etc. – they are facing now. The problem, and your solution, are not at issue. The buying decision is.
Buying Facilitation gives sellers a new set of tools to enter the Buying Decision Team and join them in recognizing and managing their decision strategies to help them achieve buy-in. It’s not a sales skill, but a decision support skill; it helps the buyer manage the underlying systems that keep the ‘need’ in place and frees up the purchasing decision. You may not be able to ’sell’ now, but you can sure as hell help someone reach a buying decision.