May 2005 Archives

Have you ever heard of a Barter Bank? I hadn't. Obviously I've been living a sheltered life.

There is a company I've just connected with called Capital Barter Bank (www.cbbank.co.uk). We bartered my Buying Facilitation in a Box. I hope to use my 'money' to get me a nice hotel room in Shanghai. It's a neat idea - obviously a very old idea made new.

Have a look. I'm impressed with the people there and the business model.

sd

I found Steve Davis of Facilitator University today - www.masterfacilitatorjournal.com. I'm so impressed. He's taken the concept of 'facilitation' - near and dear to my heart, given my model is called Buying Facilitation or Decision Facilitation - and expanded it across contexts for anyone involved in facilitating another in being their best.

When I named my company - Morgen Facilitations - and my model, I got a lot of flack for using a word (facilitation) that no one else was using at the time (15 years ago). I guess if you wait around long enough, a great idea will find its time.

Seems Steve has helped the idea come through, and his site is chock full of hints, support, and learning tools. Impressive. I'm glad there are innovative thinkers around who truly want to serve us all in helping us find ways to communicate and grow.

-Sharon Drew Morgen

Sometimes I get very frustrated by mainstream sales folks who stick to what they've been used to for a long time, and have little interest in adopting a new idea. While they say they are interested in money, or truly serving their customers, etc., it seems they have more criteria around doing it their own way - whatever the results - than making some changes that would net them more money (not to mention have better/longer client relationships, etc.).

I just got asked by a reader, why I consider Buying Facilitation an ethical, or spiritual, model, and how the Method uses Integrity as it was not readily apparent.

Given the past blogs I wrote about Caelo Software and the NEO email organizer, I'm happy to report that the folks there - Tom Gibson and David Bracewell - have bent over backwards to help me get the software up and running on my computer. Sad to say that I'm pretty backwards when it comes to technology, and I am using the wrong version of Outlook, and was too cranky to change it in order to get the NEO organizer up and running (not their fault at all!).

So, I'd say that given the raves I've heard about it, I'd give it a trial. I've been told it's a very complete, interesting way to organize and file emails, that makes them easily accessible, and all in the right place at the right time. Let me know how you get on. Just maybe I can be convinced to change my desktop and stop being so cranky.

-Sharon Drew Morgen

It's been about 15 years that I've been working at changing the entire field of sales to include a Buying Facilitation front end. In the beginning, I only got attention and business from the visionaries.

So - I got an apologetic response from the NEO guys (blogs are great, no?) and from one of their supports (thanks, Chris). But I think the point was missed (at least in my estimation).

It would have been nice if the man who blogged would have actually called me and gave me service (and he has forgotten that I contacted him twice - once they never responded, and then he just responded after the blog was out)!

Then, I could be writing a blog saying that he'd made sure I was properly supported. Instead, he wrote a public blog response to cover his (marketing) ass, and left if at that, asking ME to call HIM. That's not my idea of customer service.

I bet they are really, really nice guys and have a fabulous product - as Chris has said. I would never even have tried the software at all if it weren't for the great recommendation (Thanks, Chris. I like your ideas.). And I understand they have a small team. We all start out small.

But at what point do PEOPLE become the focus, rather than product?

Note to NEO: By now I've given you lots of coverage. I hope this enhances your business. Just make sure to truly support PEOPLE as you move forward. Given the reputation your software has, that's the only missing piece you've got to worry about. After all, without people, having a great product doesn't matter.

- Sharon Drew

I get very frustrated when I risk trialing a new software package and then they don't give me the service I need - and then they send me yet another form letter asking how I'm liking the package..... and it's still sitting on my desktop taking up space, and is un-used.

I heard that NEO - Nelson Email Organizer was supposed to be a good package. I haven't a clue if it is or not. Maybe they'll be so kind as to help me figure out the error messages I get - or respond to my 'help' messages that they so kindly ask for.

Principle: If you're not going to offer appropriate support when you're offering a trial software package, wait until your customer care is as viable as your product. Otherwise, you'll needlessly lose the trust of prospects. There is a lot of 'product' out there, and sometimes, the only way we know how to choose one product over another is through great customer care.

-Sharon Drew Morgen

I love Tony's stuff. He has a great understanding of some of the people systems involved in corporations.

Blending Buying Facilitation with VITO Principle #5, I'd say this: getting to a Board member is often difficult, and sometimes a political time bomb - especially if you are going over your prospect's head and she knows about it. Not to mention that if the Board member knows the level of responsibility that your prospect has in her job, the Board member might not want to put him/herself in the line of fire, and therefore send you right back down to the prospect - or not even take your call.

I believe it's time to start thinking about sales differently. Instead of using sellers to push product, how about using them to support buyers in recognizing all of the internal decisions they need to make - all of the internal decisions - before they can decide how to manage their solutions. And i'm not talking just about the obvious decisions that the seller believes need to get made.

We've spent decades trying to push product and product information, but buyers don't buy that way. They have too much internal rigamorole going on to just simply solve an identified problem. Instead of focusing on the problem, let's give the buyer the ability to focus on the system that created the problem and that will need to be managed before a solution can be implemented.

In that way, the focus will be placed squarely onto the customer, and the end result will be that the buyer can design a relevant solution that includes all systems variables --- and the seller can then just needs to deliver.

Posted by Sharon Drew Morgen

The very act of selling includes the management of all the impediments that it creates. the model itself creates problems with gatekeepers, objections, and difficulty closing. change the model, and the results change.


-Sharon Drew Morgen